There are calls tonight for a change in NHS guidelines allowing surgeons to carry out hymen reconstruction for women wanting to marry as virgins.

Private clinics are reporting a boom in demand for the operation from young women under pressure to prove their virginity.
And More4 News has learned that the operation is also being carried out on the NHS.

Magdy Hend owns two private clinics in London. Most of the time he treats infertility problems in both men and women. He also performs many genital cosmetic procedures of which hymenoplasty is just one.

He showed us the hymen booklet which depicts different types of hymen repair. Many prospective customers are shown it - from the simple stitch to the creation of a flap to cover the vagina and a gelatin capsule filled with a blood-like substance, inserted a few hours before sex.

But Dr Hend doesn't do these tehniques. They are too crude, he says, the surgery is obvious and the woman is in danger of getting caught.

"The other way," he says, "is to properly repair the hymen, that means we get the hymen, we open it again and stitch it back again, make it heal as it was; this way it is 100 per cent repaired, reconstructed, and is healed, and then when she has the wedding night it will tear and bleed again."

Dr Hend says the procedure is short, about half an hour. It is done under local anaesthetic - a relief to many young women who get their hymens reconstructed secretly, during their lunch hour.

'I think it is quite unethical to charge a phenomenal fee for a procedure which - in my mind - is a very dodgy operation.'
Erik Scholten, specialist in cosmetic genital surgeryMany of his patients give false names and addresses. Fear and the possible wrath of their future husbands drives them to the operating table.

As Hend says: "I am sure some fear the surgery itself. But the fear of the consequences of the marriage if they're not virgins is far higher than the fear of surgery which takes 20 mins or half an hour. It is, for them, lifesaving."

This is nothing to do with religion, it is cultural. Some men will look at women who are virgins and believe that because they have not been touched before, they will be sincere, good mothers, good wives. For these men the hymen is - literally - a seal of approval.

Most of the women Magdy Hend treats are British from ethnic minorities or immigrants. Demand is increasing; the hymen section of his website gets up to 50 hits a day; he treats around two women a week, and charges £1800 for the procedure.

Some clinics, More 4 news found, charge nearly twice that price. But an intact hymen can only be certain in around 57 per cent of virgins.

Hymen repair is done for purely cultural or psycholgical reasons; it has no medical benefits and makes no visible cosmetic difference.

Erik Scholten, Britain's leading specialist in cosmetic genital surgery is utterly sceptical: "I think it is quite unethical to charge a phenomenal fee for a procedure which - in my mind - is a very dodgy operation.

"It does not restore hymen at all - it is just a way to make the woman bleed during her first night. And most of the time it is just putting a couple of stitches.

"I feel it would be better to bring it out in the open, like abortion procedures. In big clinics they can give you guaranteed certificates, so it is regulated, take it out of the darkness of back streets around Harley Street into mainstream clinics."

But hymen repair is happening in mainstream clinics. The information centre for health and social care told More4 News that 24 hymen repair procedures were done on the NHS between 2005 and 2006.

The Department of Health wouldn't comment on the procedure, but stated that: "Certain cosmetic procedures may be available to secure physical or psychological health."

Many people will be surprised to hear that hymenoplasty, viewed by some as an invasive, degrading procedure, can be performed for free.

Diana Nammi campaigns for the rights of Kurdish and Iranian women. She says if hymen repair was more widely available on the NHS, it could prevent many honour killings:

"If NHS provided help it would be great, private surgery costs lost of money, they haven't got any money to pay for surgery, NHS understanding importance of issue that could be very great help and save lives."

For some men, making sure a woman is a virgin is just another way of controlling her. And many grooms in Britain, usually from Moroccan, Algerian or Tunisian communities, demand virginity certificates - a medical document that states the hymen is intact.

Perhaps we are lulled into believing, that in our society all women are in control of their own bodies. But for some women, sex before marriage, comes at a heavy price.

Men think they're smart
women are smarter
una want virgins
na virgins una go get on the wedding night

**osisi:

Men think they're smart
women are smarter
una want virgins
na virgins una go get on the wedding night

I love this idea

This is the best

different types of hymen repair. Many prospective customers are shown it - from the simple stitch to the[b] creation of a flap to cover the vagina and a gelatin capsule filled with a blood-like substance, inserted a few hours before sex[/b]. [/b]

They shud also make the G-shot free for females

tope2000:

I love this idea

Spread the news ma dear
all ladies must know about this
there must be blood on that white "tawell" if that's what he wants

tope2000:

They shud also make the G-shot free for females

Imagine when the woman will be arguing with her husband she can say things like
"Look at this foolish man o"
" wasn't I a chaste virgin before you  carried yourself and came and married me? "

Any man who would want to break stitches to prove some stupid virginity is SICK!  

Naija don dey do am since with 'alum trick'  

High levels of stupidity affects many men sha.  

**osisi:


Imagine when the woman will be arguing with her husband she can say things like
Look at this foolish man o
" wasn't I chaste virgin before you  carried yourself and came and married me? "

Gbam. . . . even if na tokunbo virginity

debosky:

Any man who would want to break stitches to prove some stupid virginity is SICK!

Naija don dey do am since with 'alum trick'

High levels of stupidity affects many men sha.

lmao. . . . does this alum really work?? i have heard girls talk abt it b4

tope2000:

lmao. . . . does this alum really work?? i have heard girls talk abt it b4

Dont pretend as if you dont know jare!!

MrCrackles:

Dont pretend as if you dont know jare!!

That's how she snagged Sharon - the thunk he was shagging a virgin. Dope!!!

MrCrackles:

Dont pretend as if you dont know jare!!

Lol . . . . honey i dnt need it, if u know what i mean

debosky:

That's how she snagged Sharon - the thunk he was shagging a virgin. Dope!!!

Sauron isnt ur typical naija guy
he doesnt give a Bleep if u r virgin or not
this is why i loff him

what do they do with alum
I've never heard that o

tope2000:

Lol . . . . honey i dnt need it, if u know what i mean

Dont patronise me, you two faced liar!!

**osisi:

what do they do with alum
I've never heard that o

i hear u use it to wash down there to make it tight n firm

MrCrackles:

Dont patronise me, you two faced liar!!

liar??
i dont lie babe

what's unethical about repairing a hymen?
We aim to please! You want a hymen? One tough hymen coming up dear!!!!

Alum is used to tighten the vagina. I heard about it in a Yoruba movie.

Diana Nammi campaigns for the rights of Kurdish and Iranian women. She says if hymen repair was more widely available on the NHS, it could prevent many honour killings:

The issue of honor killings should be addressed first, abeg.

To think that you can actually be killed because you dont have a hymen.

spoilt:

To think that you can actually be killed because you dont have a hymen.

Imagine!
Ordinary bleeding waterproof

stillwater:

The issue of honor killings should be addressed first, abeg.

well, like the osu caste system,that may never end
so let the surgeons put all hands on deck abi vagina to save the women

mehhn!!!

Moyola:

mehhn!!!

ROFL
spread the word
every unmarried woman can be a virgin on her wedding night
this is 2009

I wish I were an OBGYN
big business in that area
I'll go set up shop in Saudi Arabia or Dubai with a small satellite in Abuja and make a killing
come one come all
even if na designer hymen
the type wey the man go do 10 times and blood go still comot
I go fit construct am
prada and Gucci hymen

**osisi:

I wish I were an OBGYN
big business in that area
I'll go set up shop in Saudi Arabia or Dubai with a small satellite in Abuja and make a killing
come one come all
even if na designer hymen
prada and Gucci,I go get am

Na versace or christian dior i want

Men are dumb.
You dont even have to repair your hymen. The more they look the less they see.   Ive known girls who were no virgins whose boyfriends mentioned to me how proud they were that they were found "AT HOME" . . At home? Who was at home?  I go die oh!  I guess you just need to be a good actress.

Osisi and her perpetual interest in male and female sexual organs.

tope2000:


Na versace or christian dior i want

aba made hymen go dey too
all fingers are not equal
hymen at your own risk,may or may not bleed
if you add small money,I go add blood

RichyBlacK:

Osisi and her perpetual interest in male and female sexual organs.

I'm a very sexual being

debosky:

That's how she snagged Sharon - he thunk he was shagging a virgin. Dope!!!  

See allegations o!!!

tope2000:

Sauron isnt ur typical naija guy
he doesnt give a mess if u r virgin or not
this is why i loff him

Don't mind Debosky. . . . . . .That was the exact thingy Busy Body used for him.

**osisi:

Imagine!
Ordinary bleeding waterproof

But there are women who had no hymen from birth.
Any hope for those??

**osisi:

I wish I were an OBGYN
big business in that area
I'll go set up shop in Saudi Arabia or Dubai with a small satellite in Abuja and make a killing
come one come all
even if na designer hymen
the type wey the man go do 10 times and blood go still comot
I go fit construct am
prada and Gucci hymen

Rotflmao!!!

~Sauron~:


But there are women who had no hymen from birth.
Any hope for those??

There would be hope if you guys stop thinking through your anus.