Introduction to Endometriosis and Uterus Didelphys
Traitors star and Welsh opera singer Elen says she is "grateful to have abnormal anatomy" as it ultimately led to her endometriosis diagnosis. The 25-year-old from Anglesey said doctors discovered she only had one "unusually large kidney… two uteruses and two cervixes". The condition, known as uterus didelphys, occurs when the uterus fails to fuse during development in the womb and affects about 0.3% of women.
Understanding Uterus Didelphys
This creates a double uterus, which can also have two cervixes and two vaginal canals. Although Elen has lived with the disease her entire life, the recent discovery has left “so many questions,” such as “Why?” [both the wombs] bleed at the same time? The star of The Traitor Series 3, who was eliminated in episode two, previously told that the pain she suffered was comparable to that caused by “barbed wire around her stomach.”
Symptoms and Diagnosis
When her period started at the age of 14, she often missed school and skipped sports because of her symptoms. While she waited ten years for an endometriosis diagnosis, Elen was regularly told it was "just a period" and that she had a low pain threshold. Elen began to suspect she had endometriosis after seeing other people talking about it on social media, but the full extent of her complex condition came to light in a "terrifying" way.
The Discovery
After her second ultrasound, a doctor assumed she knew she only had one kidney, which was not the case. She was referred for an internal scan and recalled being extremely concerned when a nurse could not find her cervix and other staff were asked for a second opinion. “So many people just looked at that screen inside me and just didn’t understand it,” she said. At first, the doctors denied this Endometriosis – a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere in the body – but told her her anatomy looked "very different" and referred her for an urgent MRI scan.
So Many Questions
When doctors tried to understand her uterus didelphys, they asked if she had two periods a month, which was not the case. "They asked me, ‘Do you use tampons or pads?’ and I said both. They asked me if I would continue to bleed if I put a tampon in, and I said no,” she remembers. “So everything is normal except for my two uteruses.” Elen admitted she was still confused by the discovery and had “so many questions.” "What I don’t understand is if I have two uteruses…why are they bleeding at the same time?" "Are they just in sync? I’m kind of grateful that I have abnormal anatomy, because otherwise I wouldn’t have found out I had stage four endometriosis."
What is Uterus Didelphys?
Uterus didelphys is a rare congenital condition that develops before birth when the two fallopian tubes that normally form a single uterus fail to fuse properly. Instead, it creates two separate uteruses – each with its own cervix – and in some cases a double vaginal canal. People with a double uterus are at an increased risk of miscarriage and premature birth, but healthy pregnancies can occur. Some symptoms are:
- Pain during sex
- Painful cramps before and during your period
- Heavy bleeding during your period
- Leaking blood when using a tampon
- Frequent miscarriages
- Premature labor
Treatment and Prognosis
Now that Elen has received her diagnosis, she is awaiting a laparoscopy to surgically remove the endometriosis. After nine months of believing she was on the waiting list, which was estimated to be six to eight months long, she asked for an update and discovered she had “never been referred.” She’s now been added to the list, but feels like the clock has been restarted to get the answers she needs.
