Life

Doctor denies lesbian woman hysterectomy in case her ‘sexuality changes’

By Conor Clark

9th November 2021

A lesbian woman in Ireland was allegedly denied a hysterectomy by her doctor in case her “sexual orientation changes”.

Rachel Champ has suffered from extremely painful periods since she was just 10-years-old.

Now, at the age of 27, she is pursuing a hysterectomy after learning that she has cysts on both her ovaries that are consistent with endometriosis.

Champ says that no amount of medication ever makes her feel better and has even undergone two surgeries to ease her suffering.

Speaking to BuzzFeed, she said: “After 17 years, and potentially another 20-plus years of this pain depending on when I go into menopause, I wanted to know at what point can I make the decision to have a hysterectomy to improve my quality of life, and put an end to the period pain I have experienced for nearly two-thirds of my life.”

The doctor reportedly told Champ that her judgement was “clouded by the pain” and that she might want children later in life.

However, she and her wife (who was also at the appointment) had already planned on adopting when the time comes, which she explained to him.

“I don’t want you to have regrets if circumstances change for you,” the doctor allegedly told the couple. “Maybe you leave your partner, your sexual orientation changes, and you meet someone and HE wants children.”

Champ was so outraged by the comments that she took to Twitter to share what happened, which quickly went viral and resulted in almost 500,000 likes in just over a week.

“Can’t believe that today a gynecologist told me that a hysterectomy wouldn’t be considered as an option for my debilitating period pain on the off chance that I divorce my wife, my sexual orientation changes, I meet a man and decide I want children,” the tweet said.

In her interview with BuzzFeed, Champ explained that she wanted to share her story to highlight the “barriers” facing women when it comes to healthcare.

She stated: “I wanted to share my experience — as I have with other aspects of my journey — to try and draw some attention to the barriers that women — specifically LGBTQ women — face every day trying to get basic respect and understanding from their healthcare providers.”

Thousands of people expressed their empathy for Champ in response to the tweet, with many sharing their own stories of seeking medical attention.

“A (male) doctor once explained to my friend how she might want children sometime, so she could not get a hysterectomy, and when she mentioned adoption as an option if that became the case, he told her that adoption just isn’t the same,” one person wrote. “My friend, who is adopted.”

Another added: “My coworker is turning 50, has 3 kids who are grown, went to her gyno cause she was bleeding excessively for almost 10 months straight and was told they won’t do a hysterectomy in case she decides to have another child….at 50…”

Champ said the response has been “completely overwhelming…it’s been incredibly humbling to receive so much support and kind messages from so many people in so many areas of the world. What surprised me the most is the number of people responding with their own stories so similar to mine. I found it really emotional and hard to read some of the experiences other people have had.”