...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

“Revirginization surgery”: Yes, that’s really how some plastic surgery clinics refer to hymenoplasty, the procedure which restores a woman to her previously intact condition (so her hubby and his kin, who prize her virginity above almost everything else, won’t be disappointed by the absence of blood on the couple's wedding night).

I got the idea to google “hymenoplasty toronto” from this article in the Toronto Star. The piece is an attempt to normalize the surgery—which really amounts to a doctor colluding in a scam and performing a completely unnecessary procedure— by making it sound as unremarkable as a nose job:

Twenty-five years ago, a young professional couple in Toronto visited a plastic surgeon's office with an unusual request.

She wanted her virginity back.

The pair, born in Iran but raised in Canada, dated through university. She was a lawyer, he, a doctor. They talked often about marriage but a letter from a college in the United States threw a wrench in their plans. He wanted to pursue a medical specialty and that letter was his ticket. She couldn't dream of leaving the rest of her life behind to follow him to Baltimore.

They agreed to part ways but not before she persuaded him to pay for her revirginization.

Since that day, Dr. Robert Stubbs, a Toronto-based plastic surgeon, has performed the operation on hundreds of other women across Canada. He has won international acclaim for refining the hymenoplasty procedure, which involves cutting away the scarred edge of the membrane broken during intercourse and narrowing the entrance of the vagina, then putting the pieces back together. One hour, $2,500, a few dissolving stitches later and voilà: a surgical virgin is made.

"The women came from all backgrounds," says Stubbs, 59, who closed his Yorkville practice last summer to build his dream home in the Haliburton Highlands.

"They were Coptic Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim. The majority were educated, from upper-status families. In spite of their exposure to Western ways, they still had this need to follow their family's culture. They said they would not force their daughters to do this but they were caught with one foot in the old world and one foot in the new."

While women around the world have been secretly reclaiming their virginity for decades, the procedure, and its moral and legal implications, has recently been thrust into the spotlight.

Just a few weeks ago, a court in northern France annulled the marriage of a Muslim couple because the bride had lied about her virginity. The groom reportedly learned of his bride's deception the night of their wedding and promptly outed her to the guests who were still partying on the dance floor. The annulment sparked a national debate so heated that the justice ministry asked the local public prosecutor to appeal the case. The appeal court is expected to deliver its ruling this fall.

Named after the Greek god of marriage, the hymen has no known biological function. While cultures that highly value virginity believe an intact hymen is the marker of a pure woman, scientific fact shows the hymen can break for reasons that have nothing to do with sex.

In Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons does not keep tabs on who performs hymenoplasty or how many of these surgeries are logged each year. "From the college perspective, it's not owned by one particular specialty," says spokesperson Cecily Wallace.

In Toronto, an increasing number of cosmetic surgery clinics, where some doctors may have limited training, seem to be cashing in on hymenoplasty, promoting the service online and in print...

After including some criticism of the practice, the article wraps up on a positive note, with the words of Dr. Stubbs, revirginizer: "For years I've been telling my colleagues, and everyone else I'm not crazy. Maybe the reality's setting in."

Maybe. Then again, Star readers who left a comment didn't appear to be buying it. Here’s what a few of them had to say:

·         And we wonder why the health care system is overburdened?

This has got to be the most ridiculous waste of time on an already overburdened health care system that I have ever heard. What is obvious is that physicians who are performing this medically unnecessary surgery on women are making a good buck from it. It is only a matter of time before, in the name of multiculturalism, O.H.I.P will begin footing the bill and and we will all be paying for this procedure while the wait times for essential surgery continues to grow. What a travesty!

·         The doctors cynically use ignorance and fear for profit

No self respecting physician would do such a procedure. It's catering to medievalism and ignorance. The profit is obscene. Similar minor local surgeries are billed to OHIP at 100-200$. Taking $3000 is disgusting. No doubt there is a reason why the two clinics mentioned in the article are under investigation. The mere fact that they offer this procedure tells me what I need to know about their ethics and how much they care about their patients. Multiculturalism is a curse on this country. When will be put an end to that foolishness.

·         Hymens can be broken in many ways

It is not just sex that breaks a hymen. It can be caused by all sorts of sports and activities and since women in the west are a lot more active in these ways then women in these traditional cultures it would seem to be impossible to claim that a broken hymen could be used as evidence of a non-virgin. And as the story says, insuring virginity is just a way for men to show their dominance over and ownership of women. It has no place in our society. Just one more piece of multi-culturalism run amuck!

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:36 | link | comments

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