This Woman Diagnosed Herself As Intersex At Age 17 After Doctors Wouldn't Believe Her — Turns Out She Was Right.

[Doobie Doo]

This Woman Diagnosed Herself As Intersex At Age 17 After Doctors Wouldn't Believe Her — Turns Out She Was Right. Now She's Sharing Her Journey As An Intersex Person To Be A Resource For Others.​

Thu, July 21, 2022 at 4:53 PM

Meet TikTok user Sydney Kidney Bean. She is a 23-year-old woman who discovered she was intersex — through her own research — six years ago.​

Sydney Kidney Bean

"Don't be freaked out, but I'm gonna share some information with you about my genitals. And I swear it's not creepy or sexual or anything — this is a purely anatomical conversation. We're all humans with bodies and we should talk about that, I think," she explained in her viral TikTok that has 7 million views.​

@sydneykidneybean / Via tiktok.com

"And part of me is like, 'I really hope that no one I know in real life sees this.' But the other part of me is like, 'So what. I am being the person and the resource that I needed years ago,'" she said.​

@sydneykidneybean / Via tiktok.com

"There are a lot of misconceptions about what it actually means to be intersex, but broadly, it's a condition in which your reproductive or sexual anatomy doesn't seem to fit in with the typical definition of male or female. So that can be differences in genitalia. It can also be hormonal differences. It really is a broad category."​

Laylabird / Getty Images

She continued, "For me, being intersex relates to my condition of having been born without a vaginal opening. And I didn't know this about myself until I was 17 years old. If that's not a failure in our public education system, I don't know what is. Women are not encouraged to know about their own bodies. It's a shame, it's really a shame."​

@sydneykidneybean / Via tiktok.com

Sydney explained, "So, to speak more technically, I have what's called a microperforate hymen, where your vaginal opening is the size of a urethra or, in my case, even smaller than that because the hymen is just large and it covers the entirety of the vaginal opening.​

Predrag Popovski / Getty Images

"When this was discovered by myself, I — of course — saw a doctor, and no one believed me. I was telling a doctor; I was like, 'I googled it and I have a microperforate hymen, and everyone was like, 'No you don't. It's, like, normal to not know things about yourself.' And I was like, 'No, I checked. I know what I got.'​

google.com

"The doctor didn't believe me, and they were finally like, 'OK, OK, let's take a look,' and so they did, and the doctor was immediately like, 'Huh, that's weird,' and I was like, 'That's what I'm saying — it's weird.' She had never seen this before, and they called in other people like, 'Is it cool if we ask other people, like the office lady, the secretary, to come back here? She's been in this business a long time, and we got a med student.' The med student comes in and she's like, 'Well, I saw this in one of my textbooks,' and I said, 'Take a picture. It'll last longer.' I'm notoriously hilarious in my gyno appointment. I really bring out a lot of one-liners."​

You can watch the full video here.
Tom Werner / Getty Images

In her second video, she continued, "At the gynecologist's office, they are validating my Google searches that I have a microperforate hymen, which means that I don't have a vaginal opening. There was a very, very small opening about the size of the head of a pen. Now, this can be a very dangerous condition. Anyone who uses tampons has heard of toxic shock syndrome, which can be deadly. And without my menstrual blood having a place to go — leaving my body — that very well could have triggered toxic shock syndrome and killed me, except for this really cool fact that I don't actually menstruate, so that didn't happen."​

tiktok.com

She added, "That's also part of why I didn't know for so long that I had this condition. At this point, the doctors are wondering if I even have the reproductive organs of a female. If I have ovaries and a uterus and that whole thing, because, externally, everything matches a very typical female anatomy besides the microperforate hymen. So now we just need to know what is going on inside.​

Pixologicstudio / Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

"My gynecologist decided the next-best thing would be to perform an exploratory surgery in which an X incision would be made in the hymen, creating a vaginal opening, but then also allowing us to more easily tell if I do have female reproductive organs. My dad, by the way, did not want to pay for this surgery and asked my mom if it was necessary," she said.​

Hraun / Getty Images

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[Doobie Doo]

"I did end up having this surgery not long after I found out I had this condition. I was 17, I took a week off of school, and everyone was asking me why, and I really didn't want to tell them why ... I didn't want to give any details because it was embarrassing and freaky, and I didn't know what to say or how people would react.​

Momo Productions / Getty Images

"The surgery went really well. Like, so well that when I've gotten new gynecologists, they actually compliment my hymenectomy. One of my gynecologists was like, 'You know surgeons just have no respect for the hymen, so great job on this hymenectomy!' They did find that I have all the typical female reproductive organs, and despite not menstruating naturally, they are in healthy, great condition.​

Yorda / Getty Images/iStockphoto

"When I am on certain forms of birth control, I do have the experience of menstruating, which is kind of the second part of my intersex identity, where I have some heightened male hormones, slightly, enough that it affects things like menstruation. These conditions have affected my health in some odd and interesting ways," Sydney explained.​

You can watch the full Part 2 video here.
Peter Dazeley / Getty Images

BuzzFeed spoke to Sydney, who said she shared her story because she remembers feeling really alone when she learned about her intersex identity. "I had never even heard the word 'intersex' before, and I don’t want others to feel alone like I did. No one should have to feel scared about not fitting into the confines of binary gender. By sharing my experience, I can provide the representation and conversation that so many people around the world have been waiting for. Intersex people deserve to be heard; we deserve to be seen."​

Radu Bighian / Getty Images/EyeEm

She continued, "It didn’t feel abnormal for me to find my own diagnosis before a doctor did. Although when I stumbled upon the medical illustration of my microperforate hymen and realized I required surgery, I felt guilty about the fact that my intersexuality would become a financial burden for my family."​

She added, "I am finding that many people think of self-diagnosis as delusion, when it is actually very necessary for those who can't afford or who don’t have access to healthcare. People with underserved and misunderstood medical conditions become experts on their own bodies, and everyone else, even doctors, need to sit down and listen to what they have to say."
Aga7ta / Getty Images/iStockphotoMore

Sydney said, "School sex ed failed me by reinforcing an incorrect and harmful understanding of gender. Let me be clear, though, it is not teachers or even school administrators that are the cause of a pitiful sex ed curriculum. Policymakers purposefully outlaw conversations about our bodies in order to prevent their personal beliefs from being challenged or embarrassed. Even schools that do allow sex ed, as mine did, often don’t cover subjects such as intersexuality, sexual orientation, gender identities, and consent. This is to the detriment of society as a whole, as it breeds ignorance."​

Peter Dazeley / Getty Images

It’s estimated that about 1.7% of people are born with intersex traits, meaning they do not fit the typical definition of male or female. The term 'intersex' describes people who have a wide range of natural variations that affect genitals, gonads, hormones, chromosomes, or reproductive organs. In addition, being intersex is different from being transgender. "Transgender" describes people who identify as a different gender from the one usually associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.​

You can read more about intersex and intersex myths here.
Karrastock / Getty Images

"As a child, it was easy for me to 'otherize' queer people because I grew up Mormon (LDS). I thought, Well, they are free to be whoever they want and that doesn’t involve me," Sydney said. But after finding out she was intersex, Sydney realized that the dismissal of gender as an oppressive force involves all of us. "The problems of oppression and risk of violence that had always felt like someone else’s were suddenly mine. Trans, intersex, and nonbinary people are our friends, our children, and ourselves. That is why there is no time to waste in fighting for their rights to safety and equal treatment."​

@sydneykidneybean / Via tiktok.com

Sydney wants everyone who watches her TikToks to feel safe and accepted. "My followers and I have begun to build a community that celebrates authenticity. Whether the world feels ready for it or not, intersex people are going to continue fighting for the rights we’ve always deserved."​

This Woman Diagnosed Herself As Intersex At Age 17 After Doctors Wouldn't Believe Her — Turns Out She Was Right. Now She's Sharing Her Journey As An Intersex Person To Be A Resource For Others.

"Women are not encouraged to know about their own bodies. It's a shame, it's really a shame."View Entire Post ›

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[™BlackPearl The Empress™]

Interesting...how the hell did no one notice she's basically a barbie with clit?

 

[Doobie Doo]

Interesting...how the hell did no one notice she's basically a barbie with clit?

There's a lot of questions I have that will turn this into a JBO thread.

 

[getmoney310cpt]

There's a lot of questions I have that will turn this into a JBO thread.

Yeah like when she said she’s on birth control now after the surgery which means someone is fukking but how if her hole was the size of a pen head?

 

[Geek Nasty]

Wait they’re trying to classify women with malformed hymen as intersex now

 

[Pseudonym]

No at all —when I had physicals when I was younger the doctor would do a quick peek down there ( of course a parent was always there) so I’m confused as to how she got to 17 without knowing. Same for my sons.

 

[O³ (O cubed)]

I call cap.

Tiktok? Clout chasing.

 

[Ake1725]

No at all —when I had physicals when I was younger the doctor would do a quick peek down there ( of course a parent was always there) so I’m confused as to how she got to 17 without knowing. Same for my sons.

Might be because she had bad parents. Father didn't even want to pay for her surgery in spite of her condition causing potential life threatening problems

 

[Wildhundreds]

The world would turn upside down if everyone knew they started out as a woman at conception and go from there.

 

[Pseudonym]

The world would turn upside down if everyone knew they started out as a woman at conception and go from there.

I miss being mind blown high off an edible in bio class. Every black Person in college right now, sign up for your African studies class ( make sure it’s taught by a black person) it will change your perspective

 

[BlackStarryKnight]

So what are the male characteristics? The lack of a period?

 

[Striving For Greatness]

The world would turn upside down if everyone knew they started out as a woman at conception and go from there.

 

[Chrishaune]

Deformities happen..........This world ain't perfect, because of the effects of sin.

Hate it happened to her, but we aren't going to change true and false for what somebody feels. It doesn't work like that.

 

[IsThatBrothaMouzone?]

So she basically has internal female parts but didn't really have a vaginal canal....so they created a hole...vagina...for her. She's got a clit, uterus, ovaries etc. Probably has a little bit more testosterone than the average woman.

Basically a female with more male hormones so likely higher sex drive (considerably higher). She looks girly for the most part....not really androgynous in the face. She's wearing baggy clothes so there's no way to tell how she's built. The booty, breasts and hips would be a good indicator of how the hormones affect her.