XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
   Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Medicine
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate
Search

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2006 - 1:55:25 PM

Odd Medical News Channel
subscribe to Odd Medical News newsletter

Special Topics : Odd Medical News

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Restoring virtue for Rs.20,000!
Apr 14, 2006 - 9:13:00 PM, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena

"If hymenoplasty becomes a trend, it will provide our patriarchal set-up with a more conducive environment to retain old mindsets. Only the doctors will prosper."

 
A scientific triumph or a regressive procedure that further compromises the position of women in conservative India? Either way, surgeons in Gujarat, India are set to cash in on the demand for hymenoplasty, the term for medical restoration of a woman's technical virginity.

More and more women are queuing up for the surgical procedure that will restore their hymens and keep their virtue intact in the eyes of their future in-laws and husbands. Hymenoplasty had clandestinely begun eight years ago in this city. Of late, however, such surgeries are on the rise.

Young Gujarati girls turn up with the sole intention of "keeping their future in-laws under the illusion that they are virgins", said cosmetic surgeon Hemant Saraiya here.

"Two out of the seven girls who came for hymenoplasty to me said they were sex workers who wanted to get married. One of them didn't want her in-laws to know that she was not a virgin. "The other didn't want her future husband to find out that she had had a premarital affair," said Saraiya.

"They had to pay just Rs.20,000 for the restoration of the hymen," he added.

He described it as a simple surgery that was not too painful for patients. "I operated the first patient eight years ago, but five patients came during the last couple of years," he said.

Plastic surgeon Bijal Parikh said that people were very inquisitive about the surgery although only two patients actually came to him for hymenoplasty.

Astonishingly, it is not just young women getting married who are going in for the procedure.

A middle-aged woman from abroad approached Parikh for the surgery because she wanted to gift the regained virginity to her husband on their 20th wedding anniversary.

"I get queries from Indians in the US and Britain. If the practice becomes a trend, we will strike gold," Parikh said.

"Moreover, the surgery is much cheaper in India. Also, we have five-star hospitals in the city that are economical compared to any of India's metro city hospitals."

While Parikh and Saraiya look at the business aspect, there are many who alarmed at what it portends.

Sociologist Gaurang Jani, for instance, holds medical professionals responsible for "not educating people" in order to profit monetarily from such a gender-biased operation.

"Instead of educating society by spreading information about sex, doctors are making money out of such backward mindsets.

"If hymenoplasty becomes a trend, it will provide our patriarchal set-up with a more conducive environment to retain old mindsets. Only the doctors will prosper."

Jani, however, put aside the question on the future of hymenoplasty by saying, "This is a transitory phase. After a couple of decades, if a boy claims that he has married a virgin, people will laugh at him."
 

- Indo-Asian News Service
 

 
Subscribe to Odd Medical News Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 



Related Odd Medical News News
Chinese woman cuts open her belly to save surgery cost
Two-year-old world's first to have extra DNA strand
172,155 kidney stones removed from one patient!
18 kg tumour removed from woman
VitaCig - Cigarettes with Vitamin C that don't stain teeth
A sneeze could give away your personality traits
Two-week-old embedded arrow surgically removed
Woman delivers baby on road in West Bengal
Restoring virtue for Rs.20,000!
Living with boyfriend? You could become obese


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us