A distraught mum, Leanne Owen, 40, from Blackpool, Lancashire, has told of the shock she experienced when she found out that her son had a hidden vagina when he was already 8 year old, saying that she had a miscarriage as a result of the news.
Her son was born with a number of defects including no anus, no urethra hole in his penis and three holes in his heart, as well as a twisted spinal cord and kidney problems.
Leanne only found out her eight-year-old son, Harry Blunden had a rare condition called bifid scrotum and urethral duplication in May 2015, after years of searching for a diagnosis.
Bifid scrotum, involves him having a deep midline cleft in his scrotum that causes two labia folds.
Leanne explained:
“When I went in for my first pregnancy scan, they found blood in my urine and I was told that I had lost my baby at six weeks.I was devastated and when I went back and tracked the weeks back, that would have made it to around May 18 last year – which was the same week that I was told that Harry had a vagina.” Leanne said:
“I knew there was something internally that was wrong with Harry as well as the other defects that were picked when he was born. I’ve spent the months since joining Facebook groups, support groups and asking experts around the world to try and find out what was wrong with Harry.
“When I found out that it was VACTERL association, I just broke down because it was such a huge breakthrough and now we can get the treatment to get him on the right path in life. I feel frustrated because if this had been picked up when Harry was a baby, he wouldn’t have to be in the pain that he is now. It is horrible when Harry is to go in for an operation because he hates it and we have to physically hold him down because it is the only way that we can get him ready for the operation.
''It breaks my heart as it takes eight of us to get him down there because he is seven stone, but it’s for his own good. Harry has always got a smile on his face, which is amazing when you think of all that he has been through.
''If you looked at him, you would never guess that there was anything wrong with him because he is such a happy little boy who loves to sing and dance, and everybody in the local area knows him like a celebrity.”More photos...