The hymen is the hymen of the woman. It is a thin membrane that partially closes the vaginal entrance. There is a hole in the middle of the hymen to allow the period blood to drain away.
The hymen has no special function. It can tear, for example during the first sexual act. However, this can also happen under other circumstances, such as during sports, falls or when using tampons.
In some women the hymen is not intact at birth. If the hymen tears, this can lead to a slight bleeding. Often, however, the woman does not notice anything at all, neither pain nor bleeding. If the hymen is torn, parts of it may remain, which can be used for reconstruction.
Reasons
A hymen reconstruction has no medical reasons, since it does not fulfill any biological function. It is mainly desired by Muslims. In this religion the belief is widespread that the woman must be “pure” at the wedding, which in this case means that she must not have had intercourse before marriage.
On the wedding night, they are expected to bleed when their intact hymen is pierced, which is visible on the sheet. It is not uncommon for these sheets to be shown to the family after the night as proof of the purity of the woman. Some parents-in-law also force their future daughter-in-law to visit a gynecologist to have her virginity proven there.
If a Muslim woman has already had intercourse before the wedding, she is often afraid of being rejected by her future husband and by the whole family when they find out. Some even fear honor killing. Since many of these women believe that it is impossible to hide the fact that they have already had sex on the wedding night, they consider the possibility of hymen reconstruction.
This belief is often reinforced by the men who claim that they can tell if the woman has had sexual experiences before. However, many women have not experienced their first sexual act by mutual agreement, but have been victims of rape. In these cases, it is often not only the fear of the future man and his family that is the reason for the desire for reconstruction, but also the processing of the trauma.
