While childbirth is often described as a miracle, Kelsi Mickelson’s experience stood out because doctors had previously explained that a medical condition would likely prevent her from engaging in normal sexual activity or becoming pregnant.
When she was 15, Kelsi attended her first gynecologist appointment, where she was told that her vaginal opening was extremely small due to excess tissue, making even basic gynecological exams difficult.
“She could not do a pelvic exam. So she’s like, ‘It doesn’t affect you and it’s not a problem except you can’t have sex.'”
Doctors had planned for her to undergo a hymenectomy at 18 to remove excess skin, but before that could happen, Kelsi unexpectedly found herself pregnant.
A few weeks after a night of what she described as fooling around, without intercourse, Kelsi became concerned when her period did not arrive, and a pregnancy test confirmed something she and her mother never thought possible.
Because she came from a religious background, comparisons to the Virgin Mary quickly followed, but the situation also led to Kelsi losing many friends who refused to believe her explanation.
As her pregnancy progressed, Kelsi wanted to explore intimacy in a safe way, and after marrying her boyfriend and moving in together, they had sex for the first time when she was six months pregnant.
Despite concerns from medical professionals about potential complications during delivery, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl in September 2009.
“After they were thinking they would have to go and cut some of the skin off, they didn’t – it disintegrated.”
“Her coming down the birth canal, all that skin was gone. Our daughter was born weighing 6lbs 11oz, no complications and we named her Zoe. The name means “Life, full of spirit“”
After Zoe was born, Kelsi found that sex was no longer painful, and she later went on to have four more children, although her unusual medical history continued, with three pregnancies occurring while she had an IUD.
