

Photo from Flickr Commons by Pete Kraynak

By Daniel Mark Carr

We all know that many things are on the rise in China; the economy, the middle class population, the number of foreign TV series, and if the last few days are anything to go by, the temperature! Now add to the list… wait for it, ‘Hymenorrhaphy’. The surgical reconstruction of the hymen.

Earlier this month we reported that China ranked second in countries with most plastic surgery procedures, but it seems youthful looks aren’t all that women are searching for. More and more women are requesting to become ‘born again virgins’ via this procedure to reconstruct the hymen; aptly nicknamed ‘revirginity’.

The aim of the procedure is to cause bleeding during post-nuptial intercourse. The surgery normally lasts no more than half an hour and can cost in the region of 5000RMB. Director of gynecology at Beijing Wuzhou Women’s Hospital, Zhou Hong, said that more and more women are turning to surgery after lying to their fiancés about their sex lives.

Guess “I smashed into a wall while biking” isn’t convincing anybody?



While in some countries hymen reconstruction is illegal, in others, it is available in private clinics and public hospitals; as is the situation in many Muslim countries. In the East, the procedure is becoming more and more common with the appeal of marrying a virgin. In order to rebuild the hymen there are two main methods; either suturing a torn hymen or using a piece of vaginal tissue, complete with its blood supply and create a new hymen.

But while the procedure arguably seems to put women’s rights back some 40 years, doctors argue that it has therapeutic benefits as well – some women reconstruct the hymen as victims of rape or in order to forget abusive relationships.

Anyone interested in the surgery who goes wobbly at the knees at the sight of needles or scalpels needn’t worry. You can buy Chinese-made, artificial hymen together with a gelatin blood capsule in many sex novelty shops.