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When YouTube makeup guru and model Cassandra Bankson was 16 years old, she discovered that she a bit of a medical anomaly.
After an unlikely encounter with an ill duck, Bankson went to the doctors to get checked. She was experiencing strange pains in her lower back and wasn’t sure what the cause was.
Her doctor prodded around, then sent Bankson to complete more comprehensive tests – an ultrasound and MRI. It was after the former test that the doctors discovered what sat at the cause of Bankson’s severe back pain.
Bankson had been born with one kidney – technically one healthy kidney with a “half” kidney attached to the side of the first – but two vaginas, uteruses, and cervixes. Her doubled reproductive system was what was causing her intense back pain.
Now, five years after Bankson became aware and informed about her personal medical history, she decided to open up to all of her passionate Internet followers about how she lives with her condition.
In a telling video, Bankson opens up about how her reproductive anatomy looks in her body, how her physical condition affects her sexual activity, and what sorts of questions she’s received from others.
The exterior of Bankson’s body looks just as any other woman’s does. Inside, however, her uterus is divided by a septum – “kind of like a nose,” she explained – creating two uteruses, each with its own cervix, that leads to its own fallopian tube and ovary.
There is the possibility of her getting pregnant in both uteruses, but because of the division in the middle, Bankson runs a higher risk of miscarrying or needing to have her children delivered via C-section.
Her doubled reproductive system does cause her about twice the amount of pain the average woman experiences during her menstrual cycle, and Bankson’s period does extend over the course of several weeks because of her strange hormone levels.
You can watch Bankson’s explanatory video here:
