A teenager who was born with male genitalia and raised as a boy has become pregnant just a year after finding out she has working ovaries.

Despite thinking she was a male, Mikey Chanel, currently 18, discovered she had, not just ovaries, but also a uterus, cervix and fallopian tubes.

Well, if that’s not surprising, maybe knowing that Mikey was born with male genitalia will. In fact, doctors and family were surprised, because as a foetus, she was revealed a girl. But she arrived with male genitalia and was raised as a boy.

As a teen, Mikey always felt “he” was different, compared with male peers.

“It was obvious to everyone that I was different from the start. At age five, I’d be playing with my aunt’s purses and putting on my mom’s lipstick,” Mikey confessed.

“I never felt like a boy. I was quite effeminate and I never went through the whole “boy puberty” thing. I only have a tiny bit of facial hair. I’ve always had a feminine-shaped body, with hips and a butt.”

Interestingly, Mikey came out as gay aged 13, and later wondered if she might be transgender. The truth came out only last year when she was undergoing routine tests at the hospital. (Please go for regular check-up guys. Very important.)

“I had been having a weird feeling after peeing and after sex, so they did an ultrasound of my urinary tract,” Mikey said. “They told me I had a cervix, ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes and that I could get pregnant if I wanted to.

“I actually thought it was a joke. I didn’t even know this was possible (That makes two of us). I was like ‘ha-ha, where are the cameras?’ (I know right?) Then they showed me my uterus on the screen.”

Eventually, Mikey was diagnosed with Persistent Mllerian Duct Syndrome (PMDS), a rare condition in which a person has male external genitals, with female reproductive organs internally.”

Mikey went through a hysterectomy (something about removal of the uterus—medicine students help me out!) after doctors advised her to. “People with PDMS are susceptible to cancer and tumours and the risk is lessened if you have a hysterec…,” she added.

After said procedure, her male parts came back infertile, but her ovaries were revealed to be working. She then realized she wouldn’t be able to have a child unless she carried it soon.

“I always knew I wanted to be a parent. I used to play with baby dolls when I was little and I’ve always seen kids in my future, so I decided, ‘It is now or never, I have to try and get pregnant.’”

After undergoing some tests too boring and numerous to mention, Mikey had three fertilized embryos implanted into her fallopian tube via an abdominal cavity because she doesn’t have a fallopian tube.

Mikey, who is now four months pregnant said, “I was told there was only about a 20 percent chance it would work, but it worked. I was so shocked, but happy. I can’t wait to be a parent.”

Mikey is now using her condition to raise awareness of PDMS and help people understand that it is a medical condition that could happen to anyone at birth.

Related: Kentucky Has Just Elected a Bulldog as Mayor.

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