An emotional mum has told of her horror at discovering her son had a hidden VAGINA at eight years old.
Leanne Owen, from Blackpool, Lancashire, claims the shocking news caused her to miscarry her new baby.
The 40-year-old only found out eight-year-old Harry Blunden had rare condition bifid scrotum and urethral duplication in May 2015, after years of searching for a diagnosis.
A month later the then pregnant mum-of-two discovered she had miscarried her baby – it emerged the foetus had been lost at six weeks, the same time she got the shocking news about Harry’s genitalia.
Leanne explained: “When I went in for my first pregnancy scan, they found blood in my urine and I was told that I had lost my baby at six weeks.
“I was devastated and when I went back and tracked the weeks back, that would have made it to around May 18 last year – which was the same week that I was told that Harry had a vagina.”
Harry was born with a number of defects including no anus, no urethra hole in his penis and three holes in his heart, as well as a twisted spinal cord and kidney problems.
But his bifid scrotum, which involves him having a deep midline cleft in his scrotum which causes two labia folds, was only discovered a year ago.
Harry, who also has severe dyspraxia, has undergone more than 12 operations and has also been given a colostomy bag.
But his lack of penis growth was a cause for concern for mum Leanne, who is also mother to 16-year-old daughter Millie Bracewell, and she searched globally for a diagnosis for his condition.
And after discovering that Harry actually had bifid scrotum with features associated with female genitalia, Leanne found out he actually had VACTERL association – the acronym given to the non-random co-occurrence of multiple birth defects.
Leanne said: “I knew there was something internally that was wrong with Harry as well as the other defects that were picked when he was born.
“I’ve spent the months since joining Facebook groups, support groups and asking experts around the world to try and find out what was wrong with Harry.
“When I found out that it was VACTERL association, I just broke down because it was such a huge breakthrough and now we can get the treatment to get him on the right path in life.”
Harry had been treated since birth at Blackpool Victoria Hospital before moving to Manchester Children’s Hospital until Leanne requested he be treated at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
“It breaks my heart as it takes eight of us to get him down there because he is seven stone, but it’s for his own good.
“Harry has always got a smile on his face, which is amazing when you think of all that he has been through.
“If you looked at him, you would never guess that there was anything wrong with him because he is such a happy little boy who loves to sing and dance, and everybody in the local area knows him like a celebrity.”
