Muslim Women regain virginity in clinics to get married

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They look like typical French women from the outside but have the traditions hidden inside and follow them to conform to the rules.

There are about five million Muslims in France and many of them have emigrated from North Africa.

The young women who lost their virginity in prior relationships undergo a medical procedure called “hymenoplasty” where their hymen is re-sewn making them appear like virgin. Muslim women are expected to be virgins when they get married.

Definition of hymenoplasty from Wikipedia:

* A purely cosmetic procedure in which a membrane without blood supply is created, sometimes including a gelatine capsule of an artificial bloodlike substance. This operation is intended to be performed within a few days before an intended marriage.

* Use of a flap of the vaginal lining, complete with its blood supply, to create a new hymen. Patients are advised to refrain from penetrative sex for up to three months following these procedures.

Reuters did a report on this procedure and interviewed some who underwent this surgery. One of them a 26 year old French-born women of Algerian descent, who remained anonymous told Reuters:

"I'm glad I had it done…I wanted to reconstruct part of my life, to reconstruct myself so that I could feel better about myself."

She broke her virginity with an ex-boyfriend, who pressured her to have sex. She didn’t want to break the family tradition, so she decided to opt for this surgery.

The hymenoplasty is an outpatient procedure takes about 30 minutes to perform and costs about 1,500 and 3,000 Euros ($2000 to $4000). This procedure is increasingly popular among young Muslim women in France.

There are no clear statistics about how many operations are done in a year, but a woman’s surgeon said he performs one to three hymenoplasties each week and the demand for it is rising during the last three to four years.

Doctor Marc Abecassis, whose office is near the chic Champs Elysees, said more are becoming religious among the Muslim group in France and has led to more hymenoplasty surgeries. His patients range from 18 to 45 years old, born both in France and in North Africa.

Abecassis told Reuters:

"Many of my patients are caught between two worlds…They have had sex already but are expected to be virgins at marriage according to a custom that he called "cultural and traditional, with enormous family pressure".

Another woman said she didn’t do this for religious reasons rather for the cultural and family traditions. She also lost her virginity to her ex-boyfriend, but her fiancé expects her to be a virgin. She was back at work the next day after the surgery.

She told Reuters:

"I don't want to disappoint my fiancé…I wouldn't have had the surgery if I hadn't met him."

Neither of them practice the religion but just did this for traditional reasons.

A leading Muslim spokesman said Islam says bride and groom should be virgins before marriage, but did not take a clear stand for or against hymenoplasties. Lhaj Thami Breze, head of the Union of French Islamic Organizations said if they committed a sin, the essential thing is for them to repent.

The French doctors however consider this operation as an act against the ideals of sexual freedom and personal liberty.

Professor Jacques Lansac, president of The National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of France told Reuters:

"The surgery is an attack on women's dignity…We will not take part in a market that places value on the quality of a woman -- if she's good or not. It is an attack on women's liberty."

Lansac said this operation is illegal and violates the laws of France and the legal separation of church and state.

Even though Muslims require both bride and groom to be virgins, much of the focus is however on the women. I hope they ease up on the virginity issue soon, the French Muslims have to work it out by themselves. They are better off spending this money for their future and also avoid health risks from the surgery in my opinion.