Kensa Wallace has struggled with abdominal pains since the age of seven that got worse over the years
A teen claims she was repeatedly ‘fobbed off’ by doctors as just a ‘late bloomer’ – only to discover she was not getting her period because she had no womb. Kensa Wallace has struggled with abdominal pains since the age of seven that got worse over the years and would come once a month.
The 17-year-old said she was concerned when she did not get her period by the time she was 15 and went to multiple doctors appointments. Doctors reportedly said the pain could be because Kensa was expecting her first period and gave her medication to bring on the bleeding.
But when the teen was 16, doctors thankfully referred her to University College Hospital in London, where she had an ultrasound and MRI scan. Kensa was finally diagnosed with Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome (MRKH) – a rare condition affecting one in every 5,000 women that is often characterised by being born with a shortened vagina, absent cervix and absent or undeveloped womb – also known as a uterus.
Kensa was told she did not have a uterus and would not be able to have children of her own and is now raising funds to have IVF in the future if she has a womb transplant or may need a surrogate. The fast food worker is scheduled to have surgery in January 2026 to remove her fallopian tube and the part of her womb that ‘tried’ to grow.
Kensa, from Rainham, Kent, said: “Everyone already had their period, my mum said she was a late bloomer but she got hers at 15. So when I was 16 I was like, ‘something is not right.’ I had intense abdominal cramping, it wouldn’t go away and I had to take strong pain killers.
“It made me cry and roll around on the floor. When I started screaming and crying we thought it must be something. “I was seven when it began, it was after I got my appendix out. It comes every month like a period would, but I don’t get the bleeding.
“I felt fobbed off, we just kept going and they were like ‘your period is coming’, or ‘it is gas’, but it has happened to me many times. I felt horrible. I was expecting endometriosis or something.
“It affects my confidence. I can’t relate to other women. I know there’s ways around it but it’s just not going to be the same and I’ll probably have to go through more than anyone else would.”
Holly Mason, Kensa’s mum, said: “We’ve been going to the doctors back and forth. They just gave her ibuprofen and paracetamol and sent us on our way.
“When she got to 14, I thought we should contact the GP because she doesn’t have her period. They said there is nothing they can do until she is 16. She was put on medication to see if that can kick start her period and that didn’t work. The gynaecologist sent us to UCLH (University College Hospital) in London.
“We went there and we expected something like endometriosis. They said Kensa has MRKH. I had never heard of it. She basically said Kensa will not be able to carry children, it’s something that would have happened when she was developing inside of me but it’s not picked up in scans.
“My heart sank. I just remember crying. Kensa didn’t really understand but my reaction to it made her understand it’s quite serious, she can’t carry children. You just feel absolutely fobbed off, it got really concerning when the pain got really intense and she was screaming on the floor.
“I was saying to the doctors ‘this is not normal for someone who is just waiting for her period.’ We were told from multiple medical professionals that she is a late bloomer, we were basically fobbed off.”
The 39-year-old mum said Kensa will have to look into surrogacy as well as IVF in order to have kids in the future. Securing NHS funding for IVF has been described as a ‘postcode lottery’, which appears to be even worse for those with MRKH.
One 2023 study in a BMJ Open journal claimed only seven of the 42 Integrated Care Boards in then UK said they would consider applications for part-funding towards IVF from those living with MRKH. Funeral arranger Holly, who quit her job to take care of Kensa, aims to raise awareness about the condition and help other teenagers.
Holly said: “She is producing eggs from her ovaries because they develop differently to the womb but she doesn’t have a womb. “In January she is having an operation to move the part of the womb that tried to grow (and) she is having her fallopian tube removed.
“It’s been a few years of feeling completely let down. If codeine isn’t even covering the pain something serious is going on. “The GoFundMe is to help her when she does make that decision. It’s not just IVF, that might be up to £10,000, she also has to look at surrogacy because she can’t carry it.
“Maybe a womb transplant when that becomes more advanced. Our main concern is making more people aware of this because there are going to be other teenagers that will go through it and not understand it.
“The lack of IVF funding on the NHS is really unfair. It feels like that part of her life is just cut off, ‘you can’t have children, deal with it’. It’s going to be tough but we’re going to get there. We’ll take it step by step.
“I think it affects her confidence, she is still only 17, she will have to explain she can’t have children the normal way, it’s going to be mentally and financially hard.”
Medway NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England have been contacted for comment. You can donate to Kensa’s cause here WHAT IS MRKH? (Info from NHS):MRKH is a condition that you are born with that is characterised by a shortened vagina, absent cervix, and absent or undeveloped uterus (womb). The ovaries are present and function in the same way as any other woman’s by producing eggs and female hormones that keep you healthy.
Women usually discover that they have MRKH during puberty. Although they develop breasts and pubic hair, they do not start having periods. This is because the ovaries produce the female hormones that allow puberty to occur but the absence of the uterus means that there is no period.
