Women Have Surgery to 'Restore' Virginity
Young Women Undergo Surgery to ‘Restore’ Virginity

By Lynn Sherr
ABC News 20/20
June 20

In a world of extreme makeovers where human bodies are now fashioned to order, this may be the ultimate plastic surgery. It is for women only. It is veiled in secrecy. And it fixes a tiny part of the anatomy rarely mentioned in polite company.

You may know it by a variety of slang terms. Technically, it's the hymen, a thin membrane that partially covers the opening of the vagina. A girl who has never had sexual intercourse is supposed to have her hymen intact.

Now, a new surgical technique is giving girls with a past a new future.

"The hymen's a delicate membrane that separates girls from women," said Dr. Robert Stubbs, who runs the Cosmetic Surgicentre in Toronto, where, in a simple, half-hour operation, he turns sexually experienced women into surgical virgins.

The surgery is called hymen restoration — a relatively simple procedure that stitches back together what a moment of passion might have shattered.
‘Queen of Virginity’

In New York City, the operation has created a new class of royalty: "They call me the Queen of the Virginity, " says Cuban-born Esmeralda Venegas, who runs the Ridgewood Health and Beauty Center in Queens.

Here, board-certified plastic surgeons repair the thin membrane, either by stitching the frayed ends together or by adding a patch of tissue from the vaginal walls. Either way, it's a procedure that's a lot easier and less dangerous than the usual nips and tucks women come here for.

But the psychic pain associated with the decision to undergo the surgery is immense. We met one young woman, a 17-year-old we'll call Rosalita, who — forced by centuries of tradition — traveled incognito to Venegas' clinic.

"I heard when I was young that all the girls that get married, they bled for the first time," Rosalita said.
For Rosalita, the idea that brides should bleed on their wedding night was very important.
"Yeah, that's important, because they know that you are a virgin," she said.

But Rosalita is not a virgin. She's come to the clinic to regain what she lost during a recent vacation — a moment of lust, she says, not love.

Rosalita is from the Dominican Republic and lives in New Jersey with her mother. She doesn't have a boyfriend right now, but believes she'll never get married without at least the illusion of virginity.

ABC  NEWS 20/20 JUNE 20 2003 TOPIC LIKE A VIRGEN YOUNG WOMEN UNDERGO SURGERY TO RESTORE VIRGINITY
 
FOX 5 10:00 O'CLOK NEWS  YEAR 2000 TOPIC HYMEN RECONSTRUCTION
 
CRISTINA SHOW CHANNEL 41 YEAR 2001 TOPIC VIRGEN OTRA VES
 
MARTHA SUSANA CHANNEL 41  UNIVION TOPIC FRABRICA DE VIRGENES YEAR 2002
 
LIFE TIME CHANNEL 12 YEAR 2000 TOPIC HYMEN RECONTRUCTION
 
LATINA MAGAZINE MARCH 2004  TOPIC YOUR VIRGINITY WOULD YOU PAY TO GET IT BACK?
 
MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE AUGUST 2000 TOPIC PLEASE MAKE ME A VIRGEN AGAIN
 
PEOPLE EN ESPANOL MAGAZINE DICIEMBRE DEL 2000/ ENERO DEL 2001
 
FRONT COVER OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWSPAPER DEC 15 2005 TOPIC VIRGIN TERRITORY: U.S. WOMEN SEEK A SECOND FIRST TIME
 
FRONT COVER  NEW YORK POST NEWSPAPER MAY 2, 2004  TOPIC BRIDES-TO-BE STORM DOC'S VIRGIN FACTORY
 
DISCOVERY CHANNEL 1-28-2006 TOPIC VIRGINITY 
 
 
GLOBO INTERNACIONAL TV  FROM BRAZIL  2000  RECONSTRUCCION DEL HIMEN
 
PROSIEBEN WITH GABAR HARRACH FRON GERMANY YEAR 2000 
 
DESPIERTA AMERICA WITH GISELLE BLONDE CHANNEL 41 UNIVION  YEAR 2002