While politicians and the Twitterati spend time arguing about who does or doesn’t have a cervix, as a trained medical professional with specialist knowledge in sexual health and trans healthcare, I’m more interested in how to keep them healthy.
Here’s a brief overview on cervix health, and why it’s important.
The cervix is the neck of the womb, it is found at the top of the vagina, and is a closed channel. It provides the entry and exit point of the womb:
- Menstrual blood leaving the womb during a period
- Babies leaving the womb during childbirth
- Sperm swimming up through it to get to the egg in the hope of fertilisation
So, an important piece of human anatomy. However, it is also a vulnerable area, the cells of the cervix are delicate and subject to changes and that make it an easy place for cancerous cells to develop and for infection to harbour.
Where is your cervix? A guide for trans men and non-binary people
Anyone who has a cervix should look after it, and always be on the lookout for what might be different.
- Different blood
- Different discharge
- Different sensations
Get checked out, infections and cancers are much easier to manage if they are caught early.
I simply don’t understand why we need a big political argument about this. If you are a person who has a cervix and you notice any strange symptoms, then just get checked out. The rest of your bodily appearance should not matter. It doesn’t matter if you have one or two hairs on your chin or a full beard. It doesn’t matter if you have breasts or a chest. It doesn’t matter if you have oestrogen or testosterone as your main sex hormone.
What matters is that if you have a cervix, you need to look after it.
For those people who want to argue and debate about the language we use to label people who have a cervix, just rest up. Your public thoughts and comments cause confusion. Confusion causes uncertainty and uncertainty causes delays in people accessing healthcare when they need to get checked out.
My message is clear:
If you have a cervix, whatever your gender, whatever your hormone, whatever you look like on the outside.
If you have a cervix, look after it and get it checked.
Dr Helen Webberley