Elen Wyn, known for her appearance on The Traitors and as a Welsh opera singer, has stated she is “grateful to have an abnormal anatomy,” as it ultimately led to her diagnosis of endometriosis.
In a recent appearance on the podcast It’s Not JUST a Period!, the 25-year-old from Anglesey revealed that doctors discovered she had only one “abnormally big kidney… two wombs and two cervixes”.
This condition, referred to as uterus didelphys, occurs when the uterus fails to properly fuse during development in the womb and affects approximately 0.3% of women.
The condition results in a double uterus, which may also include two cervixes and two vaginal canals.
Despite living with the condition throughout her life, the recent discovery has left Wyn with “so many questions,” including “why do [both the wombs] bleed at the same time?”
The star of The Traitors Series 3, who was eliminated in episode two, had previously shared with the BBC that the pain she experienced felt like “barbed wire around her stomach.”
After beginning menstruation at the age of 14, she frequently missed school and was unable to participate in sports due to the discomfort.
During her 10-year wait for an endometriosis diagnosis, Wyn, originally from Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, was often told it was “just a period,” that she had a low pain tolerance, and was even laughed at by a GP on one occasion.
Wyn first suspected she might have endometriosis after seeing others discuss it on TikTok, but the full extent of her complex condition was revealed in what she described as a “terrifying” manner.
Following her second ultrasound, a doctor assumed she was aware that she only had one kidney, which she was not.
She was then referred for an internal ultrasound and recalled feeling extremely anxious when a nurse was unable to locate her cervix, prompting additional staff to be called in for second opinions.
“So many people were just looking at this screen inside of me and they just didn’t understand,” she stated.
Initially, doctors dismissed the possibility of endometriosis – a condition characterized by tissue similar to the womb’s lining growing elsewhere in the body – but informed her that her anatomy appeared “very different” and scheduled her for an urgent MRI scan.
While attempting to understand her uterus didelphys, doctors inquired whether she experienced two menstrual periods per month, which she did not.
“They asked me ‘do you use tampons or pads?’ and I said both.
“They asked me if I insert a tampon, do I continue to bleed, and I said no,” she recalled.
“So it’s all normal except from my two wombs.”
Wyn admitted she remains puzzled by the discovery, which has left her with “so many questions.”
“What I don’t understand is if I have two wombs… why do they bleed at the same time?
“Are they just in sync?
“I’m kind of grateful that I do have an abnormal anatomy because otherwise I wouldn’t have found out I had stage 4 endometriosis.”
After enduring years of feeling dramatic and being “constantly gaslit,” Wyn expressed that the diagnosis was something she “really needed.”
Uterus didelphys is a rare congenital condition that arises before birth, when the two tubes that typically form a single uterus fail to properly fuse.
This results in the creation of two separate wombs, each with its own cervix, and, in some cases, a double vaginal canal.
Individuals with a double uterus are at an increased risk of miscarriage and preterm birth but can have healthy pregnancies.
Some symptoms include:
With her diagnosis confirmed, Wyn is now awaiting a laparoscopy to surgically remove the endometriosis.
After believing she was on the waiting list for nine months, with an estimated wait time of six to eight months, she requested an update and discovered that she was “never referred.”
She has since been added to the list, but feels that this means the clock has restarted in her pursuit of the answers she needs.
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