“They removed my uterus and I had no idea for 11 years” – a mother recounts a painful experience

 

Eleven years after childbirth, a woman in South Africa has relived a painful and bitter memory of how a state hospital removed her uterus without her consent.

Bongekile Msibi, who was among the 48 women sterilised at state hospitals, said the health facility removed her uterus after she gave birth at 17years.

The South African Commission for Gender Equality, in its investigation, found that 15 hospitals in South Africa had sterilised 48 women without their consent.

Bongekile told the BBC’s Clare Spencer that she only learned about the hospital’s deed 11 years later when she tried to have another child.

She noted, “things unravelled when I was trying to conceive again after my engagement.”

“I went to see the doctor… He examined me, sat me down, gave me a glass of water and told me I had no uterus,” Ms Msibi said.

Reliving memories of her first childbirth experience, she noted, “I woke up after giving birth, looked down and asked, why do I have a huge bandage on my stomach?”

But she was quick that she did not mind then since she had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl.

“I had just given birth to my daughter. She was a big baby, and I had been anaesthetised and gone through a Caesarean section,” Bongekile recalled.

“I left the hospital five days after giving birth, with a healthy baby daughter and a huge scar across my stomach,” she said.

She also revealed that she had been on a contraceptive pill after childbirth, so not seeing her monthly flow did not come as a surprise.

But the real surprise hit her when she realised the grave injustice that had been done her.

“I worked it out, my uterus must have been removed, and the only time it could have happened was after I had given birth,” she said.

“It is very cruel. I was devastated and confused. It did not make sense because I was already a mother. It is very cruel what they did to me, ” she said of the life-changing experience.

Fast forward, Ms Msibi went to the press, followed up to the health ministry and subsequently back to the hospital.

Ms Msibi conversations with the doctor

The doctor, whose name was not revealed, appeared to be unapologetic about what happened 11 years ago.

“He did not say sorry,” she said adiing, “he told me that he had sterilised me to save my life.”

According to Ms Msibi, the doctor mentioned that she had signed a consent form, but she has maintained that she had not agreed to any sterilisation consent form.

“I was a minor at the time so I would not have been able to,” she stressed.

Realising that he [the doctor] would be in trouble, the doctor made a u-turn and claimed Ms Msib’si mother had signed the consent form.

“I still do not know what he was trying to save me from and there are no records at the hospital.

“I am not the only one. An inquiry found there are 47 others. Some were told it was because they had HIV, but I do not. I just don’t know why they did it.

“The news changed my life. In the end, I split up with my fiance. I had to let him go because he wanted to have children and I could not give him that.

“My daughter wants a sibling and when we go past street kids she suggests I bring one up as my own,” the hopes of a mother,” she said.

Ms Msibi, however, has not lost hope, “I still have my ovaries and so I think the hospital should pay for a surrogate.”

“I also want somebody to be held accountable. We cannot allow doctors to keep doing this because our rights as women are being violated.”

“Doctors need to know that they are under scrutiny, that we know what they get up to when we are lifeless.

“I can never get over that and the scar would always be a reminder,” the shattered mother said.

Despite everything, she said she wanted an apology.

“I want the doctor who did this to me to say sorry.”