Man thought he had a hernia, but doctors found female genitalia in bulge

Doctors operating on what they thought was a dad-of-three’s hernia instead found the bulge in fact contained female genitalia.

The 67-year-old went into hospital in Kosovo complaining of swelling in his groin that had lasted for a decade and was also born with only one descended testicle.

Doctors diagnosed him with an inguinal hernia, when tissue pokes through into the groin at the top of the inner thigh.

But when surgeons inspected the mass they found a uterus, cervix, fallopian tube and ovary, as well as his missing testicle. 

The case was revealed in the journal Urology Case Reports by medics working at the University of Prishtina.

The man was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition known as Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome (PDMS).

Only 200 cases have been reported of the condition which occurs when men also have female reproductive organs alongside their penis and scrotum.

It occurs when the beginnings of a womb known as the Mullerian duct doesn’t break down in the early development of males.

 But in very rare cases this does not happen which leads to some boys being born with both sets of reproductive organs. 

Symptoms of the condition include undescended testicles and hernias in the groin.

But female organs are not usually discovered unless surgery is performed to treat the mass.

The patient had been suffering from a lump for 10 years that would get bigger when he stood up or coughed but flattened when he lay flat.

During the operation to repair it, doctors found a pear-like structure that they discovered was a uterus.

They also found a scrotal sac that contained a fallopian tube and a testicle, which had an ovary attached to it.

They diagnosed him with PMDS, which has the main symptom of an inguinal hernia.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.