'I'm 26 years old and I've never had a period - and now I want a baby'

A 26-year-old woman named Katie Young, who has never had a period, is now hoping to have a baby. Girls usually start puberty between the ages of eight and 13, but some factors can delay it until the late teens before they start menstruating.

Katie recently shared her unique story on social media. In a TikTok video, she told her followers: "I'm 26 years old, and I have never had my period. Now, I know what you must be thinking. No way. There's no way I heard her right. But you did."

She admitted in her video that not having a period had its perks, like not worrying about being on her period during spring break in Mexico or wearing white during that time of the month. She also didn't have to miss sports practice due to crippling cramps.

But now, as Katie and her husband are trying to conceive, her lack of periods has become a concern. She revealed that she had seen doctors multiple times, but they found nothing unusual. She also mentioned that she was very active in sports growing up and had developed a slight eating disorder.

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Katie and her doctors thought two things were causing her irregular periods. She said: "So at the time, the fact that I wasn't getting my period wasn't that big of a problem or that big of a red flag, because doctors would just say, 'oh, you have barely any body fat. You have barely any estrogen in your body. You're still young. Let's not worry about it.' It's 16. Turned 18. I got a full work up, nothing came back. Odd."

At age 22, Katie's doctor finally admitted there was something "weird" about her situation. But instead of more tests or an ultrasound, she was put on birth control to help her hormones start working properly.

She recounted: "I've had a lot of doctors since then, and nobody thought that that was necessarily a bad call. So I'm not at all trying to give medical advice... And honestly, birth control was really great for me. I still wasn't having my periods, but all of a sudden my acne cleared up. I only got boobs for the first time. I kind of felt like I was finally doing something to address this problem that I just kicked down the road."

Now 26, Katie is eager to have a baby but is facing challenges. She's stopped using birth control and still isn't getting her period or becoming pregnant. Katie said: "Getting doctors appointments to find more answers has been a really slow process. So now I'm six months into trying to get pregnant with still no more answers than I had at 16."

She regrets not asking important health questions earlier, expressing: "I don't at all think this is my fault or that this is something I caused, but I do kinda kick myself for not asking these questions sooner. I wanted to get pregnant six months ago, and I was just blindly hoping that tomorrow is the day that I started my period. Obviously that never happened, and I just wish I'd ask these questions sooner."

Many people shared similar stories in the comments, with some diagnosed with MRKH Syndrome, which affects the female reproductive system. But Katie updated her followers, saying an ultrasound confirmed she doesn't have MRKH.

Viewers were shocked by Katie's situation. One person commented: "I'm a doctor and just in shock at this. How were you failed for this long?" Another added: "I'm flabbergasted health professionals never checked on this more. Not having a period is extremely serious."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.