Medical professionals were initially stumped by the modern 'Virgin Mary'
No, we're not just pulling your leg - there is a more detailed, logical explanation as to why the 20-year-old found herself pregnant without ever having sex.
Nicole Moore suffers from a medical condition called '
vaginismus', which essentially causes the vaginal walls to spasm and contract involuntarily. Obviously, this causes many women difficulty during penetrative sex or masturbation.
In fact, vaginismus can be such an obstructive condition that it even causes difficulty when inserting tampons for some women. As such, Nicole had never had managed to have full penetrative sex with her boyfriend, as it was just too painful.
The couple had tried in the past but Nicole said "it was impossible" and prior to her diagnosis, had received little information from previous doctors and simply "didn't understand why it couldn't happen".
Symptoms of pregnancy
Nicole surprise discovery came at work: "I started getting terrible heartburn and sore breasts. My boss at the time, who was a close friend and knew about my situation, said she thought I could be pregnant".
Naturally, aware of her difficulties, Nicole laughed off the suggestion as "[she] was still a virgin and never had penetrative sex". Nevertheless, the colleague pointed out that "it was possible if there had been any fluids near [her] vagina".
Understandably, Nicole and the father-to-be had found other ways to experience pleasure and sure enough, after taking a pregnancy test on her lunch break, it came back positive.
Beyond the disbelief, Nicole was obviously concerned with not only explaining this to her partner - worrying that he might accuse her of cheating - but with how she was going to be able to deliver the baby.
Diagnosis
Fortunately, she described her then-boyfriend and incredibly supportive and understanding. More importantly, though, Nicole received the diagnosis around four months on and was ultimately able to lose her virginity a month later.
Thanks to her diagnosis and help from a therapist, she was able to give birth to her daughter Tilly without any complications. Congrats!
While Nicole still suffers from vaginismus, she now knows "how to deal with it and it definitely isn't as bad" and while "I still can't do certain things, like insert a tampon [...] I feel very fortunate that I am now able to have a normal sex life".
"Tilly is definitely my little miracle", said Nicole; "We've got the best life together and having her was the best thing I've ever done." All the best, Nicole and Tilly!
