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- May 11, 2013
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Michaela, 38, and James Reece, 34, have launched an online appeal with hopes to raise treatment funds for vaginismus, which isn't available in Australia
Michaela, 38, and James Reece, 34, have launched an online appeal with hopes to raise treatment funds for vaginismus, which they say isn't available in Australia.
Mrs Reece was diagnosed with the condition after experiencing what she described as 'excruciatingly pain' the first time she tried to have sex with her husband during their honeymoon.
The disorder causes the vaginal muscles to involuntarily tighten.
Medical experts say there is no cure for the condition which affects a woman's ability to engage in any form of vaginal penetration including sexual intercourse.
The couple have shared how they 'fell madly in love' when they first met but waited to have sex.
'Jimmy made a decision at the age of 14 that he would wait for his wedding night to have sex with his wife,' they wrote on Go Fund Me.
'We met, fell madly in love and dated and waited for 21 months before we got married.'
The couple continued to explain how they were 'very excited for our honeymoon', considering Mr Reece was 25 and a virgin.
'Imagine our heartbreak when sex was excruciatingly painful - to the point of impossible - and ended up in infection,' they wrote.
'This has been our reality ever since. Three years and many specialists and misdiagnoses would pass before we would finally be given a name for this condition.'
Mrs Reece's has told of her frustrations of 'never being able to have sex' with the person she loves.
'Imagine being with the one person you love but never being able to have sex with them,' she told the Courier Mail.
'Every birthday, every anniversary, every new year that goes by means I still can't be with my husband properly and it's torture.'
Mrs Reece describes vaginismus as 'an involuntary muscle spasm which causes any penetration to be excruciatingly painful.'
Medical experts say it is estimated that millions around the world suffer from it, explaining that vaginismus is the result of an involuntary reflex contraction of the pubococcygeus muscle which supports the vagina.
But for Mr and Mrs Reece, they've travelled across Australia but failed to find the right sort of treatment for this disorder.
'It has broken us. Brought us to tears. And eventually became a thing we just didn't talk about. Until now,' they wrote on their fund-raising page.
So when they came across a vaginismus support page on Facebook, they discovered that other women suffering from the same condition flew to New York for treatment at the Women's Therapy Centre.
The couple wrote that the treatment and travel costs will total to about $25,000 but are hoping to raise $15,000.
'Our 10 year anniversary is coming up in December this year,' they wrote.
'It'd be lovely if this was the year that we could be together in "that way" for the first time.'
They hope to travel to New York for two weeks of treatment in October.
http://goo.gl/a8pzgJ
