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Sexuality, Sex, Pregnancy, and Spina Bifida

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The Spina Bifida

Abstract

During the last 40 years, more and more myelo — menin gocele (MMC) patients have survived to adulthood, and since the 1980s there is growing interest in the sexual functioning of these patients. However, most of what is known about the impact of MMC on sexual functioning pertains to males. There are several reasons for this bias. First, much of the research in which the issues associated with sexuality of MMC patients have been examined consists of self-report questionnaire studies. Because males have protruding external genitalia and visible sexual responses, they are more likely to be aware of physical sexual responsiveness and thus can seemingly respond more accurately to questionnaires. Secondly, there appears to have been a societal bias that has limited research in females with MMC to studies that focus primarily on reproductive issues, thus more or less avoiding areas as sexual activity and its difficulties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Jeroen Bosch Hospital’s, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

    Ann de Vylder

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  1. Ann de Vylder
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Italia

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Vylder, A.d. (2008). Sexuality, Sex, Pregnancy, and Spina Bifida. In: The Spina Bifida. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-0651-5_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-0651-5_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-0650-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-0651-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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