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It got to the point where I was obsessive in my desire to have a child. My mum told me I needed some counselling. I started to re-evaluate what womanhood could look like for me, outside of my biological capabilities. I think we kind of take for granted that we’re going to be able to have children. Not being able to conceive doesn’t reduce your value as a woman, it doesn’t make you less of a woman – but that’s kind of what society tells us. And when 100 women share intimate photos and deeply personal experiences relating to their vaginas, the result is a tender yet taboo-exploding message of women reclaiming their womanhood. At least, that’s what Laura set out to achieve.

I continued having pain, but I kept being told it was normal. It turned out I have endometriosis, uterine polyps and fibroids, which was a blow on top of a missing ovary. The really big deal was finding out that if I waited too long, I would be unlikely to conceive naturally, if at all. I first met Laura, a photographer from Surrey, in 2015 following her exploration of 100 women’s relationships with their breasts.

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Dr Naomi Crouch, chair of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, has also noticed a “marked increase in girls and young women seeking labiaplasty” over the last few years.” I feel a bit broken as a woman because we’re supposed to carry babies. Also, I have a shorter vagina now so I can’t even get the same pleasure I used to. I felt angry that the part of my body, which is central to women’s identity, had done a number on me at 24. http://gigapeta.com/dl/4108433a6fcd12 | http://rapidgator.net/file/ad87825090ac9 533853747495a7c07b1 Now, her latest work puts vulvas and vaginas in the spotlight thanks to her new book Womanhood: The Bare Reality and forthcoming Channel 4 documentary: 100 Vaginas. My vulva is happy and majestic. It’s heart-shaped and it isn’t one colour, there are different shades of brown. It’s kind of tidy, but it’s also an organised mess. I think there’s something really powerful about having the opportunity to look at yourself in more detail. It gives you a different appreciation for your body.

http://gigapeta.com/dl/3746864a8f42e3 | http://rapidgator.net/file/d56a49a5636ce bdfeb2b7e5208d7e189 http://gigapeta.com/dl/3778872a9e9bab | http://rapidgator.net/file/a03b58b68160f a30a1dec06ccdd2b474 http://gigapeta.com/dl/3770229a1732d8 | http://rapidgator.net/file/e71a12c4831c0 b2138494a7d6957cf30 I never wanted to have children until I developed reproductive health problems. When I was 19, I had a Mirena coil fitted and that caused me to get pelvic inflammatory disease, which was excruciatingly painful. I grew a cyst on my right ovary very rapidly. I was in and out of A&E and I had to suspend my studies at uni. In the end I had emergency surgery that resulted in the loss of my right ovary and fallopian tube and they drained five litres of fluid from the cyst.http://gigapeta.com/dl/3774266a5a08a7 | http://rapidgator.net/file/6be9c1a24ab74 cde5fb3c35a63993476 Having endometriosis means that my periods are irregular and can be excruciating. It’s like a hot, burning sensation in my uterus that radiates throughout the lower half of my body, into my hips and down into my knees. People think I’m exaggerating, but sometimes I can’t work. I also get a sudden sharp shooting pain in my vagina, which catches me off guard. It’s exhausting having to live with a level of pain that never really goes away. The idea that women are turning away from pleasure because they’re worried about what they look, smell and taste like has unearthed a fundamental message for Laura.

I'm sure now more than ever, I will always admire, love, and show affection to the any woman who blesses me with the pleasure and experience of being able to gaze upon, and pleasure her body. Shame is a really big problem for human beings,” she sighs. “Where I’ve found that, generally, men are under pressure to be ‘enough’ – big enough, getting laid enough, rich enough, man enough – women feel like they’re ‘too much’ – too fat, too hairy, too saggy, too female. Frankly, we just need to be as we are. Yes, you can look at the photos and go ‘Wow, we all look really different’, but it’s also about connecting with the honesty of these stories. Because if you find yourself feeling admiration, pride and inspiration for another person, it becomes easier to apply that to yourself, too.” I had a stage 1B grade 3, which is small, but nasty. Thankfully it was caught early. I had my cervix removed, the surrounding kind of tissue area and the top third of my vagina and, thank God, didn’t need further treatment, like chemotherapy. I can get pregnant, but because there’s no cervix there’s a high chance of miscarriage or early birth. I didn’t grow up with my father but I thought he was incredible. When I was a teenager, I’d go and spend the weekend with him. One night he got into bed with me and started touching me. The next day I confronted him. His reasoning was that he wanted me to realise that I had a beautiful body and that sex was a wonderful thing. I was like, ‘You’re not the right person to be teaching me any of this because you’re my father.’ With that in mind, she couldn’t not confront her own vulnerabilities. “When I first looked at my vulva I thought, ‘Whoa, there’s a lot going on there!’ But taking part has been transformative for me: I’m more comfortable in my skin as a woman. It’s a pivotal experience to do something like this because it’s so exposing.http://gigapeta.com/dl/3774725aa02654 | http://rapidgator.net/file/015c0e90f05f9 f955635481b8a56939c http://gigapeta.com/dl/3780702aa73d48 | http://rapidgator.net/file/65b46c7623d73 754943dbfbadbaf3a76 http://gigapeta.com/dl/3770442a061a4d | http://rapidgator.net/file/8e039c91b5ec1 a0c3bcfd40e8b539bcb http://gigapeta.com/dl/3778529a70dd4b | http://rapidgator.net/file/ef2fab7e195fc b384ebb1eb23c4c1940 http://gigapeta.com/dl/3770144a2d41aa | http://rapidgator.net/file/aa704393cae98 f5b3f62078449ee11e0

Over a few weeks, I bled a lot between periods, and also after sex with my boyfriend at the time. I googled bleeding and it came up with lots of different things: an STI, hormonal imbalance, cervical cancer.

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http://gigapeta.com/dl/3772191a115d31 | http://rapidgator.net/file/7f7a0cf28174c 01377d9331c84e7a74b I went to the doctor and, although I was too young [24] for a smear test, she did one anyway. I was sent to the hospital for a colposcopy, which involves a camera going into the vagina. A consultant said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t cancer’. Two weeks later it was confirmed. I felt hot, sweaty, shaky. ‘Cancer’ means dying, that’s what we all think it means. I was just 24, I couldn’t understand how this could be happening. I have seen, touched, indeed worshipped many vulvas. And yet I have never had the courage to look at my own. I have identified as a lesbian most of my life. I desperately wanted to be a boy as a child. I hated my body, my gender, for many years. Since then I have come full circle to a place of love and reverence for who I am – and what I am made of. http://gigapeta.com/dl/3749759aad77f3 | http://rapidgator.net/file/fad94d3ce9fd8 2618b7e5a8bbee4fc17