# hymen regrowth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753 "2004-03-27T16:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sanctie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Sanctie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanctie)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753/1 "2004-03-27T16:59:11Z")
Hymen Regrowth I have scoured through various search engines to find the truth of hymen regrowth, also known as becoming a “re-born virgin”. Some friends of mine at work and I are having a slight dispute of whether or not this is possible scientifically. I would think that logically since it is just tissue, and tissue can regrow then it would be feasible, am I wrong, and if it is possible how long would something like that take? Thanks,—Sanctie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753/2 "2004-03-27T17:24:06Z")
I’ve never heard of spontaneous regeneration of the hymen, but I have heard about surgical “re-virgining.” In some countries where virginity is highly prized, some women undergo a surgical procedure to re-install a hymen. Of course, anything is possible, but I doubt if hymens grow back by themselves very often. After all, we humans are the only creature that I know of that have one. I’ve heard various explanations for this, one of which is that women who could prove their virginity were selected for, evolutionarily speaking, meaning that women with hymens were selected as wives/child-bearers more often than women who did not, so the trait was passed down. However, there was no need for the hymen to grow back, so it wouldn’t be written into our body’s code. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753/3 "2004-03-27T17:51:49Z")
Why don’t you just get a nice piece of liver? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753/4 "2004-03-28T05:29:39Z")
If I recall correctly, I’ve heard that _whales_ have hymens, too. At least the female ones do. The little factoid is pretty isolated in the wilderness of information that is my brain, though, and I can’t quite remember _where_ I heard it… which means digging up a cite is going to be an adventure. Anyhow. In humans, hymens vary considerably in size, thickness, etc. So… is it that a hymen “regrows”, or that an unusually thick hymen torn during initial intercourse might to some degree heal up, giving an impression of a “regrown” hymen? I suppose a very few women actually _might_ regrow a hymen - it would be like having a third set of teeth. Very rare, but it can happen. To a very few individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hymen-regrowth/236753/5 "2004-03-28T05:43:30Z")
Does no one use the search function anymore? From Cecil: > [@](#): > > Just one problem: Morris to the contrary notwithstanding, retention of the hymen is not unique to humans. It occurs in horses, whales, moles, mole-rats, hyenas, and perhaps other animals. (In the great fin whale, in fact, the hymen is not completely destroyed until childbirth.) [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_226.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_226.html)