IamA 17 year old born with a rare condition called persistent cloaca AND another condition called imperforate anus.

Hey, fellow stoma pooper here. I've only had mine for about two years after having a section of my dysfunctional colon removed (your problem sounds way worse, but hopefully you're getting through it okay). My biggest struggle is remembering to use the toilet every day/overcoming my laziness and doing what I have to do. What's yours?

Probably accidentally leaving out my stoma tube thingy for wayyyy too long after getting out the shower and having a painful time getting it in again.

Do you have one tube that you've always used or do you have to replace it every so often?

I have to replace it every so often because after a while, as gross as this sounds it starts to stain into a slight yellow colour.

That’s rough.

Whats the worst part about the conduction?

The worst part for me personally is when I start overthinking things about the future like 'oh shit will any guy want to be in a relationship with me because of this?' or just in general feeling very strange in a way because of me always having a small tube inserted in my belly.

In high school I dated a guy with a colostomy bag & it was literally never an issue. There are people who won't care about all of this I promise 💙. Good luck!

hopefully, thank you! <3

Alright, you made me curious about one thing. You mentioned being in the female to male transition, and consider yourself a guy. Then here you talked about possible "boyfriends"

It's really weird thinking about this (as an intellectual thing, everyone should love who they want too) but would you consider yourself as gay then?

Aside from the whole biological issues you have with your body, i think it's, well, kind of funny to think of a female, becoming a man, then seeking a relationship with another man.

"You like them so much you became one of them"

Again, i really do not mean offense, its just, interesting to think of.

Yeah. I just consider myself a gay Male.

This is fascinating (and really rough!) Besides the restroom, does it affect your life in any other major ways?

although at this very moment I'm still pretty young and don't want to do this kinda thing just yet, i do have a crippling fear of a scenario such as getting a boyfriend, then before things get more serious/sexual, i inevitably have to tell him about the condition and then he leaves.

I also get confused stares when leaving a disabled bathroom because my disability is pretty invisible.

As an 18 year old bi guy (rhymes are fun), I wouldn’t have a problem with my partner having your condition! I hope you find someone who loves you for you, and doesn’t care about your disability!

That's kinda reassuring, thank you!

So you’re a girl, that trans into a guy, and you want a boyfriend? So you want to be a homosexual guy? Sorry if it sounds insulting, I’m really not trying to be, just trying to wrap my head around it!!

Don’t worry, I’m not offended. There’s nothing wrong with being curious.

Yes that’s basically it. I was born as a female but am transitioning to a guy, and I’m attracted to males. So yes.

because my disability is pretty invincible.

Did you mean invisible? Although invincible is a nice way to look at it too :)

Ah yeah, I did mean that. I typed this after several hours of no sleep at like 4am lmao.

But do the reconstruction or conditions affect your experience of sex? Are you able to masturbate without any issues, for example? (You don't need to answer that, I'm just curious)

I’m able to masturbate fine. As for actual penetrative sex, my nurse said that when I’m ready I should “go in for an assessment” but that’s basically all I know about this.

Okay, that's interesting though. Is it due to the surgically reconstructed tissue?

Most likely yes. I don’t know all of the answers to things myself sometimes because my parents or surgeon haven’t told me everything yet.

But, disregarding the anus and stoma bag, is it noticeable? Did the reconstruction create a vagina?

Yes. I have a completely separate vaginal opening, urinary tract and anus now.

What happens if you go number 2 and aren't able to use this tube?

well, basically what i do is I use the tube everyday at around....7pm?? to just completely empty my bowels. I'm basically constipated without it.

Have you ever had one of those emergency moments where you can feel your bowel movements going in high gear and there isn't anything you can do to slow/stop them so your only hope is to have your ducks in a row for when stuff starts coming out.

Case in point? driving to work one day out in Washington, DC on highway 270 to Bethesda. usually takes about 1 - 1.5 hours with traffic. About 1/2 way there all of a sudden my bowls started to get a little painful and hear a little rumbling in my bowels. I continue to slowly get closer to work, but I know I'm still 30-40 minutes away. After about 20 minutes I feel as though I have transferred all available muscles from my body to help keep my anal cavity as tightly closed as possible,as the smallest opening is all that it will take before the flow waters open up. Not long after my plan was enacted is when it all came crumbling down. A small squirt came out for a split second I thought "Maybe it was just a fart? But you could feel that it was wet and not dry. Then another one, lasts a little longer this time around. Then, what come around the corner, is the full evacuation of your bowels.When you are driving to work when this happens, You end driving to work and when you get out of the car you end up having shit fall out of your pant legs onto a parking lot, or you do what I did, and turn around, go home, run inside, take a shower and change, and then drive back to work again. Has anything remotely like this happened to you?

Nope, I'm basically constipated 24/7 until i use my stoma to clean out my bowels.

so how does the condition work? You just dont have a rectal cavity, or does the malformation in the anus prevent it from exiting from there? Are there surgical options to correct this?

I don’t fully know the answers to some things myself. My parents and surgeon are quiet about certain things. All I know from their own words is that it’s “difficult for it to come out on its own”

Do you think living with these conditions influenced your decision to sexually transition?

I don’t think so. However I am strongly irritated and paranoid that this will effect my transition. I feel that my condition and me turning out to be trans fitted together way too well as another way for life to fuck me over.

If there is one thing you could tell young people with the same condition as you, what would it be?

well, i feel like I'm not in the best position to do that since my surgeon told me that i have one of the 'best cases of cloaca ever' meaning that things could've gone way worse for me than they are now, and for alot of people things ARE way worse.

regardless, I would just tell them to eventually learn to not feel ashamed or embarrassed of the way that you are. And if you can, to try and find other people with the condition to talk to, because I wish that I had that because sometimes i feel like the only person in the world with it.

What was the medical benefit of separating the one hole into two? Would you be able to poop without the apparatus if you only had the one hole?

As a baby I needed a colostomy bag until I had the reconstructive surgery. My mother said that I couldn’t poop without it. So that was one benefit of the surgery.

What is one positive thing that you hold onto to keep going when it may feel like things are difficult?

Also, pretty sure that I recall Robin Williams once saying that cloaca was his favorite word on an episode of Inside the Actors Studio - ...so, there’s that interesting tidbit.

Very brave to put this out there, props to you!

You will definitely find somebody who loves you despite anything and everything you may think is ‘wrong’ or a flaw or whatever, we all do someday! Best to you in the future.

Well, when I was younger things were actually a lot worse for me. I needed a catheter to pee and it was really painful and I would get urinary tract infections ALOT too. And I had to go to hospital really frequently as a kid, so I always remember how much worse things could’ve stayed for me and how there is a chance for things to get even better. And thank you!

Could you tell a bit more about how the stoma works for you on an everyday basis?

I’m currently in the process of most likely being diagnosed with Crohns or Colitis Ulcerosa, which can lead to stoma in worst case scenario, so I’d like to hear more about it.

What’s the worst/best parts about it? Any limitations? Can you go swimming with it?

Well, there is a small whole near my hip which leads all the way into my bowels. A short tube is kept inside of it to stop it from closing up. But it’s really not visible. Then once a day, usually later on at like 7pm I will do what me and my nurses have always called a “washout” which is basically just putting a longer, thin tube all the way into my bowels, connecting the tube to a bag and then putting water into it. Then the water runs down through the tube and into my bowels, pushing anything that is inside of my bowels out.

The best part for me is essentially never having to deal with constipation, because I always completely empty my bowels. I don’t know if I have a worst part, other than feeling a little uncomfortable when doctors constantly want to look around that specific area of my body sometimes.

Yes, you can go swimming with it. You simply just take the short tube out then place it back in when you’re done. Atleast that’s what I’ve always done.

But then...won't the water go in? Sorry if this is a stupid question lul

I honestly have no idea. But it’s always been completely fine for me. Just the same as going in the bath, I also take it out then too. I’ve never ran into any issues so yeah.

a final question, do you menstruate? If yes, how do the hormonal changes that occur around the time one menstruates affect a trans person? you secrete more estrogen and progesterone right, is the effect they have different due to that?

Yes I do have periods, and it was something the doctors were worried that I wouldn’t be able to do. The started when I was around 13 pretty normally. And it’s weird, I usually get a really low mood the entire week before the period happens and sometimes even feel a little lightheaded and such. I also get huge cravings of ice cream too lmao. And as for the hormone thing, I haven’t had any hormone treatments for my transition yet so yes, it is because of female hormones.

How is your dating/sex life with the condition. Are your partners comfortable with it and offer to help if needed. Do you get pleasure out of sex?

Well, as for now I’m still a virgin. However any partners that I have had have only known small details about it and not the whole thing. Like they’ve known about my stoma tube and such that I have in 24/7 but they never really asked why I needed it. However to hopefully answer your second question, masturbating works fine and I have the ability to orgasm and such.

Has a condition that solely affects females; Identifies as a male; Is into other males.

....what?

Yes. I was born as a female, so I have a condition only seen in females. But, my brain is all like “hey, I don’t feel like a girl.” And has been that way for several years. And I’m attracted to males.

Pretty simple really lmao.

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oh.