Tales from the Table

*Warning: Sensitive Material

For us girls, finding the right gynecologist is just as tough as finding "The One."
Getting ourselves to open our privates, entrusting our deepest darkest sexual secrets to a total stranger--I would need somebody trustworthy for that.

I can't imagine myself getting a male gynecologist. I've always suspected that there has to be something wrong with a man who likes to stare at vaginas all day long.

Many women are embarassed about going to the gyno, and answering questions truthfully, and for a good reason. How are you supposed to know whether it was proper for the gyno to put his/her finger up your ass during a Pap smear exam? (The answer: If she/he is a good gynecologist who is interested in your sexual well-being, then yes. It is standard procedure.)

I started going to the gynecologist at the ripe old age of 22, for my first Pap Smear test. She was a small, spry woman with short hair. I suspected she is a closet lezzie. Medical examinations always make me nervous. She took a good look in me, and told me, "You have a beautiful pink vagina!" I never went back to her after that.

I went to my next gynecologist upon my sister's recommendation. The good doctor was her personal gynecologist, and was cheaper than the other doctor. I went to her on March and September of the same year. My first visit was to treat a yeast infection, while my next visit was to get my yearly Pap Smear. I hated her. She didn't even ask me any questions about my reproductive history. She was only interested in why I went to her. In my first visit, she gave me a lecture on "Why don't you get married so you won't have these worries over STDs?" In my second visit, she urged me to marry Thomas, and get him circumsized, stat. I felt that she was judgmental of my sexual decisions, and that she did not give me through medical examinations.

I am satisfied with my gyno here in Germany. She physically reminds me a lot of my first gyno in the Philippines, but the guys on the island should learn a thing or two from their German counterparts. She was very personable yet professional. When did you have your first period? Have you ever had a miscarriage/abortion? Have your reproductive organs gone under the knife?

I wondered how come the gynos I had in the Philippines never asked me these questions? How come I had to volunteer my answers to the gynos over there? And why is she really interested in what I need?

She told me to come back after 14 days for my next visit. I plan to keep that appointment.