Professionally known as T.I., American rapper Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. has revealed that he takes his 18-year-old daughter, Deyjah Harris, to a gynecologist every year to check whether her hymen is “still intact.”
T.I. told Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Mohan on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast, “Right after her birthday, we celebrate, then usually like the day after the party, she’s enjoying the gifts, I put a sticky note on the door: ‘Tomorrow. 9:30.’”
He revealed that he started taking his daughter to the gynecologist for an annual checkup when she turned 16.
Some people, including T.I., believe that hymen, a fold of tissue situated at the vaginal opening, remains intact until a woman has sexual intercourse. However, medical experts have debunked this false indicator of virginity. In fact, virginity testing has been considered “unnecessary” and “harmful” by human rights organizations.
Coming back to the rapper’s story, he said the gemologist requires Deyjah’s sign so he can see the results.
He said, “So we’ll go and sit down and the doctor will come and talk, and the doctor’s maintaining a high level of professionalism. He’s like, ‘Well you know, sir, I have to, to share information’ — I’m like, ‘Deyjah, they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you would not want me to know? See, Doc? Ain’t no problem.’”
According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a medical provider can discuss a patient’s health “if the patient agrees, or when given the opportunity, does not object.”
The 39-year-old rapper also said that his daughter’s gynecologist explained other possible ways of hymen rupture, such as horseback riding, bike riding, or other physical activities.
T.I. said, “I say, ‘Look doc — she don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bikes, she don’t play no sports, man — just check the hymen, please, and give me back my results expeditiously. I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact.”
Responding to the rapper’s story, California gynecologist Dr. Jen Gunter tweeted, “The hymen is no virginity indicator, 50% of sexually active teens do not have a disrupted hymen. The hymen is often very flexible.”
Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Human Rights, the United Nations Women, and other UN agencies issued a “global call to ban virginity testing altogether.” The agencies called the procedure “medically unnecessary, and oftentimes painful, humiliating and traumatic.”
