Vulva isn't like diagrams?

[tam]

Hi! First time posting and I'm a bit embarrassed, but I'm very confused. This site has given me lots of information and I'm grateful for it, especially since my household is Christian and pretty conservative. (I'm gonna go into detail, so feel free to click out if that's going to be uncomfortable for you!) I know that there are natural variances, but I think something might be irregular. I don't enjoy looking at close up photos of other people's genitals, so I tried to avoid those, but the medical diagrams all look basically the same and I think mine is different.

I recently did an examination of myself for the first time with a mirror (I've never even used a tampon before so I'm very unfamiliar with the area) and I couldn't seem to locate the urethra. Like, I found the clitoris and the vaginal opening, but not the urethral opening. As well, my vagina seems to have, like, another hole inside of it to the side? like there's the larger opening, then there's this little bit of flesh to the side that kind of makes it so it looks like it's divided into another, smaller hole. Hopefully that was clear enough? I couldn't find a diagram that looked like that, so I think something isn't right? I'm not in pain or anything, and this isn't urgent, but it seems strange.

This feels like kind of a dumb question, but is it possible that my urethra somehow got developed to be inside/in the side of my vagina? Does anyone else know of this or have a similar issue? Searching it up has not been very helpful. Maybe I'm searching up the wrong things? Not looking for a diagnosis, more like help to be pointed in the right direction.

[Siân]

Hi tam!

Welcome to the boards I'm so glad you found us.

It can take a while to get to know your way around your genitals if you haven't taken a look before! A lot of the medical diagrams are so generalised and tidied up that they don't represent a lot of the normal variation from vulva to vulva. If you'd like to see more realistic illustrations of this variety then these might help you: Betty Dodson's vulva illustrations. The link shows realistic monochrome drawings of actual vulvas. Do they help?

Your urethra is really tiny, like a little dot that might be hard to spot, especially if it's hidden away between the folds of your inner labia. Whilst it is theoretically possible for your urethra and vaginal canal not to have developed as separate openings this is very unusual, and would likely have been noticed when you were a baby. I think it's more likely that what you are seeing is your vaginal corona. The corona is different in everyone, and for many people there isn't a lot to see, especially since it can wear away over time, but one of the options is "septate" - two holes in the membrane. There's more about the corona here: My Corona: The Anatomy Formerly Known as the Hymen & the Myths That Surround It. Does that sound more like what you're seeing?