WomenKind Collective

Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810

She was 16 years old, newly separated from her home country, when she received a diagnosis that would reshape everything she thought she knew about herself, her body, and her place in the world.
Natalia Shvarts was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome, MRKH, a rare condition affecting over 10,000 women in the UK, where the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent.
It would take years, and a memoir, to find her way home to herself.
In this episode, we sit down with Natalia, solicitor, speaker, MRKH advocate, and author of I Don't Matter: In Search of Home, for an honest, unflinching conversation about what it means to be told, as a teenager, that your body is different, and to spend years rebuilding your identity from that moment on.
We explore the diagnosis itself, what Natalia was told at sixteen and how she made sense of it; what MRKH actually is and why it remains so widely undiagnosed; the profound question she found herself asking in those early years: "If real women bleed, what even was I?"; navigating vaginal dilation as a teenager, largely alone and without adequate support; where gender bias shows up in MRKH care and how the medical system fails women with the condition; the loneliness, secrecy and shame that surrounded her diagnosis and her family's reaction to it; entering the UK's first womb transplant trial and the moment she made the decision to withdraw; the link between her diagnosis, people pleasing, and finding herself in a relationship involving coercive control; her mental health reaching a crisis point and why she speaks about it publicly; and what reclaiming her identity and reaching acceptance has actually looked like in practice.

This episode also features our women's rights quiz and it makes for genuinely shocking listening.
And this week we have something quite special: a Jinty Joke to make you smile through the week.
Natalia's memoir is raw, necessary, and deeply human. This is the kind of conversation that reminds you why we spill the tea.

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Further Information on MRKH:
Web: https://mrkhconnect.co.uk/
https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/mrkh/support

Books:
I Don’t Matter: In Search of Home. Natalia Shvarts. Independently Published. 2025.
Vagina Uncensored: A Memoir of Missing Parts. Ally Hensley. Whitefox Publishing. 2024

Socials:
Natalia Shvarts: @kiska115
MRKH Community: @mindovermrkh
Charity: @mrkhconnect
☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
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💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com
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🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
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Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810

In this episode, we are joined by Fay Peace, a woman whose experience of navigating the healthcare system is both deeply personal and heartbreakingly familiar.
After visiting her GP in 2019 with symptoms she knew felt wrong, Fay spent nearly two years being dismissed, told it was probably the perimenopause, or perhaps a UTI before finally being diagnosed with stage 3 womb cancer in 2021.
Womb cancer, also known as uterine cancer, is the fourth most common cancer in women in the UK, with around 9,800 new cases diagnosed every year.
Incidence rates have risen by nearly 60% since the early 1990s. And yet it remains one of the least talked-about gynaecological cancers which is exactly why conversations like this one matter.
In this conversation, Fay takes us back to the very beginning: what her early symptoms were like, why they were so easy to explain away, and at what point she began to sense something serious was being missed.
She talks honestly about what it felt like to have her instincts dismissed, including the moment her surgeon told her it was stage 1 and "nothing to worry about" only for that to change.
She shares what it was really like to go through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, and what kept her going.
We list the main symptoms to look our for, the need for early detection diagnostics and the importance of primary care listening to a patients real concerns and symptoms.
Fay didn't stay silent. She channelled her experience into action, launching her campaign #CheckYouOut she’s on a mission to get the symptoms of all five gynaecological cancers (cervical, womb, ovarian, vaginal, and vulval) onto everyday product packaging. She's already secured a significant win, convincing Bodyform to redirect their QR code to The Eve Appeal and she's just getting started.

We also discover the surprisingly delightful origin of the word "berk," and close, as always, with something beautiful to carry you through the week. ☕
If you're experiencing symptoms you're worried about, please speak to your GP.
For more information on gynaecological cancers, visit The Eve Appeal at: https://eveappeal.org.uk/information-and-advice/gynaecological-cancers/ovarian-cancer/
You can folow Fay on social media https://www.instagram.com/cancercampaigner?igsh=aXVob3N2YXlzNWpo

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🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
Available on all your favourite podcast platforms.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!
If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com
👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
And all your favourite Podcast Platforms
Thank you for Listening

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Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810

This week on Spill The Tea, Lou and Jinty are joined by Sarah West, a nurse, ADHD coach, and passionate advocate for women who've spent years being everything except correctly diagnosed.
Sarah first joined us in Series 12, Episode 3 to share her own story. Now she's back as part of our Gender Bias in Healthcare series, and this conversation goes deeper.
Together we explore how ADHD research was almost entirely built around hyperactive boys and
the lasting legacy for generations of women and girls who simply didn't fit that picture.
We discuss why girls tend to internalise where boys externalise, and whether that's still playing out in referral pathways today.
We examine why so many women receive anxiety, depression, or even bipolar diagnoses before anyone considers ADHD and what it does to a woman to have her neurology repeatedly mistaken for a mood disorder.
Sarah also tackles the topic of perimenopause and how it can dramatically unmask ADHD symptoms,
the emerging research linking ADHD and autism with hypermobility,
the "over-diagnosis" backlash and whether that criticism is actually a gender bias story in disguise,
plus what still needs to change, and what good post-diagnosis support should look like.

We also share what we’ve been up to this week, and stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.
☕ Subscribe for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! 🙏 Scroll down ⬇️
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💬 Email Jinty & Lou: womenkindcollective@gmail.com
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🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
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Thank you for listening 💛
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Sarah West:
Web: https://www.sarahwest-adhd.com/
LinkedIn: Sarah West
Insta: @sarahwest_adhd

ADHD & Menopause Book by Dr Helen Wall - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Menopause-ADHD-neurodivergence-Vermilion-Empowered/dp/178504642X
Sarah West ADHD & Menopause, previous episode here - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/adhd-late-diagnosis-with-adhd-coach-sarah-west/id1557937820?i=1000687993934

Further Information: & Support
Web: https://adhduk.co.uk
Books: Menopause and ADHD: How to Navigate Hormone Flux and Neurodivergence. Dr Helen Wall. Vermillion. 2026

☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!
If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com
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Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810

Description: Internalised Misogyny in Healthcare
Have you ever been told you're too much? Too emotional, too sensitive or not sick enough, not convincing enough, or just not the right kind of patient? And have you ever walked out of an appointment with a female doctor feeling like that was somehow worse?
You're not imagining it. This week, we're talking about why.
We're joined by Sophie Lee, founder and CEO of Electric Peach and author of Beyond Palatable, a manifesto for women who are done shrinking. Together we unpack internalised misogyny: what it is, how it shows up in the consulting room, among our friends, and sometimes in ourselves.
We explore why women are conditioned to police each other's health experiences, why dismissal from female clinicians can feel particularly shocking, and how we can start to check our own internalised biases. Sophie also shares her powerful perspective on self-advocacy in medical spaces, the exhausting cost of making ourselves palatable, and as a newly expectant mother how navigating maternity care has brought all of this into sharp focus.
If you've ever contorted yourself to be believed, this episode is for you. 💛
Stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.
☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!
☕ Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you — email us your ideas: womenkindcollective@gmail.com
👀 Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 🎧 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms
Thank you for listening 💛
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Sophie Lee:
Web: https://electricpeach.co.uk/about/
Instagram: @electricpeachstudios
Linked In: Sophie Jane Lee
Book: Beyond Palatable. A Manifesto For Unapologetic Women. Sophie Jane Lee. Luath Press Ltd. 2026

Rhiannon Lucy Coslett Parenting book we discussed - https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-republic-of-parenthood/rhiannon-lucy-cosslett/pia-bramley/9780715655856
☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!
If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com
👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
And all your favourite Podcast Platforms
Thank you for Listening

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810

This week on WKC Spill The Tea we sit down with Jen, a Menopause Awareness trainer, cancer charity volunteer, and mental health advocate, who experienced the credibility gap first-hand. She went to her GP with real symptoms and was asked if it was all in her head. It wasn't. Dismissed by her consultant, Jen was eventually diagnosed with Medullary Thyroid Cancer, a rare cancer and her journey since has transformed her into a powerful advocate for women's health.

In this honest, moving conversation, we explore:
• The moment Jen was made to feel her symptoms weren't real and how she responded
• What Medullary Thyroid Cancer is,
• What treatment looked like, and what she wishes she'd known sooner
• The often-overlooked connection between cancer treatment and menopause
• Her work training workplaces in menopause awareness and volunteering with a menopause and cancer charity

Jen is raw, real, and utterly compelling and she has a message for every woman whose pain has ever been dismissed.

We talk about a great feminist book club online, and the origin of some of our favourite phrases. Stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.

☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!

Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
💬 We love hearing from you, email Jinty & Lou: womenkindcollective@gmail.com

👀 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
And all your favourite podcast platforms.

Thank you for listening.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen:
Web: www.menopauselifebyjen.com
I: @menopauselifebyjen
Menopause and Cancer:
Web: www.menopauseandcancer.org

Good Book Club:
https://goodbookclub.co.uk/
☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.
💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!
If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com
👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
And all your favourite Podcast Platforms
Thank you for Listening

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.