Sex in MRI
Back in 1991, Ida Sabelis and her boyfriend Jupp did it.
They had sex inside an MRI machine for an experiment.
Scientist behind it
Meanwhile, Dutch scientist Menko Victor ‘Pek’ van Andel led the work.
He wanted to see what happens inside bodies during sex.
What the journal said
Later, the experiment featured in a British Medical Journal 1999 entry.
It concluded:
“taking magnetic resonance images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and contributes to understanding of anatomy”.
What scans showed
However, the study described clear findings from the images.
“The images obtained showed that during intercourse in the ‘missionary position’ the penis has the shape of a boomerang and 1/3 of its length consists of the root of the penis.
“During female sexual arousal without intercourse the uterus was raised and the anterior vaginal wall lengthened. The size of the uterus did not increase during sexual arousal.”
Ida remembers it
Now Ida reflected on it on the What It Was Like podcast.
“This was one of the first MRI machines ever, so taking the photos took some time.
“There was a command from the control room to keep in position for, I don’t know, a minute.
“So it was hilarious in that sense. Jupp and I wriggled into that machine and started doing our thing. Thankfully we didn’t get claustrophobic.”
Still, she said it was not romantic, yet an ‘act of love and a performance’.
Finally, she said she backed women’s rights and wanted better science on women.