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Woman Grows Potato in Vagina

A potato used as a contraceptive grew roots inside a female patient.

Published Oct. 3, 2014


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, October 2014]


i just saw an article about a girl putting a potato in her vagina because her mom told her if she doesnt want to get pregnant then she should put a potato in it. so the girl did so and then weeks later the potato started to grow roots and they had to go to doctor to remove it. sounds kinda weird and wondering if this is true.

 

Origins:   October 2014 saw the publication of an article about a woman in the central Colombian town of Honda who visited a local clinic complaining of abdominal pain. Upon examination, doctors discovered that an ill-advised contraceptive attempt had led the woman to use a potato as a form of barrier birth control and that the potato had since sprouted roots.

The purported case of a potato growing in the unnamed woman's vagina is attributed to "local news reports," but all media mentions trace back to a single article on Columbia Reports. Most notable is the story's exact resemblance to a decades-old urban legend regarding the use of potatoes as contraceptives among rural women due to insufficient sex education.

Last updated:   3 October 2014


Sources:




    Corbett, Craig.   "Central Colombia Woman Grows Potato In Vagina In Ill-Advised

    Contraception Attempt"

    Colombia Reports.   1 October 2014

    Hodgekiss, Anna.   "Woman Who Used A Potato As A Contraceptive Is Hospitalized
    After It Began To Grow Roots"

    Daily Mail.   3 October 2014

    Hooper, Ben.   "Doctors Remove Potato From Woman's Vagina."

    UPI.   2 October 2014

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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