A condom or a pill? May be a potato!
In a shocking incident, a Columbian woman has made it to the headlines after using a potato for a method of contraception. According to a report in Columbia Reports, the 22-year-old woman inserted a potato inside her vagina two weeks ago in order to avoid pregnancy.
Following the act, the woman who hails from the central Colombian town of Honda, started experiencing bad stomach pain and when she went to the doctor, it was found that the potato had germinated inside her, and its roots had started escaping her reproductive organs.
"My mum told me that if I didn't want to get pregnant, I should put a potato up there. I believed her", the unidentified youngster was quoted as saying by the report.
The report further says that the potato was removed from the woman's body without any surgery and that she would not face any long term side effects.
As bizarre as this may sound, hoax-debunking site Snopes.com suggests that story resembles a decades-old urban legend that talks about the use of potatoes as contraceptives among rural women who do not have sufficient sex education.
While the current story has not been dismissed as hoax, it won't come across as a surprise to anyone who knows the current status of sex education among youngsters in Colombia.
Despite sex education being a compulsory part of curriculum in Colombian schools for more than a decade, many parents still reject the idea of such teachings. Such parents, who oppose sex-education, have formed groups and denounce the lessons in school claiming teachers are encouraging homosexuality through such teachings. Discussion or talks about sex is still a taboo in the country.
Young people in Colombia apparently reject conventional methods of contraception like condom and pill usage, leading to high levels of teenage pregnancies. Another reason for teenage pregnancies is the country's general acceptance of macho society where girls are forced to give into unsafe sex.
