Dear Dr. Bohlin,
I was pleased to see that you wrote an article about medical reasons for sexual purity. I noticed in your biography that you are interested in medical ethics.
There is a medical issue I want to talk to you about that you may not have thought about. I am working on starting a non-profit organization that would promote stronger medical patient modesty. I am very bothered by a lot of things that go on in the medical industry. I am not against doctors and medical care at all. But I believe that men have no business being gynecologists. It's just wrong.
I am a 30 year old Christian virgin woman who is committed to saving sex for marriage. I made a commitment as a teenager to True Love Waits. At the same time, I thought about how I was not going to let any men including doctors see and access certain parts of my body that should only be reserved for my future husband. I also believe that nudity before the opposite sex should be reserved for spouse only. I think it is very special for a husband to be the only man who can see his wife naked and a wife to be the only woman to see her husband naked. I don't want my future husband to ever have any intimate male medical procedures with other women present.
I am not against doctors or medical treatments at all. I simply believe that intimate male procedures should be only done by male doctors/nurses/assistants and intimate female procedures should only be done by female doctors/nurses/assistants. I feel like we have been brainwashed by the medical industry. Medical professionals are not above us morally. Why is it not okay for a man in other occupations such as teacher, pastor, plumber, computer programmer, etc. to see another woman who is not his wife naked? I feel like what happens in the medical industry in regard to patient modesty is a HUGE cultural blind spot. Christians are taught to not question most things medical professionals do when many of the things they do go against what God intended.
I have attached more information about why I believe the way I do about male gynecologists.
How do you feel about this issue? I’d love to see you all address this difficult issue. I think it would be great if you all could encourage women to never go to a male gynecologist or quit going to a male gynecologist. It is more special when a young lady stays a virgin until marriage and never let another man except for her husband to see certain parts of her body after puberty.
My husband Ray forwarded your email to me, asking me to answer since I have had both a male and a female OB/GYN. All three of my babies were delivered by a male doctor.
I understand your desire to protect your purity, and I applaud that. However, I believe you are going too far in trying to make the case that male gynecologists are wrong. It's fine to take a personal stance of preferring a female doctor; it's fine to urge others to go to a female doctor; but stating that it's wrong, across the board, is unwise and, I believe, unfair.
I think you lack understanding of some important issues. Most men think differently than women; in fact, God designed their brains in a way that allows them to compartmentalize, concentrating on only one thing at a time. It's like having a chest of many drawers, where only one drawer can be open at a time. When most male OB/GYNs walk into an examining room, they are focused on serving their patients' medical needs. They truly can examine women's private parts without being distracted by an erotic component, because of the God-given design of the way their brains work. I did read your essay, and I understand your skepticism that this could be possible. But I'm curious, how many male gynecologists have you actually spoken to, to do a reality check against your beliefs?
In order to preserve the dignity and privacy of female patients, it is standard procedure to give them garments and sheets that cover up anything not being examined at the moment. Women patients just do not lie naked on exam tables! Doctors go to great lengths to keep women from the intense discomfort of nakedness. In addition to that, any ethical male doctor will have a nurse in the room with him to protect both the patient and the doctor.
But it's not just my thoughts on the issue. Here are the words of Dr. William Cutrer, a Christian OB/GYN also committed to serving the Kingdom of God in ministry. This is from his book on infertility with my friend Sandra Glahn, When Empty Arms Become a Heavy Burden (2nd ed., 2010, Kregel):
What about gender differences in choosing a doctor? Either gender can provide quality medical care without violating the person of the patient. I have heard about and read of physicians taking advantage of patients, but most have high standards of personal ethics and deserve patients' trust. It is far more critical to have a caring, competent physician who can communicate than to focus on gender.
It might help at this point to reveal a well-kept secret: what goes on (or rather, what doesn't) in the physician's mind during the infertility investigation.
The female anatomy is fairly standardized so that no one is so remarkable as to be memorable. Also, my mind is so compartmentalized that before entering a patient's exam room, I review the chart to see where we've been and where we're going. Then I open the door and fix my full attention on that one patient. Ideally, I can focus so there is no other patient in the world for the duration of the visit. This way I can ask all the necessary questions with total concentration. I make notes on the chart to trigger my thinking for future visits. When I leave the room, I begin to focus on the next medical need. If there is an important date for testing or results, I indicate it in my notes. For the time allotted, that patient is the center of my attention.
Oprah Winfrey asked several male gynecologists on her show, "Do sexual thoughts ever enter your mind during the exam?"
One said, "No. It's no different from examining a knee or an ear."
Another explained, "There are no sexual thoughts. I am working very hard to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible; that takes a lot of effort and confidence and energy. We want to get the exam over as quickly as we can. Basically, when a patient is in a gown and a sheet, there's no sexual connotation. I am doing my job."
A female gynecologist recommends that rather than making gender an issue, "Select your physician for compassion, availability, competence, and communication."
Dr. Cutrer, who also has seminary training, has made the observation as a male OB/GYN that in the Old Testament, the Levitical priests examined men and women to okay them for returning to worship (e.g., leprosy, infections), so there's a biblical precedence for men touching women in the context of healthcare.
I also think it would be helpful to consider the longer, bigger view, such as the history of medical practice before the day when women were trained in medicine. Millions of women and babies would have died without their intervention, even taking into account the services of midwives. To say it is wrong is to dishonor all that honorable, non-sexual work.
I hope this shows you another perspective on this issue, ______.
Sue Bohlin
© 2010 Probe Ministries
About the Author
 Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker with Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 30 years. She is a frequent speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board and as a small group leader of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to TheTapestryBlog.com. She is also a professional calligrapher and the webmistress for Probe Ministries; but most importantly, she is the wife of Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their two grown sons. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
What is Probe?
Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.
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