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Research has revealed that an increasing number of women in the UK are having controversial 'virginity repair' operations before they get married.

Private practitioners have claimed the soaring demand for the operation has been driven largely by Muslim women who wish to preserve the illusion that they have not had sex before their wedding night.

In the last five years, 116 hymen repair operations have been undertaken on the NHS and thousands more women are believed to be paying up to £4,000 to have the surgery done privately each year, according to the Daily Mail.

NHS surgeons carried out 30 of the procedures in 2009 - up 20 per cent from 2005.

One Harley Street doctor claimed to carry out up to three of the operations a day and said demand at his private practice had tripled in recent years.

The procedure involves the hymen being reconstructed so that it will tear and bleed again on the woman's wedding night. Many women give false names and addresses and some are even buying chastity certificates to 'prove' that they are virgins.

Consultant gynaecologist Dr Magdy Hend who performs hymenoplasty on London's Harley Street, told the Daily Mail:

"The majority of our clients are Muslim women. They worry about having had sex and their fiancé and family knowing that they have been touched before.

"It is more cultural rather religious. If the bride is not a virgin and does not bleed on the wedding night, it is a big shame on the family.

"The woman fears that the husband will walk out, divorce or humiliate her all her life. There have been honour killings in extreme cases.

"It is simple surgery that takes only half an hour. They can have it done at lunchtime and do not have to give their real names and addresses. They are paying up to £4,000 at other clinics."

Consultant surgeon Ash Mosahebi, who performs the procedure at various London clinics, said: "There is a clash of cultures where Muslim women are leading westernised lifestyles but then wanting to conform to the traditional lifestyle of remaining a virgin."

Imam Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford told the Daily Mail: 'The rise in the number of these operations in Britain is a very disturbing trend.

"The situation is very common in the Middle East where there is a huge scandal that can lead to divorce or even honour killings if there are not bloodstained bed sheets after the wedding night.

"It is very disappointing that Muslim women in this country feel they need to lead a double life, resorting to subterfuge surgery.

"That is not conducive to either their psychological or spiritual health and it is hypocrisy and double standards because Muslim men are doing as they please with women.

"The Muslim community should be confronting the issue rather than pretending it is not happening. I shall be speaking out about it in my next sermon."

There have been calls for a ban on NHS surgeons carrying out the operations for women wanting to marry as virgins.

But a Department of Health spokeswoman insisted that hymen repair operations only take place on the NHS to ensure a patient's 'physical or psychological health'.

She said: "The NHS does not fund hymen repair operations for cultural reasons. All operations on the NHS are on the basis of clinical need.

"Operations to repair the hymen are only carried out exceptionally to secure physical or psychological health."

Do you think Muslim women should be able to have hymenoplasty operations to fake their virginity on the NHS? Tell us your thoughts.

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