What to Expect at Your Appointment at the MRKH Care Center

The first visit to the MRKH Care Center is an opportunity for patients and families to meet the care team, ask questions and learn more about MRKH. Initial visits typically last two hours as they involve meeting with the entire MRKH Care team.

We welcome referrals from physicians and families. Check your health insurance company to see if your policy requires a physician referral.

Making an Appointment at the MRKH Care Center

To make an appointment with the MRKH Care Center, please contact us. We offer visits with the entire MRKH care team once a month. The wait time for an appointment is usually one to two months.

Before your first appointment, our nurse coordinator will contact you by phone to:

• Answer any questions you have
• Request contact information for the primary care or gynecologic provider who made the referral, so we can obtain previous test results, medical images and care records
• Provide information about local hotels, if you are traveling from outside Greater Cincinnati, and connect you with our team social worker as needed

We will let you know if additional testing / imaging is needed before the first visit. For example, such tests may include a pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.

Ahead of your first visit, we’ll also ask you to complete some evaluation forms to understand better how we can support you and your family.

The nurse coordinator is available to answer questions and schedule follow-up appointments. She can help to coordinate your schedule if you have appointments at Cincinnati Children’s outside the MRKH Care Center.

Before Your Appointment

• Patients should wear comfortable clothing
• Patients already using a dilator set are encouraged to bring it to the appointment
• Park in the Cincinnati Children’s Burnet Campus parking lot. Please allow 20-30 minutes to park and walk to our location. After parking, go to section A1 of the hospital and check in at the registration desk.
• Plan to arrive at the Center 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment time.
• If running late, please contact us.

During Your Appointment

It’s natural for individuals to feel nervous before the first visit. Our care team does everything possible to help patients and family members feel at ease at every visit.

Our team tailors the first visit to the MRKH Care Center based on the patient’s unique situation. A patient’s age, medical needs, familiarity with the diagnosis and past experiences with healthcare providers will help guide the appointment.

During the first appointment, patients meet with our team’s providers (gynecology, clinical psychology, pelvic health therapy, social work and nursing). This appointment allows providers to get to know the patient and family members who are present, review test results and answer questions about MRKH. They also will ask about any symptoms the patient may be experiencing. A physical exam is part of the diagnosis process. However, if the patient is not comfortable with a physical exam, it can wait until a later appointment.

During visits, patients will meet with our clinical psychologist separately. The patient’s support individuals / family members will meet with the social worker. Conversations with these providers will help our team understand how we can best support everyone. Our clinical psychologist and social worker may recommend follow-up appointments or provide referrals to community resources.

At the end of the first appointment, we will provide an After Visit Summary detailing what happened during the visit. The summary also will include possible next steps, such as:

• Making a follow-up appointment with the MRKH Care Center team within one to two months
• Making a follow-up appointment with the clinical psychologist or social worker
• Making a follow-up appointment with the pelvic health physical therapist
• Seeing a specialist outside the MRKH Care Center
• Accessing resources in your community that can provide support (such as another physical therapist if you don’t live in Greater Cincinnati)

After The Appointment

Our nurse coordinator will call a week or two after the appointment to follow up and answer any questions.