A woman and a man who had sex in an MRI machine for an experiment were ultimately able to change what we know about the body.
While science in pop culture often shows an image of people in lab coats surrounded by bubbling chemicals, that isn’t always how things look in reality. In fact, scientists conduct a whole host of experiments that, to the public, would look absolutely bizarre, and this likely was one of them.
Back in 1991, Ida Sabelis and her boyfriend Jupp had sex inside an MRI machine in the name of science, and it actually proved to be rather insightful.
Dutch scientist Menko Victor ‘Pek’ van Andel wanted to find out what happens inside the bodies when we have sex and the images generated were the first of their kind. According to the experiment, which featured in a British Medical Journal 1999 entry, they concluded that ‘taking magnetic resonance images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and contributes to understanding of anatomy’.
Thankfully the couple didn’t get shy about being watched (Getty Stock Image)
Regarding what happens inside the body, the study stated: “The images obtained showed that during intercourse in the ‘missionary position’ the penis has the shape of a boomerang and 1/3 of its length consists of the root of the penis.
“During female sexual arousal without intercourse the uterus was raised and the anterior vaginal wall lengthened. The size of the uterus did not increase during sexual arousal.”
Ida reflected on the sex-for-science escapade while featuring on the What It Was Like podcast, giving more details about the somewhat bizarre experiment.
She also admitted that she had no idea how impactful the experiment would be or that people would still be talking about it today.
Speaking to the host, she said: “This was one of the first MRI machines ever, so taking the photos took some time.
Ida has said she was keen to improve the understanding of the female body (Getty Stock Image)
“There was a command from the control room to keep in position for, I don’t know, a minute.
“So it was hilarious in that sense. Jupp and I wriggled into that machine and started doing our thing. Thankfully we didn’t get claustrophobic.”
She also noted that it wasn’t actually a romantic experience but she still considers it an ‘act of love and a performance’.
Ida has also previously spoken about why she did it, noting that she was a big campaigner of women’s rights and was keen to broaden the understanding of the female body in science and medicine.