Two Uteri, No Instructions | Rare Congenital Defect
Sickboy
CBC
4.8 • 524 Ratings
🗓️ 24 June 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the map doesn’t match the terrain, sometimes you just make your own path. Natalia Bartlomowicz was born with a rare congenital condition so unique it doesn’t even have a name—just a stack of medical files and a body doctors still can’t quite predict. In this episode, she opens up about navigating childhood surgeries, a 16-hour operation in Boston, and the emotional toll of being called a “medical mystery.” From discovering she has two uteri to building a safe space for youth with chronic illness, Natalia’s story is one of resilience, radical self-advocacy, and finding strength in the unexpected. She talks dating, dignity, and how the healthcare system can better treat patients as people. It’s a heartfelt ride through one woman’s no-name diagnosis—and the superpower she’s made of it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's becoming pretty clear that U.S. President Donald Trump is ripping up the political |
| 0:05.3 | playbook. |
| 0:05.8 | And when it comes to what it all means for Canada, well, as they say, it's complicated. |
| 0:09.8 | But our podcast, two blocks from the White House, is a way to make sense of it all. |
| 0:13.8 | Join me, Willie Lowry, and senior Washington correspondents, Paul Hunter and Katie Simpson |
| 0:18.6 | every week as we break down the headlines from Capitol Hill with a Canadian spin. |
| 0:24.2 | Find and follow two blocks from the White House on your favorite podcast app, including YouTube. |
| 0:30.3 | This is a CBC podcast. |
| 0:34.3 | All right, folks, welcome back. Another week, another episode of Sick Boy. And this week, we are diving into a medical mystery. We sit down with a young woman named Natalia, who is a recent neuroscience grad from UBC. And Natalia spent her entire life navigating the healthcare system with a rare unnamed |
| 0:58.0 | congenital condition, the no-name brand. |
| 1:02.2 | She takes us from a 16-hour childhood surgery in Boston through unexpected reproductive |
| 1:10.4 | discoveries in her late teens to launching a |
| 1:14.2 | website designed to help other youth with chronic illness find the support that she feels like |
| 1:19.6 | she never had. Natalia is brilliant. She's bold. She's refreshingly candid. And we had a really, |
| 1:26.7 | really wonderful time with this conversation. |
| 1:29.6 | But listen, before we get into it, just remember, changing the way that the world talks about illness, about death and all things uncomfortable, really. |
| 1:40.5 | It takes a group effort. |
| 1:42.2 | And so thank you, firstly, for tuning in. But if you want to help |
| 1:46.7 | support the podcast, please make sure you are following Sick Boy on your favorite podcast app and share |
| 1:53.5 | this episode with someone you feel like who might need it because that really does make a big |
| 1:58.6 | difference. All right, cool. Enjoy this week's episode with Natalia. |
| 2:03.9 | And we'll see you on the other side. |
... |
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