A 26-year-old woman was diagnosed during a medical checkup as having been born without a uterus and ovaries, and is biologically male, domestic media outlet China News Weekly reported on Monday.

The woman, surnamed Li, works in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province. During a company-organized medical checkup, an ultrasound scan showed she has no uterus, ovaries or fallopian tubes, with a symmetrical mass on each side of her abdominal cavity, per the report.

Doctors determined that she did not merely have underdeveloped reproductive organs but was born without a uterus and ovaries entirely.

Chromosome tests also confirmed that Li is biologically male.

Li was shocked upon receiving the test results. She returned to the hospital for further examinations, which confirmed she has complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), according to the report.

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is a hereditary disorder caused by mutations in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. Patients have testicular tissue that produces androgens normally, but defects in the body's androgen receptors prevent these hormones from binding and performing their biological functions. As a result, individuals with a 46, XY karyotype fail to develop typical male physical traits and end up presenting a female outward appearance.

Li showed classic signs of the syndrome. She has a female appearance, external female genitalia and a vagina, but lacks a uterus and ovaries. This means she will never menstruate or conceive a child. The "mass" detected in her abdomen were actually a pair of undescended testes, the report said.

Li also shared her medical condition with her boyfriend at the time, though the two later separated due to personality differences. She admitted that her physical condition has indeed caused psychological and physiological distress.

Embarrassed to discuss physiological matters with her parents, Li never told them that she had not had her period since high school. It was not until college that she booked her first gynecology appointment over her absent menstruation and underwent a B-ultrasound scan.

Back then, the doctor told her she only had uterine hypoplasia, meaning her uterus was smaller than average, and advised that there was no effective treatment and she should just monitor the situation.

Now that one of her testes had developed pathological changes, upon the doctor's recommendation she removed the left cryptorchid testis.

At present, Li has returned to normal work routine. Speaking about the future, she said she loves children deeply and studied preschool education at university, and hopes to adopt a child someday.