A woman who took part in ground-breaking research in which scientists used her own cells to engineer a lab-grown vagina has told reporters how the procedure changed her life.

The woman, whose name was withheld from members of the media, was one of four subjects aged between 13 and 18 years who suffered incomplete vaginas, the result of a genetic condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser, according to a report by ABC News.

A resident of Mexico, the unnamed woman said in a translated interview that she was 18 when she learned about her condition and was introduced to the options she had.

"I thought I couldn't believe it was true. I was informed about other procedures for this syndrome and it was unbelievable that it could be done in a lab," she said at the press event.

To engineer the organs, researchers from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. and the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City biopsied cells from the women and then usde a biodegradable scaffolding structure to build the vaginas in the lab. Then the organs were then implanted in each patient.

"For me to be able to have the surgery, I feel very fortunate because I can have a normal life," said the woman. "I know I'm one of the first. It is important to let other girls that have the same problem know that ... there is a treatment and you can have a normal life."

According to data from the National Institutes of Health, the disorder affects approximately one in 4,500 female births.

A woman with MRKH will often not develop a uterus or a full vagina, although the external genitalia is typically not affected by the disorder -- which often means the syndrome remains undiagnosed until the patient is in her late teens.

Before the study, surgical options were limited to attempts to recreate the vaginal canal.

In the eight years after the initial operations, researchers said, the subjects reported normal sexual function and the engineered organs remained structurally and functionally normal as well.

"Truly I feel fortunate because I have a normal life, completely normal," said the woman who took part in the study.