The diagnosis stopped 31-year-old Aija Saijonmaa, who had dreamed of a large family.
Arja Saijonmaa received an arresting diagnosis decades ago. Jenni Gästgivar
Arja Saijonmaa, 80, says in her recent biography A song for freedom. My memoir. (WSOY) that his dreams of starting a family met a sad obstacle in time.
Saijonmaa had dreamed of a big children’s drama with her former partner director Lars Egler, but fate decided otherwise.
The diagnosis stopped
In 1976, Saijonmaa began to suffer from hormonal imbalance. He underwent tests that showed that something was seriously wrong.
In the end, it was revealed that 31-year-old Saijonmaa had a precursor of uterine cancer. Her uterus and ovaries had to be removed immediately. The operation was successful and the cancer was gone. All that was left was despair and confused thoughts about the future.
It was over now, but as a result I had become infertile, my body had no future. Did I have the right to live with a man? Did I have a right to live? To enjoy my femininity, to adore and be loved, to feel valuable as a complete woman?
Slowly, new dreams began to arise in Saijonmaa’s mind and life was allowed to continue.
I realized that there would be many more chapters in my life. However, the most important thing now was to overcome my biggest concern, how to become a normal woman again. For now, I pushed aside the knowledge that I would never be able to have children.
The media also wondered why Saijonmaa never had children. Saijonmaa did not want to talk about it and the doctor also urged him to lie. The doctor swore to Saijonmaa that she would never have to explain her infertility to the public.
Saijonmaa is a well-known Finnish singer and actor who has lived in Sweden for a long time. Saijonmaa’s career began already in the 1960s.
Arja Saijonmaa’s autobiography A song for freedom. My memoir. (WSOY) will be released on October 20.