Black Panther and Us star Lupita Nyong’o has opened up about suffering from uterine fibroids.
The actor, 42, shared her experience of the painful health condition in honour of Fibroid Awareness Month.
Uterine fibroids, per the NHS, “are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb”.
The growths vary in size, and consist of muscle and fibrous tissue.
In an Instagram post, shared on Tuesday (15 July), Nyong’o explained how she discovered she had uterine fibroids in 2014, the same year she won her Oscar for 12 Years a Slave.
The star told fans she had surgery to remove 30 fibroids but was told by doctors: “It’s only a matter of time until they grow again.”
Nyong’o noted that while some people with fibroids experience no symptoms at all, others are faced with “debilitating side effects” including “heavy menstrual bleeding and anaemia, pelvic pain, frequent urination, and complications with pregnancy”.
She added that “eight out of 10 Black women” and “seven out of 10 white women” experiencing fibroids at some point in their lifetime.
Despite how common the condition is, Nyong’o said society doesn’t speak enough about it, or women’s reproductive health more generally.
“When we reach puberty, we’re taught that periods mean pain, and that pain is simply part of being a woman,” she wrote. “I started talking about my experience privately, and I realised so many women are going through this. We’re struggling alone with something that affects most of us. No more suffering in silence!”
Nyong’o argued that it is vital that we “stop treating this massive issue like a series of unfortunate coincidences” and “reject the normalisation of female pain”.
“I envision a future with early education for teenagers, better screening protocols, robust preventative research, and less invasive treatments for uterine fibroids,” she wrote. “Let’s study women’s health and prioritise this chronic condition that has never been comprehensively examined.”
Nyong’o explained that she has joined a collection of Democratic congresswomen and senators to introduce “a package of uterine fibroid congressional bills” that would “expand research funding, increase early detection and interventions for uterine fibroids, study the causes of uterine cancer, and increase public awareness”.
She has also partnered with the Foundation for Women’s Health to create the FWH x Lupita Nyong’o Uterine Fibroid Research Grant. Her donation will allow the foundation to “seek research proposals to develop minimally invasive or non-invasive treatments for uterine fibroids to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life for the 15 million patients suffering from this chronic condition in the US alone.”
Nyong’o can next be seen alongside Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan’s action fantasy The Odyssey, which is set for release in 2026.
