“No more suffering in silence”: Lupita Nyong’o speaks on battle with uterine fibroids

But behind the glamour, she was privately battling with a condition that would change her perspective on women’s health.

Lupita says she discovered that she had uterine fibroids. She underwent surgery to remove them, with hope that it would be over after the surgery.

Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the uterus. They tend to vary in size as they can be from the size of a pea to as large as the size of a melon. 

Despite them being harmless, fibroids could have a serious impact on a woman’s health, often causing heavy menstrual bleeding which could lead to anemia, frequent urination and even in other cases complications during pregnancy. 

“I asked my doctor if there was anything I could do to prevent the fibroids from recurring”, Lupita shared in a social media post on Tuesday. 

Her doctor told her that she could not stop or prevent them from recurring as it was only a matter of time until they grew again.

Lupita raised concerns that despite fibroids affecting 8 out of 10 black women, the condition remains underdiscussed. 

“When we reach puberty, we are taught that periods mean pain, and that pain is simply a part of being a woman,” noted the award-wining actress. 

Lupita says it is only after she started speaking about her journey and experience privately that she realized how extensive and silent the struggle was to many women.

“We are struggling alone with something that affects most of us.”

Lupita is now using her voice and presence in the media to break the silence that surrounds fibroids. 

She is urging society to rethink how they treat conditions like fibroids - not as a misfortune but as a massive health issue affecting women.

“We must reject the normalization of female pain,” she said.

“I envision a future where there is early education for teenagers, better screening protocols, robust prevention research, and above all less invasive treatments for uterine fibroids.” 

Apart from speaking out she also joined congresswomen and senators in Washington DC to introduce a package of uterine fibroid congressional bills.

“This bill would expand research funding, increase early detection and interventions for uterine fibroids, as well as study the causes of uterine cancer and increase awareness”.

Lupita also plans to launch a Uterine Fibroid Research Grant to help develop minimally invasive or non-invasive treatments for the condition to reduce the symptoms related to it as well as improve quality of life for the 15 million patients suffering from this condition in the U.S.