23 Celebrities Who Have Endometriosis
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Period pain can already be a deeply challenging and upsetting part of being a person with a uterus. But if you add in an invisible illness, like endometriosis — an often misdiagnosed condition in which implants similar to the lining of the uterus are found outside the uterus and result in heavy, painful periods — the experience can be even more traumatizing. Breaking the silence around misunderstood conditions like endometriosis is crucial for helping patients feel more heard and less alone, which is why we’re spotlighting these celebrities with endometriosis who are sharing their experiences.
According to Endometriosis.org, 1 in 10 women have endometriosis, and 176 million people worldwide are affected by the disruptive condition. It is a serious but deeply neglected public health issue. In fact, according to a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-led study published in 2011, 11 percent of a group of women who had not been diagnosed with endometriosis actually had the disorder. If the finding applies to all women in the United States, the number of American women with endometriosis could exceed previous estimates of five million. Some studies even show that their experiences are often labeled incorrectly as a mental health issue or another physical issue, leading to patients experiencing medical gaslighting and exhausting and painful searches for doctors who will actually listen to them.
Celebrities aren’t excluded from this condition or even the pervasive issues in accessing adequate care. But, recently, as more and more people become aware of the condition’s existence and different treatment options out there, several famous faces have started speaking out about their struggles. Like with so many invisible illnesses, more advocates standing up and sharing their stories can only lead to a world where more patients are heard and supported.
A version of this story was published June 2017.
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Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin has been super candid about the ups and downs of endometriosis, both getting the difficulty of getting diagnosed and the toll it took on her body.
“I was a really active kid, and all of a sudden, I was getting so tired so easily and was always in pain,” Irwin told Today in 2023. “We tried and tried and tried for years and years and years. And finally, a doctor said to me, ‘This is just part of being a woman. And that’s when I gave up, and I stopped looking for answers.”
But, eventually, after having her daughter, Grace, Irwin said she continued her hunt and ultimately got her answers and a solution in the form of a surgery to address her unreal pain: “Going in for surgery was scary, but I knew I couldn’t live like I was. Every part of my life was getting torn apart because of the pain,” she wrote in an instagram post as she recovered. “To cut a long story short, they found 37 lesions, some very deep [and] difficult to remove [and] a chocolate cyst.”
Padma Lakshmi
Over the past few years, Padma Lakshmi has become one of the most recognizable faces of endometriosis — so much so that she went on to co-found the Endometriosis Foundation of America. The TV host, model and author has discussed how despite being highly educated and living in a major city with access to high-quality health care, she initially had never heard of the disease.
Gabrielle Union
Speaking at the BlogHer18 Creators Summit in New York City, Gabrielle Union did not hold back when it came to discussing a condition she has called “adenomyosis.” Also known as “inside-out endometriosis,” it causes the endometrial tissue of the uterus cavity to grow into the uterus muscle, which damages the uterine wall. In addition to prolonged, heavy, painful periods, another symptom of adenomyosis is decreased fertility.
“I could have had adenomyosis in my early 20s, and instead of someone diagnosing me, they were like, ‘You have periods that last nine and 10 days? And you’re bleeding through overnight pads?’ It’s not a mere inconvenience. Perhaps there’s something more there,” Union said.
Chrissy Teigen
Four months after suffering a devastating miscarriage, Chrissy Teigen underwent surgery for endometriosis and shared some of her experience — the physical pain coupled with the grief — on Twitter. “I truly feel kicks in my belly, but it’s not phantom. I have surgery for endometriosis tomorrow … but the period feeling this month is exactly like baby kicks,” she wrote, noting that her son would have been born that same week.
Teigen continued to share updates on social media after the surgery, per People, telling followers, “This one’s a toughie. My whole belly got numbed. It’s gonna be numb for like, a couple days. Couple of the next days, hopefully they’ll stay that way.” She added that “every little cough” caused pain, but “it is truly still better than the contractions and the pain of endo.”
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish’s “life gets turned upsie down” every time she has her period, she told People in an April 2024 interview. “I’m pretty sure the devil is real,” she said, “because the first day of my period, no matter what, the devil goes into overdrive.” Haddish explained that she’d recently gotten diagnosed with endometriosis after a previous doctor said she had a “dent in my uterus.”
“It turns out it’s not a dent they saw on the ultrasound,” Haddish said. “It was endo that was hanging down.” She underwent surgery and the doctors “shaved it down.” Haddish said the debilitating pain from endo felt like “somebody is kicking me in my back,” and it would get so bad that the actress and comedian would faint. Haddish also called her endometriosis-related fertility struggles “devastating,” and said she’d had eight miscarriages.
Haddish did note that some symptoms were starting to improve thanks to a hormonal medication. “I’ve gone from 11 days [on my period] to four or five, which is kind of normal, so that’s nice.”
Jaime King
At #BlogHer Health 2019, Jaime King opened up about being diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome at the age of 20.
“I went undiagnosed for a really long time,” she told the audience. “I lost my first baby at that age. And I continued to miscarry and miscarry, and it took many years for me to have my first child, and when I was going through this, I cannot explain what it felt like — that this one thing that we’re told as women is that our gift is that we can carry life, and all of a sudden someone says, ‘Oh, maybe that might be in question.’”
Jessica Williams
Actor and comedian Jessica Williams was only recently diagnoed with endometriosis, though has likely lived with it for 10 years, she noted in an Instagram post.
“In general I’m trying to get better at acknowledging that I am feeling pain and that it is okay and that I can be like ‘ohhhh okay I guess I’ll go home and crawl into bed and play Switch then,'” she wrote in her post.
Olivia Culpo
Olivia Culpo shared her endometriosis diagnosis on a 2024 episode of the SHE MD podcast, explaining that the pain of the condition gets progressively worse because “the endometrial tissue build[s] up [more] after every period.” Culpo said she has rectovaginal endometriosis and had noticed her symptoms “since I was very young.” Per the International Journal of Women’s Health, rectovaginal endometriosis is considered “the most severe form of endometriosis,” where the tissue growth occurs in the vagina, rectum, and structures in between.
In trying to get care, the model and Miss Universe winner says, “There were people that were trying to rob me for my money and then there were people that just simply thought I was overreacting, which is so, so painful.” Culpo said her husband, NFL player Christian McCaffrey, eventually helped her find the doctor that diagnosed her. “Christian was calling all the people he knew in the sports world, trying to get somebody to help me because I was in so much pain. It was hard for everybody to see,” she recalled. The doctor “did one ultrasound and saw that I had an endometrioma right on my ovaries.”
Daisy Ridley
Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Daisy Ridley opened up about her endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome in an empowering, now-deleted Instagram post from 2016.
She wrote: "[T]o any of you who are suffering with anything, go to a doctor; pay for a specialist; get your hormones tested, get allergy testing; keep on top of how your body is feeling and don't worry about sounding like a hypochondriac. From your head to the tips of your toes we only have one body, let us all make sure ours our working in tip top condition, and take help if it's needed."
Lena Dunham
Writer, producer and actress Lena Dunham has battled endometriosis since her first period. She has undergone five surgeries to treat the condition in the past year alone and openly discusses how the disease has impacted her life through essays on her Lenny Letter site.
Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough told SheKnows she started having symptoms when she was 15 but wasn’t properly diagnosed with endometriosis until 2008 when the heavy bleeding and pain forced her to take time off from Dancing with the Stars for surgery and recovery.
To help people learn about the condition, Hough has become the face of an awareness campaign called Get in the Know about ME in Endometriosis. The dancer and actor stressed the importance of women being able to talk about the condition openly and being supportive of each other.
"So even if you're not the me in endometriosis, there might be someone around you who might be," she told SheKnows in March 2017. "It's all about starting this conversation. I want to be a voice and a person who can help women."
Halsey
Singer Halsey was first diagnosed with endometriosis in January 2016 and underwent multiple surgeries to treat it one year later. In a post-op Instagram post tagged #endowarrior, she wrote: "For those of you who have followed this battle of mine or who may suffer with it yourself, you know the extremes to which it can be mentally exhausting and physically painful."
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon manages to raise awareness for endometriosis while stressing that the condition should not define those who suffer from it. After years of pain, she received what she describes as a "half-assed diagnosis," which included half-hearted treatments, but not a comprehensive explanation of what they were or how the disease worked.
"When all you know is pain, you don't know that that is not normal. It is not a woman's lot to suffer, even if we've been raised that way," she said at the Endometriosis Foundation of America's 3rd Blossom in 2011.
Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung first revealed her endometriosis diagnosis quietly, via a 2019 Instagram post. “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member, but here I am,” she captioned a photo taken in a hospital hallway, adding the hashtags #endometriosisclub, #lifelongmembership, and #sorryifyouhaveittooitsucks.
In a 2023 essay for British Vogue, the model and fashion designer went into greater detail about her experience with the condition and frustration at the lack of effective treatments. “It can be agony,” she wrote, going on to detail how her symptoms were dismissed by doctors. “Do you know what a period is?” one doctor asked her in a condescending tone, after Chung almost missed a flight “thanks to a period that was so heavy I was unable to leave a bathroom stall.” In 2019, Chung underwent surgery to remove an ovarian cyst and areas of endometriosis and hasn’t experienced any flare-ups since. “I don’t say this to brag but rather to offer an example of how surgery can resolve the matter if it is discovered and treated early enough — something that every sufferer of endometriosis deserves,” she wrote.
Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel had laparoscopic surgery in her early 30s to help treat her endometriosis and wasn't afraid to discuss her struggles with the disease. Several years prior, she experienced bad cramping and spotting and was diagnosed with cysts and fibroids on her uterus. Ultimately, she said it was getting pregnant that helped her pain subside the most.
"Don't feel shame," she wrote in an open letter on Facebook in 2016. "Other women are going through the same issue and it's okay to talk about it."
Tia Mowry
Tia Mowry spoke out about her endometriosis and is especially vocal about what she believes to be a connection between the condition and diet.
“The most surprising thing is how food can exacerbate inflammation or get rid of it,” Mowry told SheKnows in 2016. “Food can be medicine, and if you eat foods that alkalize the body, it’s amazing how that can slow down and fight inflammation.”
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Model Alaia Baldwin Aronow was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2016, per the Endometriosis Foundation of America and has since worked to spread awareness about the condition. In 2019, Baldwin Aronow bared her surgery scars on Instagram “to bring a small glimpse of the reality of living with this disease,” she wrote. “Many other women have suffered through more surgeries than 1 and carry many scars… We are all connected by our scars.”
Molly Qerim
Molly Qerim, who hosts ESPN’s First Take, was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2011 and shared her story publicly in 2018. “The endometriosis was not just in my reproductive organs, it was everywhere,” she said in an interview on Good Morning America. In addition to being on her liver and intestines, the endometriosis tissue had also “compiled into a cyst which burst and then the toxins were all in my body,” Qerim said.
The journalist was initially put on Lupron, a hormone-suppressing drug, which was administered via injections to her backside. “Pain is just running down your leg,” Qerim recalled of the medication, which also put her into menopause. “I didn’t feel myself, mentally, emotionally, physically.” Qerim switched to using acupuncture to treat her pain, calling it a “saving grace,” as well as cutting sugar, alcohol, and processed foods out of her diet.
“If I can connect with some other people and help them feel like they’re not alone, we can fight through this, and then, hopefully in next couple generations … they’re going to have the right treatments and this will no longer be an issue,” she said.
Monica
Monica publicly discussed her endometriosis in 2017 after undergoing an eight-hour surgery to remove cysts, fibroids, a hernia and endometrial tissue. The singer didn’t know she had the condition until two weeks prior to her surgery.
She wrote on Facebook: “In life, we have to count it all joy and know the unplanned may be in his plan. May 30th I had an almost 8-hour surgery to remove my endometriosis (which I didn’t know I had until two weeks prior), 2 cysts, fibroids and a hernia that all were making me very sick… I’ve known something was wrong, but I also knew victory & better health would be near again!! Thank you Dr. Ceana Nezhat & Northside Hospital Staff.”
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg was never one to shy away from discussing important matters in women’s health, and endometriosis is no exception. The actress and star of The View opened up about getting diagnosed at the 2009 Endometriosis Foundation of America’s Blossom Ball, saying, “I had endometriosis 30 years ago… I was very, very lucky. I had an intelligent doctor who sort of knew what was going on and said well, here take this stuff and he cleared it up.”
Most recently, Goldberg spoke again about her endometriosis experience on a 2023 episode of The View. Speaking to Shannon Cohn, the director of the endometriosis documentary “Below the Belt,” and Hillary Clinton, who was an executive producer for the documentary, Goldberg expressed her frustration that women and people with uteruses are “constantly having to beg for health care… I don’t understand why when doctors go to school forever, they’re not taught about a woman’s body.”
Of her own diagnosis, Goldberg reiterated how lucky she was to have an informed doctor. “When I saw this documentary and I heard that it takes them 6-10 years to even get the diagnosis, I don’t understand that!” she said. “What are they doing in medical school?”
Dolly Parton
In 1985 at the age of 36, Dolly Parton underwent a partial hysterectomy to treat endometriosis.
Back in 2008, she spoke out about not only her surgery, but also the severe depression that followed when she realized that she would never be able to give birth. "It was an awful time for me. Every day I thought, 'I wish I had the nerve to kill myself,'" she said.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe’s short life was full of pain, some of which came from having endometriosis. Though she made a secret of wanting to be a mother, all of her pregnancies ended in miscarriage or being ectopic.
Monroe’s desire to become a mother was especially apparent in a note she taped to her stomach before going into surgery to have her appendix removed. In it she wrote, “Save please (I can’t ask you enough) what you can — I’m in your hands. You have children and you must know what it means — please Dr. Rabwin — I know somehow you will! … For God’s sakes Dear Doctor no ovaries removed.”
Some have even linked endometriosis to the iconic actor’s use of and later addiction to painkillers — which ultimately ended her life — but there is no definitive proof of this.
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer dealt with extreme pain from endometriosis for her whole life, she said in a 2022 appearance on The Checkup With Dr. David Agus. “It was just this pain you can’t see,” she explained. “And there is this inclination to always think a woman is just being dramatic.” She described endometriosis as a “lonely, lonely disease.”
Schumer has continued to keep fans updated on her condition, including her 2021 surgery to remove her appendix and uterus as a result of the condition. The Life and Beth star has also used her platform and experience to encourage women to speak out about their pain and get help. “We need to not confuse advocating for ourselves with being bitchy,” she said on Instagram.
