Olivia Munn Calls Her Hysterectomy The 'Best Decision' For Her And Her Family
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Olivia Munn is reflecting on her decision to have a hysterectomy following her cancer diagnosis last year.
“I have now had an oophorectomy and hysterectomy,” the star shared in an in-depth interview with Vogue. “I took out my uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.”
Munn’s choice to have life-changing surgery didn’t happen without serious consideration.
In March, she revealed that she underwent a double mastectomy last spring after being diagnosed with Luminal B, an aggressive form of breast cancer, months prior.
While her initial surgeries were a success, the star found the medication she needed to take afterwards left her with “next-level, debilitating exhaustion” which made it hard for her to go about daily life.
After undergoing four surgeries in the span of 10 months, Munn began a regiment of hormone suppressants to make sure her body’s own estrogen would not encourage the growth of nascent cancer cells which remained in her body.
The star, who welcomed son Malcolm with partner John Mulaney in 2021, told the magazine the extreme fatigue from the medications made her feel like she was missing important pieces of her life.
“I had friends try to cheer me up by saying, ‘Malcolm’s not going to remember this. Don’t worry,’” she said of being bed-ridden amid her debilitating exhaustion.
“But I just kept thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to remember this, that I missed all these things,’” she said. “It’s his childhood, but it’s my motherhood, and I don’t want to miss any of these parts if I don’t have to.”
For the “Newsroom” star, the oophorectomy and hysterectomy offered hope of a better quality of life.
“It was a big decision to make, but it was the best decision for me because I needed to be present for my family,” she explained of the surgeries, which took place last month.
Her operations presented another challenge however, as removing her reproductive organs meant Munn would no longer be able to carry a pregnancy on her own.
“John and I talked about it a lot and we don’t feel like we’re done growing our family,” she said of her and Mulaney’s decision to have her eggs frozen to use with a surrogate in the future.
Though Munn admitted she has some anxieties about working with someone else to have a baby, she told Vogue, “This journey has made me realize how grateful I am to have options for not only fighting cancer, but also having more children if we want, because I know a lot of people don’t have those options.”
Read Munn’s full interview at Vogue.
