Lupita Nyong’o Sheds Light on Coping with Fibroids

Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o recently sat down with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to help fight for women coping with fibroids. Drawing from her own experiences, the actress is highlighting how these benign uterine tumors disproportionately affect Black women. In doing so, she hopes to inspire legislation that will increase funding for fibroids awareness and research.

Coping with Fibroids While Winning an Oscar

Back in 2014, Nyong’o accepted the Academy Award for her role in 12 Years a Slave. But just month later, she revealed, she received a fibroids diagnosis…and it wasn’t a small one.

But more than a decade later, Nyong’o revealed that months after winning the coveted award, she discovered she had uterine fibroids. “30 fibroids. I had surgery to remove them,” she revealed in an Instagram post. “I asked my doctor if I could do anything to prevent them from recurring. She said: ‘You can’t. It’s only a matter of time until they grow again.’”

Feeling scared by the prospect of recurring fibroids and returning symptoms, the actress also felt alone in her journey. Nyong’o said, “Eight out of 10 Black women and 7 out of 10 white women will experience fibroids. Yet we speak so little of them. When we reach puberty, we’re taught that periods mean pain, and that pain is simply part of being a woman. I started talking about my experience privately, and I realized so many women are going through this.” Now, she’s working to change that fact—and she’s doing so on a national level, so that women won’t feel so helpless when coping with fibroids.

Fighting for Fibroids Awareness

Having finally opened up about her own journey, Nyong’o decided to meet with Congresswomen Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) to advocate for more research, federal funding, and medical training to combat fibroids. She said, “Transformation begins with understanding. And understanding requires research. Let’s start researching some female bodies.”

Our Houston Fibroids team stands with Lupito Nyong’o in believing that understanding is one of the keys to coping with fibroids. For that reason, we want women to know that there are treatment options that bring symptom relief without surgery. So, if you want to treat your fibroids, preserve your uterus and avoid overnight hospital stays, we encourage you to learn more about Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). This is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure that shrinks tumors by blocking their blood flow using interventional radiology. You can begin your research and explore your candidacy for this procedure by contacting our team to request a consultation [/tx-appt-link.]