Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin revealed on Wednesday that she has had endometriosis surgery after a decades-long battle with the condition that affects the uterus.
“For 10 years I have been suffering from excruciating fatigue, pain, and nausea,” Irwin said in a social media post along with a photo of herself in a hospital bed.
“A doctor told me it’s just something you deal with as a woman and I completely gave up, trying to function through the pain.”
Irwin’s posts coincide with both International Women’s Day and Endometriosis Awareness Month.
According to the United States National Institutes of Health, endometriosis is “a condition in which tissue that normally lines the outside of the uterus,” grows outside the uterus.
Symptoms may include pelvic pain, heavy bleeding during periods, and fertility problems.
Irwin, 24, said doctors had found 37 wounds, some of which were “very deep and difficult to remove”, but he was now “on his way to recovery”.
“I am sharing my story for everyone who reads this and is dealing with pain in silence and no answers. It is your recognition that your pain is real and that you deserve help,” she said.
Anyone with a uterus of reproductive age can suffer from the condition, but it is most common in women in their 30s and 40s. According to the World Health Organization, about one in 10 people born with a uterus have endometriosis. The disease affects approximately 190 million women and girls globally.
Irwin is a celebrity conservationist who hosted “Cricky! It’s the Irwins,” a reality TV show that chronicles her family’s work at the Australia Zoo in Queensland, which her mother owns.
She won “Dancing with the Stars” in 2015 and comes from a family of conservationists that includes her father Steve, the late ‘crocodile hunter’ who was killed by a stingray while filming in the Garratt Barrier Reef in 2006.
She gave birth to a daughter, Grace, in March 2021.
“Please be polite and pause before asking me (or any woman) when we will have more kids,” Irwin wrote in her post on Wednesday. “After all my body has gone through, I am so grateful that we have a beautiful daughter. She feels like the miracle of our family.
Soon after her post, her family took to social media to share their support.
Her husband, Chandler Powell, said, “How you pushed through the pain to take care of our family and continue our conservation work while being completely stricken with endometriosis is something that will inspire me forever. “
Irwin’s brother Robert said on Instagram that, “You never know who is suffering in silence, let’s make this a topic we all talk about freely.”
Irwin is the latest in a series of celebrities opening up about their struggles with endometriosis.
In a Paramount Plus documentary released last year, comedian Amy Schumer discusses her decades-long battle with what she calls “the loneliness disease.” Schumer had her uterus removed in 2021 and shared videos on her Instagram after the surgery.
Comedian Lena Dunham and actress Padma Lakshmi have also been vocal about their experiences with the disease.