Lupita Nyong’o, 43, decided to celebrate her birthday in a way no one expected: by posing next to a basket of fruit. Each one represented a uterine fibroid among the 77 she has had throughout her life. Twenty-five were surgically removed. More than 50 are still growing inside her right now, the largest the size of an orange.
For years, the Oscar-winning actress endured pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, and fatigue that left her without strength, all in silence. “I have endured periods of constant pain, losing dangerous amounts of blood every month”, she wrote on Instagram alongside her MRI. She also shared that she still has not decided to undergo surgery: she is concerned about the risk it poses to her reproductive organs.
That is why she launched Make Fibroids Count, a campaign with the Foundation for Women’s Health to fund research into less invasive treatments. Her birthday wish is simple but urgent: that no more women have to suffer this without treatment and without being heard.
