Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has opened up about her private battle with uterine fibroids, sharing her story for the first time as part of Uterine Fibroid Awareness Month.
The acclaimed “12 Years a Slave” star revealed that she was diagnosed with 30 fibroids in 2014, the same year she won her Academy Award, and underwent surgery to have them removed.
Now, over a decade later, Nyong’o is speaking out to help break the silence around a condition that affects millions of women globally.
“I started talking about my experience privately, and I realised so many women are going through this,” she wrote in an emotional Instagram post. “We’re struggling alone with something that affects most of us. No more suffering in silence!”
Uterine fibroids are benign muscular tumours that grow in the wall of the uterus. While they are not cancerous, their symptoms—such as intense pelvic pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, and fertility complications—can be debilitating. Nyong’o said she was offered only two options: live with the pain or undergo invasive surgery.
“In 2014 at the age of 31, I received my uterine fibroid diagnosis and was offered only two options: invasive surgery to remove them or live with the pain,” she said. “I envision a different future: one with early education for teenagers, better prevention and screening protocols, robust research, and less invasive treatments for uterine fibroids.”
The actress is now using her platform to advocate for policy change. She appeared on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., alongside U.S. Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke and other lawmakers to introduce the Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Bill.
The legislative package, collectively known as the U-FIGHT Act, includes four bills aimed at boosting research funding, improving early detection and treatment, and enhancing public awareness of uterine health issues.
In addition to her legislative advocacy, Nyong’o has partnered with the Foundation for Women’s Health to launch the FWH x Lupita Nyong’o Uterine Fibroid Grant, a new initiative that will fund medical research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of fibroids.
“I hope to seek answers for the far too many women dealing with uterine fibroids,” she said. “We must reject the normalisation of female pain.”
