Over the past few years, Gabrielle Union has been an open book about her fertility struggles. In her 2017 memoir, she wrote about how she’s had “eight or nine” miscarriages throughout her life—most recently with her husband, Dwayne Wade—and she likened her body to a “prisoner” of trying to get pregnant. But now, at the age of 45, she finally was able to get a diagnosis.

“Toward the end of my fertility journey, I finally got some answers. Everyone said, You’re a career woman, you’ve prioritized your career, you waited too long and now you’re just too old to have a kid—and that’s on you for wanting a career. The reality is I actually have adenomyosis,” Union said at the annual BlogHer conference, according to People. “The gag is I had it in my early 20s.”

Union noted how almost all of the doctors she visited disregarded her symptoms and would solely put her on birth control as a treatment. “Instead of diagnosing me, they were like, Oh you have periods that last nine or 10 days and you’re bleeding through overnight pads, perhaps there’s something more there,” she explained. “Every doctor I saw was like, Let me put you on birth control. The pill can mask all kinds of things. It is amazing at preventing pregnancy; not so great with addressing adenomyosis.”

Adenomyosis, which is closely related to endometriosis, involves an overgrowth of endometrial tissue in a woman’s body. This can result in everything from painful menstrual periods, pelvic pain, bleeding between periods, infertility issues—as evidenced by Union—or pain when urinating or having bowel movements. “Adenomyosis happens when that endometrial tissue travels from inside the uterus and grows into the muscle of it,” Kristyn Brandi, an ob/gyn with expertise in heavy vaginal bleeding management from Boston University/Boston Medical Center, told Self previously.

Unfortunately, there’s not a cure-all treatment when it comes to adenomyosis. However, symptoms can be managed by taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, having a hysterectomy, or, yes, taking hormonal birth control.

As for Union, it’s been taxing to constantly be asked about her fertility plans while dealing with adenomyosis. “For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?'” she wrote in her memoir. “A lot of people, especially people that have fertility issues, just say ‘no’ because that’s a lot easier than being honest about whatever is actually going on. People mean so well, but they have no idea the harm or frustration it can cause.”

Related: This Pregnant News Anchor Was Body-Shamed By Viewers—and Gabrielle Union Responded in the Best Way

Source link