July is Fibroids Awareness Month, and just so happens to be the same month I was diagnosed, discovering the pain I’d been suffering from for several years were the symptoms for uterine fibroids.
So what is it? That is the same question that crossed my mind while getting a very unexpected and invasive transvaginal ultrasound.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, uterine fibroids are “common” noncancerous growths on the uterus. They often appear during childbearing years and require surgery for removal. These growths affect approximately 40% to 80% of women.
Not to be confused with ovarian cysts, which are filled with fluid and can be found in an ovary or on its surface. According to the Mayo Clinic, most cysts go away without treatment within a few months.
“Fibroids can grow as a single nodule (one growth) or in a cluster,” the Cleveland Clinic states. “Clusters of fibroids can range in size from 1 millimeter to more than 20 centimeters (8 inches) in diameter or even larger.”
They are described as a collection of muscle tissue that can grow up to the size of a watermelon (ouch) until it either embeds into the muscular wall of the uterus or hangs off like the stalk of a mushroom.
Get the visual yet?
In layman’s terms, it sucks! It makes me feel constantly bloated, fatigued, and constipated with a sore stomach. (Goodbye bikini season.)
Symptoms can range from pain during sex, excessive or painful bleeding during your period, frequent urination, a growing stomach area, trouble getting pregnant, weight gain, debilitating cramps and back or leg pain.
Further research into my diagnosis left me with very few answers. The conclusion was that more needs to be studied in women’s health to find exactly what causes it.
So, why has research in medicine failed so many women and continue to perpetuate inequality?
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) provided a simple answer – women were rarely included in clinical trials before 1993.
“Throughout history, doctors have considered women’s bodies atypical and men’s bodies the ‘norm,’ despite women accounting for nearly half the global population and outnumbering men in the United States since 1946,” according to AAMC.
If we were taken more seriously, maybe it wouldn’t have taken until 1990 for the National Institute of Health (NIH) to establish the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and there would be more awareness for uterine fibroids.
And while I have been fortunate to have a gynecologist who is proactive, gender bias is still the product of a male-dominated research approach that creates a knowledge gap in female health, encouraging stereotypes and assumptions.
Up to 80% of women will develop fibroids by age 50, according to The Fibroid Foundation, and research is falling behind.
“In 2025, federal support for fibroid research is slowing, and it’s putting millions of women at risk,” the foundation explained on Instagram. “Compared to recent years, fewer fibroid studies are being published in 2025. Peer-reviewed research from U.S.-based institutions is noticeably declining, leaving major questions unanswered.”
Recently, actress Lupita Nyong’o shared on social media that she was diagnosed in 2014 with fibroids, requiring surgery to remove 30 of them.
“I started talking about my experience privately, and I realized so many women are going through this,” she wrote. “We’re struggling alone with something that affects most of us. No more suffering in silence!”
She took a step to empower women and appeared on Capitol Hill with Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke to help introduce a legislative package that will hopefully advance uterine health initiatives, according to a news release.
The four bills “would expand research funding, increase early detection and interventions for uterine fibroids, study the causes of uterine cancer, and increase public awareness,” Nyong’o explained.
Now, I’m not a famous actress, but maybe being one of the many to speak up and demand change will prevent other women from suffering in silence.
Help raise awareness about uterine fibroids by sharing your personal story, participate in an event or educate yourself and others about the condition.
“Being a woman” isn’t an excuse or diagnosis and living in pain shouldn’t be the norm.
For the Love of Change 