Los Angeles, March 24 – Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong'o entered a different mental space after she was told she had fibroids. The actress shared that she questioned what she had "done wrong," and felt "shame."
The star of "Wild Robot," 43, was diagnosed with the condition, which involves non-cancerous growths developing in or around the uterus and can cause symptoms including long and heavy periods, and pain in the pelvis, back, and leg, 11 years ago, and initially wondered why she hadn't "protected" her body, according to 'Female First UK'.
Speaking about "suffering in silence," the actress said on ABC News Live Prime, "It felt like shame. In the beginning, I thought, 'What did I do wrong? What didn't I do? How did I not protect my body? How did I not take care of it?'"
Lupita described experiencing "severe clotting" and a 30-day period during particularly difficult times, while also maintaining a "brave face" in the public eye.
She added, "I was hiding in plain sight, because I was on these red carpets and pretending everything was okay. But in my private moments, I was dealing with heavy periods and severe clotting. At one point, I had a period for over 30 days. I was anemic and feeling tired. I think as women, we are conditioned from a young age to expect pain and discomfort. And we're not taught how to observe our bodies."
According to 'Female First UK', last month, Lupita revealed that she had "over 50" uterine fibroids.
She said on the Today show, "The first time I had the fibroids removed, they removed 23. And this time, I was informed two years ago that I have over 50. And I'm facing the same options: surgery or living with the pain."
At the time, the star of "A Quiet Place: Day One" was "not ready" to decide whether to have the fibroids surgically removed due to the "big threat" to any future family plans.
"I'm not ready to make that decision. It's quite invasive... and it's a big threat to our reproductive organs," she added.