Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has shared her ongoing struggle with uterine fibroids, revealing she now has more than 50 of the non-cancerous growths in her uterus.
In a recent interview, the 42-year-old star explained that she was first diagnosed in 2014, the same year she won her Academy Award for ”12 Years a Slave”. Doctors removed 23 fibroids during that initial surgery. Twelve years later, the condition has returned more aggressively.
“The first time I got the fibroids taken out, they took out 23,” Nyong’o shared. “And this time, I’ve been informed two years ago that I have over 50.” Her largest fibroid is the size of an orange, compared to the grape-sized ones often seen in slight cases.
READ ALSO: No Parent Pray to Lose a Child – Singer Shanko Announces First Son’s Death
She is faced with the same difficult choices again: invasive surgery (myomectomy) or managing severe pain, heavy bleeding, and pelvic pressure. “I’m not ready to make that decision,” she said. “It’s quite invasive, and it’s a big threat to our reproductive organs.”
Through her #MakeFibroidsCount campaign with the Foundation for Women’s Health, Nyong’o has found strength in community. Hearing “me too” from other women has made her feel supported and less alone.
Nyong’o now advocates for better, less invasive treatments, stressing that fibroids, common in up to 80% of women by age 50 and often more severe in Black women, should never be dismissed as “normal.”
