Lupita Nyong’o has bravely gone public about her battle with uterine fibroids, revealing she had 30 fibroids removed and has been “suffering in silence” for years.
Lupita Nyong’o is done staying quiet about her pain.
The Oscar-winning actress just revealed that she’s been living with a painful condition that affects millions of women and Black women, especially for years. In a heartfelt Instagram post shared on July 15, Lupita opened up about her battle with uterine fibroids, and her message is striking a major chord.
“This is something I’ve been suffering with in silence,” she wrote.
The Black Panther star revealed that back in 2014, the very same year she snatched an Academy Award for ’12 Years a Slave.’ She was diagnosed with 30 fibroids. The fibroids, which are noncancerous tumors that grow in and around the uterus, were causing her intense pain and led to surgery that year to have them removed.
But even after the procedure, Lupita said she wasn’t given much hope.
“When I asked the doctor what I could do to prevent them from coming back, he said, ‘Nothing.’ Just wait. They likely will,” she recalled.
For Lupita, that moment was bigger than just a diagnosis. It was a wake-up call about how little people talk about women’s reproductive health, especially in Black communities. And she’s not wrong. Statistics show that 8 in 10 Black women will develop fibroids by age 50, often at younger ages and with more severe symptoms than other groups. Yet many suffer in silence.
“When we reach puberty, we’re taught that periods mean pain, and that pain is simply part of being a woman,” she wrote in her caption. “But when I started talking to other women, I realized so many of us were suffering.”
Fibroids may be benign, but they’re no joke. They can lead to heavy, prolonged periods, painful cramps, pelvic pressure, and even fertility issues. And as Lupita shared, the symptoms can become so normalized that people brush them off until they become unbearable.
“We’re struggling alone with something that affects most of us,” Lupita said. “No more suffering in silence.”
She’s now calling for real change: early education for teens, better screening protocols, research into prevention, and less invasive treatment options.
