Lena Dunham has revealed that she has undergone a hysterectomy due to acute endometriosis.
The 31-year-old told US Vogue she made the tough decision to have her cervix and uterus removed after “years of complex surgeries measuring in the double digits” as a result of the debilitating disease. There is no known cure for endometriosis, but the star says she’s tried a range of treatments including “pelvic floor therapy, massage therapy, pain therapy, colour therapy, acupuncture”. Nothing worked.
“In addition to endometrial disease, an odd humplike protrusion and a septum running down the middle, I have retrograde bleeding, a.k.a. my period running in reverse so that my stomach is full of blood,” Lena wrote.
“My ovary has settled in on the muscles around the sacral nerves in my back that allow us to walk. Let’s please not even talk about my uterine lining.
“The only beautiful detail is that the organ — which is meant to be shaped like a light bulb — was shaped like a heart.”
The actor and director – who recently announced she had split from her long time boyfriend Jack Antonoff – will no longer be able to carry a child.
“I may have felt choiceness before, but I know I have choices now,” she said.
“Soon I’ll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs.
“Adoption is a thrilling truth I’ll pursue with all my might.”
This article originally appeared on Women’s Health.
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