Bindi Irwin is one of the few celebrities who has been extremely candid about her grueling journey with endometriosis, shedding light on the disease.
After years of unexplainable pain, fatigue, cramping and nausea, the Wildlife Warrior finally underwent “extensive” surgery in early 2023, which confirmed her endometriosis diagnosis.
In the three years since her diagnosis, Bindi has had more than 50 lesions removed.
“A chocolate cyst that was adhering my ovary to my side was removed. An appendectomy and a hernia repair. I’ve felt indescribable, inescapable pain,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Trying to keep my invisible illness to myself after being told by doctors it was just ‘part of being a woman.’ I spent 10 years being undiagnosed. As a teenager and young woman, I felt weak and deeply insecure. I was trapped in my own body.”
After bravely battling this invisible disease since she was 17 years old, Bindi has proudly championed raising awareness.
“We need to take away the stigma of talking about women’s health. It’s time to have open discussions and make change on a global scale.Young girls and women shouldn’t feel alone with pain in the driver’s seat of their lives,” she previously shared on Instagram.
In May 2024, she received the 2024 EndoFound Blossom Award from the Endometriosis Foundation of America and in her acceptance speech, she spoke about how the disorder had ruled her life.
“My pain escalated to new heights. It utterly consumed my life,” she shared.
“I vividly remember lying on the floor with my daughter next to me, and she was crying and crying because she didn’t know what was wrong with me. And all I wanted was to be there for my daughter. But endometriosis was sucking away every last piece of joy and my ability to function in life.”
“I hated looking in the mirror, because all I could see was the pain, and I felt like I had lost myself. And now I feel like I’m gaining my sense of self again. I’m realising that I am so much more than my pain, and that’s something we all have to remember,” Bindi continued.
Bindi welcomed her daughter, Grace, in 2021 – two years before her endometriosis diagnosis. Throughout her pregnancy, Bindi recalled the “severe, unexplained pain” to the point she believed she was miscarrying.
“I thought I was losing our beautiful daughter,” said Bindi, who shares Grace with her husband, Chandler Powell.
“We’re so lucky to have Grace. So many women can’t fall pregnant due to problems with endometriosis.”
After undergoing surgery, Bindi felt like a “completely new person.” When she first announced her diagnosis on Instagram in March 2023, Bindi admitted the surgery was “scary, but I knew I couldn’t live like I was.”
