Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has once again stepped into the spotlight to advocate for millions of women living with uterine fibroids, a condition she has battled for years.
In a powerful statement marking Fibroid Awareness Month, Lupita announced a two-pronged advocacy push that entails support for a package of fibroid-focused congressional bills and the launch of a research grant to explore less invasive treatments.
“I’m speaking up about uterine fibroids. This is my story,” she wrote. “We deserve better. It’s time to demand it. Silence serves no one,” she said in an Instagram post.
In Washington, Lupita is rallying Congresswomen Shontel Brown, Yvette Clarke, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robin Kelly, and Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Laphonza Butler to introduce a set of new legislation.
These bills, she revealed, are targeted to expand research funding, increase early detection and interventions for uterine fibroids, study the causes of uterine cancer, and increase public awareness.
In addition, Lupita has partnered with the Foundation for Women’s Health to create the FWH x Lupita Nyong’o Uterine Fibroid Research Grant, aimed at developing minimally invasive treatments and improving patient quality of life.
The move comes a decade after Lupita first revealed her diagnosis in 2014, the same year she won her Academy Award.
At the time, she disclosed that she had undergone surgery to remove 30 fibroids and urged women to break their silence around the condition.
“No one should struggle alone with something that affects so many,” she said then.
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths in or around the uterus, with symptoms ranging from heavy bleeding and pelvic pain to complications during pregnancy.
The condition affects up to 80% of Black women and 70% of white women by age 50, but remains under-researched and under-discussed.