Bindi Irwin opened up about her harrowing health journey with severe endometriosis—a condition that left her in debilitating pain for years.
At 26, the Australian star isn’t just sharing her story; she’s amplifying the voices of countless women who’ve faced similar battles.
“It is scary when you open up about your most vulnerable and painful times, when you talk about when you felt you were sitting in a very large hole and didn’t know if you were going to crawl out,” she said in a recent interview.
Bindi Irwin struggled for about a decade with debilitating pain before receiving her endometriosis diagnosis
Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, often causing severe pain in the pelvis and making it harder to conceive a child. More than 11% of women in America between the ages of 15 and 44 are affected by the disease, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
The beloved wildlife conservationist and daughter of the late Steve Irwin said she struggled for years to find the right diagnosis. She said she also needed time to be able to talk openly about the disease.
“It took me so long to talk about it, nobody knew what was happening to me except my mum (Terri Irwin), my brother Robert and my husband Chandler (Powell),” she told the Courier Mail.
The wildlife conservationist and her husband, Chandler Powell, are parents to daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, 3
“Everyone else thought I was becoming this flaky person because I would bow out of commitment after commitment at the last minute because I was in so much pain,” she added.
Bindi, who shares daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, 3, with her husband Chandler Powell, previously revealed that she went through a decade of pain and numerous tests before receiving her diagnosis of endometriosis.
“I was tested for everything,” she told People last year. “Every tropical disease, Lyme disease, cancer, you name it. I had every blood test and scan imaginable.”
The Australian star said she took numerous tests but still didn’t find answers until her friend insisted she undergo a laparoscopy
“It’s so hard because you feel like it’s inescapable,” she continued. “You don’t know what’s wrong with you, and then when people tell you ‘It’s all in your head’ or ‘you’re hormonal’ or ‘just have a cup of tea, lay down,’ you end up feeling so desperately alone because there’s no answers.”
Her symptoms would often be dismissed, with some telling her “it was in [her] head,” thus harming her mental wellbeing. Even doctors sometimes didn’t take her seriously because they couldn’t reach the right diagnosis.
“It was getting more and more concerning as to what the real problem was and if we would ever find the cause,” she told Today earlier this year. “Doctors would chalk it up to hormones and being a young woman, and I was often told that it was just the stress of life, and I should work on my mental health.”
The laparoscopy found 37 lesions and an ovarian cyst, which were removed and gave her a “second chance at life”
Bindi revealed that her close friend, who also had endometriosis, insisted she undergo a laparoscopy. The minimally invasive method—used to diagnose and treat intra-abdominal diseases—finally confirmed that she had endometriosis.
The laparoscopy also found that she had 37 lesions and a cyst on her ovary, which were surgically removed and gave her a “second chance at life.”
“Looking back, it was always endometriosis,” she told People.
Bindi said it “broke [her] heart” to see the overwhelming response from women sharing similar experiences
“My symptoms line up perfectly. I wish so much I could have had this surgery years ago,” she added. “My pain was in the driver’s seat, and everything else took a back seat. But I believe everything happens for a reason and that I had the surgery at the exact right time.”
When she finally knew what her medical condition was, Bindi said numerous women told her they went through the same experience.
“In some ways the response to telling my story was devastating because so many women came forward,” she said in her recent chat with Courier Mail. “It broke my heart, some of their stories were identical to mine, some had taken even longer to get a diagnosis, and there was a plethora of women’s health issues shared with me, and with each other.”
“In some ways the response to telling my story was devastating because so many women came forward,” she said in a recent interview
Although united by a painful medical condition, the conservationist found solace in the bond she shared with the women.
“It was women supporting other women, and that part of it was beautiful,” she said.
While many women with endometriosis struggle to get pregnant, Bindi was grateful she was able to welcome her daughter Grace into the family.
When she was pregnant with Grace, she often thought she might lose the baby because of the agonizing pain.
While pregnant with Grace, the mother often thought she might lose the baby because of the agonizing pain
“It would just be excruciating pain in my side. And I would think that I was losing our beautiful daughter…. I had no idea about what was happening. And so now I have answers,” the Dancing with the Stars winner told Good Morning America during a 2023 interview.
“But at the time I was terrified every day that I was going to lose our beautiful daughter,” she continued. “For me and Chandler, we’re so lucky to have Grace. So many women can’t fall pregnant because of problems with endometriosis.”
Now, when people ask her when she is having her next child, Bindi finds herself feeling a lot of “hurt and pain.”
“You know, some people don’t want another child, some can’t have another child, and some people have gone through enormous loss and heartbreak before they have their much wanted child,” she said
“I think it’s so important to think about the hurt and pain that can lie behind that question,” she told Courier Mail.
“When I went through endo and people would ask, ‘When are you and Chandler having another child?’ I used to think, ‘If you could see on the outside what it feels like on the inside you would never ask.’ It would completely change the way you approach somebody,” she told the outlet.
She stressed how some people might not have children for various reasons, despite sometimes wanting to be a parent.
“You know, some people don’t want another child, some can’t have another child, and some people have gone through enormous loss and heartbreak before they have their much wanted child,” she added. “I think you have to be kind in every part of life. If you have the urge to ask, take a second. If someone has good news to share, they’ll share it.”
Netizens expressed gratitude to the conservationist for sharing her journey with endometriosis
