Gabrielle Union Opens Up About Being Misdiagnosed For Years
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Actress Gabrielle Union reveals she was misdiagnosed for years before finally being diagnosed with adenomyosis.
The 48-year-old opened up about her frustration and choice to pursue surrogacy in her newest book You Got Anything Stronger?
Union shares she continues to see a therapist to support her mental health.
After years of doctors pointing to her age as the reason for infertility and miscarriages, actress Gabrielle Union was finally given the correct diagnosis. In her new book You Got Anything Stronger?, a follow up to her 2017 memoir We’re Going to Need More Wine, the 48-year-old shared details of her frustrating misdiagnosis and eventual correct diagnosis of adenomyosis.
Adenomyosis is a condition in which cells that normally grow into the uterus wrongly grow into the muscular tissue of the uterine wall instead. This occurs most frequently in premenopausal women older than 30 and is categorized by painful and heavy menstrual cycles, according to University of Michigan Medicine. There is research that shows a connection between adenomyosis and infertility.
“It’s maddening. You get so focused on the thing that they’re saying that it is, and there’s not a lot I can do about being my age. When the reality is, it’s something that has nothing to do with that—it’s something that's been plaguing me for over 25 years, and no one ever got to that issue,” she said in an interview with Health. “By the time I got the answer, it was just like, ‘Are you f---ing kidding me?’ Then, it went from shock to anger. Rage, really—an all-consuming rage. And then relief that it wasn’t me. I felt like there was a thing that I could tag as the problem other than myself.”
In an essay adapted from Union’s newest book and published in Time, she revealed she endured “more miscarriages than I could confidently count,” and even after her doctor suggested surrogacy for the best chance at pregnancy, Union chose to attempt more IVF cycles and losses.
After pursuing all other options, Union eventually chose to conceive her daughter via a surrogate. The actress is currently the mother and stepmother to five children she shares with her husband Dwayne Wade, including their daughter Kaavia, who was born via surrogate in 2018.
In the same interview with Health, the actress revealed that she takes extra care of her mental health by going to therapy for nearly 30 years. After a traumatic sexual assault at age 19, she turned to mental health support from a therapist and later resources at UCLA, where she went to college. She continued to meet with therapists for mental health support before finding her perfect therapist match.
“I didn’t know you could be specific about the kind of therapist you wanted. For the longest time, I just used therapists that were convenient to my insurance. When I started making more money, I was like, ‘There aren't enough Black women therapists in my network, and I really want one—I feel like it could make a difference.’ So I found my therapist who has now been with me for, like, 20 years,” she told Health.
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