Gabrielle Union reveals disease from her early 20s may have caused her infertility

Gabrielle Union has finally spoken up about her fertility issues, including her attempts to conceive through IVF. However, the 45-year-old reveals that after several miscarriages, her infertility could have been brought about by a condition called adenomyosis.

Speaking at the 2018 #BlogHer Conference this week, Gabrielle opened up about her struggles of conceiving children with her husband Dwyane Wade. According to her, she was diagnosed with adenomyosis in her early 20s. Yahoo reveals the heartbreaking piece that Union had shared about.

“Towards the end of my fertility journey I finally got some answers, because everyone said ‘You’re a career woman, you’ve prioritized your career, you waited too long and now you’re just too old to have a kid — and that’s on you for wanting a career. The reality is I actually have adenomyosis. The gag is I had it in my early 20s, and instead of someone diagnosing me they were like ‘Oh you have periods that last 9 or 10 days and you’re bleeding through overnight pads? Not a mere inconvenience perhaps there’s something more there.'”

WebMD defines adenomyosis is a condition wherein the inner lining of the uterus breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus. This then causes menstrual cramps, lower abdominal pressure and bloating prior to menstrual periods, and can result in heavy and extended periods. The condition can be located all throughout the entire uterus, and not just in one spot. Although it is not a life-threatening condition, the pain and heavy bleeding associated with it can have some extreme impacts on a woman's quality of life. While it hasn't been proven that the condition messes with fertility, previous studies show that there could be a possible connection.

Union herself is still trying to grasp the situation, but the doctor's usual recommendation of taking birth control pills is something she does not like doing.

“Every doctor I saw was like let me put you on birth control. Right? The catch all. Note: if you are on birth control for anything other than birth control, to address or treat any sort of period issue you are not actually treating or addressing a period or reproductive issue. You are masking it. The pill can mask all kinds of things. It is amazing at preventing pregnancy; not so great with addressing anonymous.”

Being the positive light that she is, Gabrielle Union is out there informing women of things they would usually sweep under the rug or be too uncomfortable talking about. Her speaking up about this condition will definitely urge more women to acknowledge their conditions and seek medical help to improve their situations.