Lupita Nyong’o is done staying quiet—and she’s inviting millions of women to speak up with her.
In a powerful Instagram post shared today, the Oscar-winning actress opened up about her personal battle with uterine fibroids, shedding light on a condition that affects the majority of women—especially Black women—yet is rarely talked about with the urgency it deserves.
“In March 2014, I won an Academy Award,” Lupita wrote. “That same year, I discovered I had uterine fibroids. Thirty of them.”
Yes, you read that right. Thirty. And while the world was watching her make history, she was also quietly recovering from major surgery.
The emotional post pulls no punches. She details the pain, confusion, and dismissal she experienced. She speaks to the culture of silence around women’s health. And she calls out the way female pain has long been normalized.
“When we reach puberty, we’re taught that periods mean pain, and that pain is simply part of being a woman,” she wrote. “No more suffering in silence!”
Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that grow in or around the uterus. And while they’re incredibly common (especially among Black women), the treatment options remain underfunded, under-researched, and often invasive.
According to Lupita, “8 out of 10 Black women and 7 out of 10 white women will experience fibroids. Yet we speak so little of them.”
Now, she’s changing that. In partnership with the Foundation for Women’s Health, she has launched the FWH x Lupita Nyong’o Uterine Fibroid Research Grant, focused on developing minimally and non-invasive treatments that can actually support women’s long-term health—not just patch the symptoms.
And her advocacy isn’t staying online. Lupita has taken this fight all the way to Capitol Hill, standing beside U.S. lawmakers to support legislation that will improve screening, increase funding for research, and boost education and awareness—especially for young women and girls.
Her closing words hit like a rallying cry:
“I hope my experience will resonate with anyone who has ever felt dismissed, confused or alone. We deserve better. It’s time to demand it. Silence serves no one.”
This is what advocacy looks like. This is what turning pain into power sounds like. And this is the kind of story that needs to be heard.
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