Hollywood star Florence Pugh has revealed that a surprise diagnosis led her to have her eggs frozen aged 27.
Now 28, the British-born actress has opened up about suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis - both of which can affect fertility - in an episode of the SHE MD podcast, released Tuesday.
Pugh, star of hits like “Oppenheimer,” “Dune: Part Two” and “Little Women,” said: “I had a bit of a worry last summer and I just wanted to go and get things checked out and then we ended up finding out information that I probably wouldn’t have known until I started having kids in another five years.”
The podcast is hosted by influencer Mary Alice Haney and gynaecological surgeon Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, who diagnosed Pugh.
Pugh said she booked the initial appointment after “a few weird dreams” made her think she should be checked out.
She recalled being taken aback when Aliabadi asked if she’d ever had an egg count. She was later diagnosed with PCOS and endometriosis.
“It was just so bizarre because my family are baby-making machines,” she said. “My mum had babies into her forties, my gran… she had so many kids as well. I just never assumed that I was going to be in any way different and that there was going to be an issue with it, or that I had to think about it before I needed to think about it.”
Pugh continued: “And then… I learned completely different information aged 27 that I need to get my eggs out and do it quickly, which was just a bit of a mind-boggling realization and one that I’m really, really lucky and glad that I found out when I did because I’ve been wanting kids since I was a child.”
Endometriosis is a common and often painful condition that happens when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus itself. It’s estimated to affect more than 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 across the United States.
Telltale signs of PCOS can include “menstrual cycle changes, skin changes such as increased facial and body hair and acne, abnormal growths in the ovaries, and infertility,” according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
The chronic condition affects around 8% to 13% of women and girls of reproductive age worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, but as many as 70% could be experiencing PCOS while undiagnosed.
Pugh said she hoped that talking about her experiences would help raise awareness.
“I feel so let down by the lack of conversation,” she said. “I feel so let down for all of the young women that are going to find this out far too late, and are going to find this out when they start to have children in their thirties, and they’ve had a really amazing 10 years of work.
“And I feel like this is such a simple conversation that we should be having when we start our periods, or when we start having sex. It really, really should not take this long for someone to find out about this diagnosis that they have no idea what it is.”
CNN’s Jacqueline Howard and Kristen Rogers have contributed to this report.
