Bindi Irwin is opening up about her struggles with endometriosis.
The Crikey! It’s The Irwins star, 24, shared an Instagram video on Friday answering fan questions about her history with endometriosis, a reproductive condition in which uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus, causing cramping and chronic pain.
Irwin, who initially revealed her diagnosis in March, said in the video that she had first started “noticing” symptoms when she was 14 years old, and she would often feel “extreme fatigue, nausea and pain.” She said she had searched for answers for years, getting blood tests, CT scans and MRI ultrasounds, which did not show that she had the condition.
She said she ultimately gave up searching for answers after one doctor told her that her pain was “just part of being a woman.” However, it wasn’t until many years later when she gave birth to her daughter Grace that the pain became more “intense.”
“After having beautiful Grace, my pain levels were out of this world,” she recalled.
“I can remember countless times of Grace needing me and me crawling to her cot at night,” she explained. “I can remember being with Grace and just laying on the floor in agony because I would have stabbing pain in my side and I literally could not get up. Or I would throw up, or I was scared I would pass out.”
“I was so scared because I was worried if I was alone with Grace, something would happen to me, and she would be on her own,” she added.
She said the moment she realized she needed to do something was when her family was on their annual crocodile research trip in August 2022. Irwin said after she had been trying to climb up a “tiny hill” with Grace in her arms, she was hit with severe pain.
“… The pain hit me out of nowhere,” she said. “I had to hand Grace to mom and just curl up in the fetal position on the ground because the stabbing pain in my side was insurmountable.”
She said it wasn’t until her friend Leslie shared her story of endometriosis, with their symptoms matching up that she realized what she had. Her friend told her that she needed to get exploratory surgery to figure out just how bad her endometriosis was.
Irwin said she decided to have the surgery in December over the holidays when both her and her husband Chandler Powell’s family could be there to watch Grace while she recovered. She said they found 37 lesions and a chocolate cyst on her ovary, which she eventually had removed via surgery.
In the caption for the video, Irwin thanked her mother and brother for “being there with me every step of the way,” and said that it was “because of them” that she had a “second chance at life.” She also thanked her husband’s parents for watching Grace during her surgery and the Australia Zoo/Wildlife Warriors team for their “support” while she was away.
“Thank YOU for your incredible questions about my endometriosis journey, I hope this video may shed some light on my story to help you or someone you know battling with this disease,” she ended the post.