Get ready to be inspired. On May 2, Halle Berry screamed she’s in menopause on Capital Hill, all for helping the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act seek funding from the government. Berry isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, and during her recent talk on Capital Hill, she shouted from the rooftops that she has menopause, and that’s okay! During her speech, Berry screamed, “I’m in menopause, OK?” She added, via Hello magazine, “The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens. Our doctors can’t even say the wor ..read more

Anyone who’s been through a fertility journey knows it’s a rollercoaster, with flashes of exhilarating hope followed by the lowest pitfalls of disappointment. And while many people reach the end of the process with a new baby on the way, not all fertility journeys have a happy ending. For Sophia Bush, undergoing fertility treatment was a uniquely painful and difficult journey — but one that ultimately shed light on some major changes she needed to make in her life. In an essay for Glamour, Bush described how she experienced “the depths and heartbreak of the fertility process” just after her we ..read more

Studies have found that endometriosis affects 10 to 15 percent of women of child-bearing age. And yet, despite how common this disease is — and how utterly debilitating its symptoms can be — we still know far too little about what causes it. Treatments are similarly bare-bones, with options limited to hormonal medications like birth control, common pain meds, and surgery, per Mayo Clinic. Fortunately, the tides are slowly starting to shift and some of the questions surrounding endo — like if endometriosis is genetic or not — are finally starting to get firm answers. For years, scientists belie ..read more

Halle Bailey announced the birth of her first son, Halo, in a tender Instagram post in January 2024, calling him “the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me” in the emotional caption. And while The Color Purple star describes Halo as a “perfect” baby, she also isn’t shying away from talking about the tougher parts of being a new mom, including postpartum depression. The 24-year-old got honest about the toll its taken on her mental health in a Snapchat video posted to social media by a fan last week. “I feel like a completely different person,” Bailey said in the video. “When I look in ..read more

Olivia Munn underwent breast cancer treatment last year after a surprise diagnosis, but in a new interview with People, she said even that experience wasn’t as difficult as postpartum anxiety. “It was truly the most challenging thing,” said Munn, who shares her two-year-old son Malcolm with partner John Mulaney. “It was incredibly difficult. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would put my postpartum anxiety at 100… I went through something challenging this past year,” she continued, referencing her breast cancer battle, “but I don’t think it compares to what I went through postpartum.” Postpartum anxiet ..read more

Kimberly Seals Allers likes to say that Irth, the app she created to give BIPOC birthing people the power to review their doctors, is something she wished she had when she was giving birth. “I was doing all the research… really hoping to have a great birth experience,” she explained in a discussion with SheKnows Editor-in-Chief Erika Janes at the SHE Media Co-Lab Whole Life Health event at SXSW in Austin, Texas, this past March. A journalist by trade, Allers leveraged all her research skills to find a good hospital and a doctor who would care for her. But in the end, all her careful vetting di ..read more

Popular beauty influencer Jessica Pettway passed away due to cervical cancer at age 36 last month, according to E! Online. As a Black physician, wife, and mom, the news of Pettway’s passing deeply resonated with me, as does every tragic story that adds to the increase in mortality rates and dismissals of Black women in healthcare. Stories like hers and many others only serve to compound the already pervasive mistrust and trauma that Black women experience when seeking healthcare. It also underscores the importance of health screenings as well as women advocating for themselves, and not normali ..read more

If you have endometriosis, you know that the symptoms can be unpleasant, from common ones like intense cramps, fatigue, and excessive bleeding to “silent” symptoms like fertility issues and ovarian cysts. If, on top of all that, you also feel like you’ve gained weight due to endometriosis, know that you’re not alone. Bloating (aka endo belly) will often make it seem like you’re putting on weight in your midsection, but true weight gain might be happening too — though it may not be directly related to endometriosis. “Endometriosis itself does not cause weight gain, but some women with endometri ..read more

Halle Berry was convinced she would miss perimenopause. “My ego told me that I was gonna skip it,” she said in a panel conversation on menopause and women’s health with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at A Day of Unreasonable Conversation. “I’m in great shape,” Berry continued, explaining her rationale. “I’m healthy. I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since I’m 20 years old. So that makes one think, ‘Oh, I can handle menopause. I’m gonna eat right, exercise, and I’m gonna skip that whole thing.'” Of course, menopause doesn’t quite work like that (if only… although diet and ..read more

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. More and more celebrities are talking about menopause these days, getting real and honest about their experiences, and we love to see it. The more all of us (famous and not-so-famous) talk about menopause, the less stigma we all face about this time of life experienced by half of the population. More transparency, more sharing what works, more normalizing this common (but not always easy) experience. Halle Berry is one of the stars leading that charge, espec ..read more