All the brave stars who have shared their experiences with endometriosis
There are nearly 1 million Australians living with endometriosis, a common and debilitating disease which causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow in other locations inside the body.
Affecting about one in seven (14 per cent) women, girls and Aussies assigned female at birth, endometriosis can cause crippling pain, nausea, migraines, infertility and more.
It can affect every aspect of a woman's life and some sufferers – including a few celebrity women on this list – undergo total hysterectomy just to find relief.
Keep reading to meet just a few of the brave famous women using their platforms to educate and empower other women with endometriosis.
Irwin has since shared more details about her decade-long battle with the "dark disease", revealing how vital it is to have the support of other women with endometriosis.
"When I was going through the thick of it I couldn't possibly see how any good could come out of my pain," she said in 2023.
"But the connection with another who shares the experience and understands you in a way that few can, is like none other."
Formal support services for women with endometriosis in Australia are limited, so many sufferers - including Irwin - rely on one another for emotional and mental health support.
Emma Watkins
Emma Watkins has been one of the most outspoken Australian stars living with endometriosis, sharing much of her journey with the public.
She first shared her diagnosis in 2018, after undergoing laparascopic surgery to address terribly painful symptoms.
"I guess when you get used to that kind of pain all the time, you don't think anything of it," she told 9Honey at the time.
In the six years since, she's become a massive advocate and uses her platform to spread awareness and education about the signs and symptoms of endometriosis, as well as long-term implications like infertility.
Prior to Watkins' diagnosis, people would mistake her bloating (a common endometriosis symptom) for pregnancy.
"I'd go in the audience [at Wiggles shows] and mums would be like, 'So when are you due?' I'd get that a lot, people thinking that I was pregnant," she told 9honey previously.
"As soon as it was known that I had endo, I had less and less questions about when I'm having a baby."
One reporter even asked her during an unrelated interview if she was "devastated" that she "couldn't have kids" - despite the fact Watkins has never said anything about her own fertility.
"I've never said that I couldn't [have kids]. I've not even tried yet, and even that's a personal piece of my life that I don't really need to share. I don't know why we need to pry," she said.
Kayla Itsines
Fitness guru Kayla Itsines was diagnosed with endometriosis at 21 after suffering horrific symptoms from the age of 18.
But she kept her diagnosis private until after she became a mum.
"One of the first things I was told by a doctor about endometriosis is that I might not be able to get pregnant and that terrified me," she previously told 9honey.
"It was really painful for me to think about not being able to start a family, which is why I kept quiet for so long."
She knew opening up about the condition would spark questions from her many fans, some of which she wasn't ready to answer.
In the last decade, Itsines has undergone three laparoscopies to manage her endometriosis and each one cost her physically, emotionally and financially.
Since welcoming daughter Arna and son Jax, she's spoken publicly about endometriosis and lends her voice to campaigns aimed at raising awareness and finding better treatment options.
"I know this condition is something I'm going to have to live with and manage for years to come," Itsines says.
"I want women and girls to know the signs and symptoms to look out for so they can speak up if something doesn't feel right … nobody knows your body better than you do."
Tanya Hennessy
Comedian Tanya Hennessy uses her huge online platform to shine a light on the exhausting and expensive reality of life with endometriosis and the fertility issues it can cause.
The condition, which can take years to diagnose, can cause infertility in up to half of all women affected.
Hennessy has been struggling to conceive for years now and has endured five unsuccessful IVF attempts.
"No one chooses infertility. No one chooses to go through IVF, because if there was any way I didn't have to do it, I would do that," she said on Today in 2024.
"It's hard to work because you have to go in three times a week, you do internal scans, you do blood tests ... and then to get no results, it's kind of the definition of insanity."
Opening up about the mental, physical and financial toll of the disease on Instagram, Hennesy wrote: "I just wish it was easier, I wish I could be a parent. I wish this didn't take up so much space in my life.
"I wish I could have a win in this. I wish I could have our baby. I wish I didn't have endometriosis."
Thousands of Australian women face fertility struggles as a result of endometriosis, with many having to fork out tens of thousands of dollars for fertility treatments if they want to have children.
Erin Barnett
Former Love Island star Erin Barnett spent years fighting for a hysterectomy to free her from the agonising endometriosis symptoms she'd been living with for years.
She'd suffered bloating, cramps, heavy bleeding, migraines and even a double ovarian cyst rupture, which left her abdomen filled with blood and fluid.
Despite her horrifying experiences, doctors wouldn't agree to remove her uterus, insisting she 'might want kids'.
"Why can't we make that decision for ourselves? Why do we have to be convinced that children are the way of the world and every woman must have a child to live a good life?" she told 9honey.
"When did we stop being in charge of our own bodies? People always talk about your body, your choice but it's not like that at all. You actually don't get much of a choice in your body."
Barnett was finally approved for a hysterectomy in 2023, after about 20 other surgeries for her endometriosis.
"I ran to my partner and I started crying because I was just so happy, I cannot believe it's actually about to happen for me," she told 9honey just days after getting the news.
"I feel like I'm being reborn because I'm going to have my life back."
She underwent a total hysterectomy in June that year, aged 28, and said she couldn't have been happier to finally have it done.
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