Tia Mowry Opens Up about Living with Endometriosis as a Black Woman

Tia Mowry opened up about being a Black woman with endometriosis.

“I’d never really seen someone African American in the public eye talking about endometriosis or their struggles with infertility,” she stated in Women’s Health Magazine. “And when you don’t know or see anyone else who looks like you talking about what you’re going through, you feel alone and suffer in silence.”

Mowry said she experienced extreme pain for years but many doctors would dismiss her symptoms as “bad cramps.”

In her 20s, she said she went to an African American woman doctor who immediately diagnosed her with endometriosis, a disorder that occurs when tissue that’s normally inside the uterus grows outside the uterus.

It’s estimated that approximately one in 10 women ages 14 to 49 is affected by endometriosis. The condition causes severe cramps, fatigue, and heavy bleeding and it often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, especially in Black women.

Researchers say there’s a lack of data on the prevalence of endometriosis in Black communities but Black women might be particularly at risk.

“Compared to other communities, it feels like there’s a void when it comes to talking about healthy living and medicine from African American women, for African American women,” Mowry stated.