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.

Bindi Irwin shocked the nation when she shared her battle with endometriosis publicly for the first time in 2023.

She posted a photo of herself in hospital after surgery for the debilitating disease with a caption that read: "I battled for a long time wondering if I should share this journey with you in such a public space.

"It came down to the responsibility I feel to share my story for other women who need help."

Irwin explained for 10 years she's struggled with "insurmountable fatigue, pain & nausea."

She's one of nearly a million Aussies living with the excruciating disease, which causes tissue like the lining of the uterus to grow outside the uterus.

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 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.

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."

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.

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.

Jelena Dokic was diagnosed with endometriosis after years of symptoms.

"I always knew something wasn't quite right and that I was in quite a lot of pain every single month," she previously told 9honey.

But the stigma around women's health and menstruation held her back from speaking about her pain for years, especially while she was a professional athlete.

"In a lot of sports, we start out very early. I started going on tour when I was 14, 15 and there are those things you don't hear about, you're not aware of," Dokic told 9honey.

"One of the things that hasn't been spoken about a lot, especially in sport, is the things that women go through every single month with our periods, how that affects us, how painful that is."

After suffering with endometriosis for years, actress Lena Dunham decided to undergo a total hysterectomy at 31, after many surgeries to manage the condition.

She detailed her decision in a powerful essay for Vogue, where she said: "I gave up on more treatment. I gave up on more pain. I gave up on more uncertainty."

It wasn't an easy choice for Dunham, who is now unable to carry a pregnancy, but one she felt was necessary for her quality of life.

Many women with endometriosis seek hysterectomies to end their pain.

Dunham hasn't given up on motherhood - she has just accepted that the journey will look different for her.

"I may have felt choiceless before, but I know I have choices now," she said in 2022.

"Soon I'll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs. Adoption is a thrilling truth I'll pursue with all my might."

Sophie Monk was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2018 after more than 25 years of symptoms.

The Aussie TV star racked up more than 20 ambulance trips to hospital through the years but never knew what was causing her so much agony.

It wasn't until she started looking into fertility treatment to help her start a family that the disease was discovered.

"If I can just help one woman not go through what I had to for the past 26 years, it's worth it," she said in an interview for 9Honey.

Monk shared videos on her Instagram from the hospital visit which led to her diagnosis.

"The reason I posted it is because there's so many women out there that don't know they have it," she told 9Honey. "You just learn to live with it and think it's normal, and you've got PMT or something."

Iconic country singer Dolly Parton underwent a partial hysterectomy in 1985 after being diagnosed with endometriosis.

She's since spoken about sinking into a deep depression after the surgery, coming to terms with the fact that she wouldn't be able to have children.

"It was an awful time for me," she said in 2008. "Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman. I went through a dark time, until I made myself snap out of it."

Daisy Ridley was diagnosed at 15 and has been open about her experience with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to help spread awareness.

"I hadn't been well – I had holes in my gut wall and stuff – and we were trying to figure out what to do with that because I'd felt poorly," she said of her symptoms in 2017.

Taking to Instagram around the height of her Star Wars fame, Ridley urged other women to listen to their bodies and seek medical support for concerning symptoms.

"Keep on top of how your body is feeling and don't worry about sounding like a hypochondriac. From your head to the tips of your toes we only have one body, let us all make sure ours are working in tip top condition, and take help if it's needed," she said.

Thelma and Louise star Susan Sarandon wasn't diagnosed with endometriosis until she was 36 years old.

"When all you know is pain, you don't know that that is not normal… It is not a woman's lot to suffer, even if we've been raised that way," she said at the Endometriosis Foundation of America' Blossom Ball in 2011.