Lupita Nyong'o Launches Fund for Fibroid Research

When Lupita Nyong'o won her Academy Award in 2014, she was also quietly battling debilitating pelvic pain that left her exhausted and pre-anemic. She'd been taught that painful periods were just "part of being a woman," so she didn't question when her symptoms got worse.

After finally insisting on an ultrasound, doctors discovered over 30 uterine fibroids lining her uterus. These noncancerous growths affect up to 80% of women by age 50, causing heavy bleeding, severe pain, and in many cases, infertility.

Nyong'o had surgery to remove the fibroids 12 years ago. When she asked her doctor how to prevent them from returning, the answer crushed her: "You can't. It's only a matter of time until they grow again."

Now the 42-year-old actress has more than 50 fibroids, with the largest the size of an orange. She's facing the same limited options as before: invasive surgery or living with the pain.

But this time, she's turning her frustration into action. Nyong'o has partnered with the Foundation for Women's Health and GoFundMe to launch #MakeFibroidsCount, a campaign raising funds for research into minimally invasive fibroid treatments.

"When something affects 8 out of 10 women and we're still caught off guard by it, that's not individual bad luck. That is systemic failure," she wrote for the campaign.

Black women are hit especially hard, developing fibroids earlier and experiencing more severe symptoms. Yet fibroids are rarely discussed during routine gynecological exams, and the main treatment option remains hysterectomy, which Nyong'o notes has "profound consequences for a woman's body, identity, and reproductive future."

The Ripple Effect

The campaign has already raised over $35,000 toward its $200,000 goal. That funding will support research grants for innovative, less invasive treatment options that could change the standard of care for millions of women.

The campaign's imagery features Nyong'o holding baskets of fruit, reclaiming the way doctors casually describe fibroid sizes. "These aren't fruits we chose to harvest; they're unwanted growths that can cause debilitating pain," the campaign explains.

Nyong'o isn't stopping at fundraising. In July 2025, she joined lawmakers in Washington to introduce a package of bills designed to expand fibroid research funding, increase early detection, and raise public awareness about the condition.

The Foundation for Women's Health plans to select innovative proposals for minimally invasive treatments. "If we look forward to the next generation of women, doctors will not be uneducated about the symptoms of fibroids and then provide organ removal as a line of first offense," says founder Katy Brodsky Falco.

For Nyong'o, speaking up means breaking a cycle of normalized suffering: "The presence of pain is a signal that something must change."