Bindi Irwin Breaks Silence On 10+ Year Battle With Endometriosis

Steve Irwin’s daughter, Bindi Irwin, is breaking her silence on her struggles with endometriosis, which has gone on for over ten years.

To the shock of her 5.1 million Instagram followers, the daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter took to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon to share a photo that featured her smiling up at the camera from her hospital bed.

In an Instagram post that she captioned "Dear friends," the 24-year-old conservationist admitted that she spent "a long time wondering" if she should share her struggles with endometriosis "in such a public space."

"It came down to the responsibility I feel to share my story for other women who need help," she wrote, adding, "For 10yrs I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain & nausea. Trying to remain a positive person & hide the pain has been a very long road. These last 10yrs have included many tests, doctors visits, scans, etc."

One doctor told her that her symptoms were "something you deal with as a woman," which caused her to give up entirely and try to "function through the pain." She credited her close friend Leslie Mosier for helping her "find answers" and "set me on a path of regaining my life."

"I decided to undergo surgery for endometriosis," she told her followers. "Going in for surgery was scary but I knew I couldn’t live like I was. Every part of my life was getting torn apart because of the pain. To cut a long story short, they found 37 lesions, some very deep & difficult to remove, & a chocolate cyst."

While she was in recovery, she revealed that a doctor at the Seckin Endometriosis Center asked her, "How did you live with this much pain?" Bindi described the validation for "years of pain" as "indescribable" before thanking her friends and family for over a decade of support.

"My family & friends who have been on this journey with me for 10+ yrs - THANK YOU, for encouraging me to find answers when I thought I’d never climb out," she wrote. "Thank you to the doctors & nurses who believed my pain. I’m on the road to recovery & the gratitude I feel is overwhelming. To those questioning the cancelled plans, unanswered messages & absence - I had been pouring every ounce of the energy I had left into our daughter & family."

The Australian native married her husband Chandler Powell in 2020 and happily welcomed a daughter into their family soon after. On March 24, 2022, almost a year ago, Bindi celebrated her daughter’s first birthday with a beautiful photo, calling her newborn “an old soul from the very beginning.”

"Things may look fine on the outside looking in through the window of someone’s life, however, that is not always the case," Bindi reminded her followers. "Please be gentle & pause before asking me (or any woman) when we’ll be having more children. After all that my body has gone through, I feel tremendously grateful that we have our gorgeous daughter. She feels like our family’s miracle."

"I’m aware of millions of women struggling with a similar story," she continued. "There’s stigma around this awful disease. I’m sharing my story for anyone who reads this & is quietly dealing with pain & no answers. Let this be your validation that your pain is real & you deserve help."

She encouraged her followers to "Keep searching for answers" and capped off her post by providing a link to the Endometriosis Foundation of America.

Many fans, close friends, and family members took to the comments section of her post to share words of support and encouragement.

"You are the strongest, toughest person I know," wrote her husband Chandler Powell. "I love you and I’m so excited for this new chapter of life."

Leslie Mosier, who Bindi had tagged in her post, commented, “Bindi you amaze me! Your strength is immeasurable and sharing your story will help so many who are suffering. I can’t wait to watch you thrive. I love you, sweet sister.”