The Sinn Féin leader also called out what she describes as ‘systemic misogyny’ within the Irish healthcare system, pointing out that women navigating the menopause are left without adequate guidance

Mary Lou McDonald TD in her office at Leinster House, Dublin. Photo SAM BOAL/Collins Photos(Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS)

Mary Lou McDonald has spoken about her hysterectomy as she highlights the importance of advocating for your health as a woman.

The Sinn Féin leader, 57, underwent a radical hysterectomy three years ago to remove some growths and tumours. Luckily, she did not require any further treatment after the surgery, which was done via keyhole, and returned to work a few months after the operation.

Now, she is opening up more about the surgery, which she has called ‘life-changing’, saying that the aftermath was just as challenging as the procedure itself.

“I had a radical hysterectomy, so everything’s gone, which was necessary. I’m very lucky at an age where, obviously, not alone had I my children, but my children are well grown up now. So I wasn’t dealing with the trauma that I know younger women experience with that. Nonetheless, it is a life-changing surgery,” she told Kathryn Thomas on the Are We There Yet? podcast.

“The aftermath of it was as much a challenge as everything that led up to it and the surgery itself. It was only in the aftermath of it, and talking to women of my age, older, younger, around that whole area of menopause and perimenopause and how you deal with it and how you are heard.”

Mary Lou also called out what she describes as ‘systemic misogyny’ within the Irish healthcare system, pointing out that women in their forties and fifties navigating the menopause are left without adequate guidance, saying, “Women’s health isn’t given prominence, and it isn’t taken seriously.”

“The common story for women is that they don’t know where to go in many cases. It’s not signposted in the way it should be through healthcare and supports in respect of very simple things that can change you from feeling like the world is coming in on you or thinking, ‘This is just how you feel when you’re in your 40s or 50s’ to rediscovering that actually no, you should still feel well, you still should feel full of energy.

“You shouldn’t have all of these aches and pains. You shouldn’t have chronic brain fog. There are things that can actually be done so you get your zest back.”

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