![\"Kayla](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/8c115ae7ce966009121f78346f9081b2fa2155d8db17a27ec86aa7bafbd296bf.png\")
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March 31, 2026 \u2014 3:14pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n It took more than 10 years for Bindi Irwin to receive her endometriosis diagnosis after doctors dismissed her pain as \u201cpart of being a woman\u201d. Now she is determined to make sure the \u201cinvisible disease\u201d is no longer ignored.<\/p>\n Dozens of endometriosis lesions have been cut out of Irwin\u2019s body in the three years since she revealed her diagnosis in 2023. And on Tuesday, Irwin posted a picture of herself in a hospital bed to Instagram to highlight the \u201cinvisible illness\u201d as the end of endometriosis awareness month in March approaches.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the last three years, I\u2019ve had over 50 endometriosis lesions cut out of my body,\u201d Irwin said, including a chocolate cyst, which is a cyst sac filled with old blood that forms in the ovaries during menstruation.<\/p>\n TV personality Irwin, a former US Dancing With the Stars winner who is CEO of Australia Zoo and daughter of the late conservationist Steve Irwin, also said that she has had her appendix removed as well as a hernia repair \u2013 all of which occurred across two surgeries.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve felt indescribable, inescapable pain,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cTrying to keep my invisible illness to myself after being told by doctors it was just \u2018part of being a woman\u2019. I spent 10 years being undiagnosed.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a teenager and young woman, I felt weak and deeply insecure. I was trapped in my own body. March is endometriosis awareness month. As this month comes to a close, I urge everyone to remember this invisible disease each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Bindi\u2019s mother, Terry Irwin, commented on the post supporting her daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so proud of you for sharing your journey, Bindi. I have learned that it is important for women to seek out a surgeon who performs excision surgery instead of ablation. Everyone deserves to live without pain,\u201d Terri Irwin said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Irwin has taken to social media to raise awareness about the illness and its diagnosis, issues explored in this masthead\u2019s award-winning Medical Misogyny series.<\/a><\/p>\n In August last year, Irwin shared that after waiting 13 years for her diagnosis and undergoing two surgeries, she was \u201cfinally better\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI can function in everyday life without wanting to throw up or pass out from the pain,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt utterly ashamed as a teenager and young adult being told that my pain was just part of being a woman. I felt lesser. I felt hurt. I felt weak. That is not OK. Young girls and women shouldn\u2019t feel alone with pain in the driver\u2019s seat of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Irwin said at the time the stigma surrounding women\u2019s health needed to be removed, a message echoed in her latest social media post.<\/p>\n \u201cLend support, compassion and grace towards the millions who suffer [with endometriosis]. It\u2019s up to all of us to raise awareness, not just for endometriosis but for women\u2019s health as a whole. No one deserves to suffer in silence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in pain, my heart breaks for you. I believe you. Please find answers. And don\u2019t give up on yourself. I know how hard that can be.\u201d<\/p>\n Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Bindi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1f7d4694f3a84f91626737319bfb0d10126e9271.jpeg\")
Bindi Irwin says doctors initially fobbed off her pain as just \u201cpart of being a woman\u201d.Bindi Irwin\u2019s Instagram<\/p>\n![\"Bindi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5ffb4b1d11a9f706c9ff2f3debfa73ec3efc0834.jpeg\")
Bindi Irwin and her husband Chandler Powell with first child, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, in 2021.Instagram<\/p>\n