Tennis legend Venus Williams has opened up about her long and painful battle with uterine fibroids, revealing years of suffering and misdiagnosis before finally undergoing surgery. Her brave disclosure during Fibroid Awareness Month 2025 is aimed at encouraging more women to seek timely care and realize they don’t have to live in pain.
The 45-year-old athlete said her symptoms began at just 16 years old. “I remember playing my first French Open… Before the second round, I was hugging the toilet bowl. I was losing my lunch over period pains. Those are the things you don’t see behind the scenes,” she shared in an interview with SELF.
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths in or on the uterus that can cause heavy periods, pain, and other complications. The Archives of Medical Science Journal says they are the most common benign tumors in women, affecting 20–30 percent of females, particularly between ages 30 and 50.
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Despite being a seven-time Grand Slam champion, Williams was never properly diagnosed for years, even as the condition sapped her energy and performance. In an interview with TODAY, she recalled experiencing intense menstrual bleeding. “As bad as things were for me, with crazy amounts of bleeding, my doctors told me it was normal. I never realized anything was wrong.”
During routine anti-doping tests, she was diagnosed with anemia. Initially, she believed it was due to Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder, but later discovered it stemmed from blood loss caused by fibroids.
The bleeding was so severe that she often had to layer her clothing to avoid staining. The cramps were so intense they made her vomit. She recalled training at Wimbledon in 2016, where she lay on the locker room floor, unable to eat. “We had a doubles final to play next. Thank God Serena got the doctor, and I was able to get up, eat, and play.”
Doctors continued to dismiss her symptoms. At 37, one doctor attributed her issues to aging. “I didn’t know the fibroids were big or growing,” she said. She recalled a moment when a doctor joked her condition was “natural birth control.” “No one explained what that meant. Looking back, it’s not funny. It’s not a joke to take away someone’s opportunity to have a child.”
Although a hysterectomy was suggested, Williams wasn’t ready for such a drastic measure. “I never had enough energy to play the way I wanted, and it affected my performance,” she admitted.
In 2024, while scrolling on social media, she came across a post that said, “You don’t have to live like this.” That moment led her to discover NYU Langone’s Center for Fibroid Care and Dr. Taraneh Shirazian.
Williams underwent a myomectomy, a surgery to remove fibroids while preserving the uterus. Though initially apprehensive, she now feels a significant improvement in her quality of life.
“I’m very passionate about this now because I know others can live better than what I lived,” Williams said, vowing to continue advocating for fibroid awareness and women’s health.
