Lena Dunham: Girls creator reveals she underwent total hysterectomy for endometriosis

The 'Girls' creator pens essay about her decision

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Lena Dunham has announced that she made the decision to get a total hysterectomy as a result of her debilitating endometriosis.

The Girls creator revealed the news about the surgery removing her uterus and cervix in an essay in the March issue of Vogue, an excerpt of which can be found on The Endometriosis Foundation website.

The surgery is an attempt to stop chronic pain and "years of complex surgeries measuring in the double digits." Dunham apparently was experiencing complications alongside her endometriosis.

“In addition to endometrial disease, an odd humplike protrusion and a septum running down the middle, I have retrograde bleeding, a.k.a. my period running in reverse so that my stomach is full of blood,” Dunham explained in her essay.

She continued to detail the pain she experienced and the destruction of her reproductive organs.

"My ovary has settled in on the muscles around the sacral nerves in my back that allow us to walk," the 32-year-old wrote. "Let’s please not even talk about my uterine lining. The only beautiful detail is that the organ—which is meant to be shaped like a light bulb—was shaped like a heart.”

Dunham hasn't been shy about sharing her endometriosis journey.

She's undergone multiple surgeries and was hospitalised several times for the condition.

In April 2017, she was even told she was endometriosis-free, but just a month later she was hospitalised and even had to cancel her "Lenny IRL" tour.

Despite her hysterectomy, she's looking ahead and remains hopeful about adoption or surrogacy.

“I may have felt choiceless before, but I know I have choices now,” she said. “Soon I’ll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs. Adoption is a thrilling truth I’ll pursue with all my might.”

Dunham's essay comes after she has largely remained out of the public eye during the past few months aside from addressing her breakup with Jack Antonoff and appearing as a part of the Time's Up initiative.