Florence Pugh has vulnerably opened up about her health as a woman, including getting diagnosed with PCOS and endometriosis, and freezing her eggs at just 27.
The Oppenheimer actress just appeared on the SHE MD podcast with celebrity gynaecologist Dr. Thais Aliabadi and her co-host Mary Alice Haney, and shared a lot about her gynaecological health journey so far.
She began by explaining that she met Dr. Thais (affectionately known as "Dr. A" by her celeb clients including the Kardashians and Hailey Bieber) when she had "a bit of a worry" last year and wanted to see a doctor about it. She also explained that there isn't a culture of regularly seeing a gynaecologist in the UK as much as there is in the US, and that she likely wouldn't have got the information she did if she hadn't had some symptoms she wanted to deal with.
"I just had this sudden feeling that I should go and get everything checked. I’d had a few weird dreams, I think my body was telling me."
Florence asked her friends to refer her to a gynaecologist, which is how she found Dr. A. The first question the doctor asked her was if she'd had an egg count. "I was like, 'No? What do you mean? I’m so young. Why do I need an egg count?'" she said.
When she did the egg count, Dr. A diagnosed Florence with PCOS and endometriosis.
"It was just so bizarre because my family are baby-making machines," the actress explained. "My mum had babies into her forties. My gran had babies throughout... I just never assumed that I was going to be in any way different."
Because of her family background, Florence explained that fertility wasn't a "worry" for her. "And then of course, I learned completely different information, age 27, that I need to get my eggs out, and do it quickly, which was just a bit of a mind-boggling realization—and one that I’m really, really lucky and glad that I found out when I did," she said. "Because I’ve been wanting kids since I was a child."
Florence is grateful for the information she now has, which has meant that she's been able to alter her lifestyle in accordance with her symptoms, and to maximise her potential to have children when she's ready. She also urged anyone experiencing symptoms to consult a specialist and be pro-active about their health.
