Bindi Irwin Undergoes Endometriosis Surgery After 10 Years of Pain

Helping through healing. Bindi Irwin got candid about her decade-long battle with endometriosis, revealing that she underwent surgery for the uterine condition that caused her “insurmountable” pain.

The Dancing With the Stars season 21 winner, 24, opened up to fans about her harrowing ordeal via Instagram on Tuesday, March 7, sharing a smiling selfie in a hospital bed alongside a lengthy caption about her endometriosis experience.

“Dear Friends, I battled for a long time wondering if I should share this journey with you in such a public space. It came down to the responsibility I feel to share my story for other women who need help,” the Australia native wrote in the message. “For 10yrs I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain & nausea. Trying to remain a positive person & hide the pain has been a very long road. These last 10yrs have included many tests, doctors visits, scans, etc. A doctor told me it was simply something you deal with as a woman & I gave up entirely, trying to function through the pain.”

Fortunately for Irwin, her friend Leslie Mosier — the owner of internet sensation Doug the Pug — helped the animal conservationist get on the “path” to get the assistance she needed.

“I decided to undergo surgery for endometriosis,” Irwin shared. “Going in for surgery was scary but I knew I couldn’t live like I was. Every part of my life was getting torn apart because of the pain.”

Endometriosis, per Mayo Clinic, “is an often painful disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus.” The medical site explains that it affects female reproductive organs — “endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis” — and can affect fertility. (Irwin and husband Chandler Powell, who have been married since March 2020, share daughter, Grace Warrior, who will turn 2 later this month.)

When undergoing the procedure, doctors found “37 lesions, some very deep & difficult to remove, & a chocolate cyst [ovarian endometrioma],” the Bindi the Jungle Girl alum explained to fans. She added that her physician’s “first words to me when I was in recovery were, ‘How did you live with this much pain?’” — and it was exactly what Irwin needed to hear.

“Validation for years of pain is indescribable. My family & friends who have been on this journey with me for 10+ yrs – THANK YOU, for encouraging me to find answers when I thought I’d never climb out,” she penned. “Thank you to the doctors & nurses who believed my pain. I’m on the road to recovery & the gratitude I feel is overwhelming.”

Irwin concluded her announcement by empathizing with those going through similar health scares — and sharing an important reminder that not everything is what it seems on the outside.

“To those questioning the cancelled plans, unanswered messages & absence – I had been pouring every ounce of the energy I had left into our daughter & family,” Irwin wrote. “Things may look fine on the outside looking in through the window of someone’s life, however, that is not always the case. Please be gentle & pause before asking me (or any woman) when we’ll be having more children. After all that my body has gone through, I feel tremendously grateful that we have our gorgeous daughter. She feels like our family’s miracle.”

The daughter of the late Steve Irwin concluded: “I’m aware of millions of women struggling with a similar story. There’s stigma around this awful disease. I’m sharing my story for anyone who reads this & is quietly dealing with pain & no answers. Let this be your validation that your pain is real & you deserve help. Keep searching for answers.”