“ABC News” anchor Linsey Davis is revealing for the first time her yearslong struggle with uterine fibroids.
The “World News Tonight” weekend anchor explained during a “ABC News Live Prime” conversation with singer Tamar Braxton and model and actress Cynthia Bailey on Monday, Aug. 12, that she has powered through painful and severe fatigue behind the scenes due to fibroids.
Davis hopes to help women by revealing her fibroid battle. “I feel like if there is an 80% instance in anyone’s health, it should be a priority,” she said.
She also said a hysterectomy was the right path forward for her.
“I guess I just want to be final. You just want to be finished,” Davis said. “It causes me enough angst and grief, and planning my day differently, accordingly, that I really feel like I’m ready to be finished with this journey.”
What are fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are a type of noncancerous tumor that grows in and on the uterus, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The common diagnosis can also result in back pain, frequent urination or pain during sex. Small fibroids rarely need treatment, while large fibroids can be treated with medication or surgery.
Fibroids are more common and more severe in Black people, and up to 90% of Black people with a uterus have fibroids by age 50, according to the Mayo Clinic. Black women are also two to three times more likely to have frequent fibroids or experience complications, according to Michigan Medicine.
A hysterectomy is an effective treatment for fibroids and is the only cure for uterine fibroids, but it typically prevents future pregnancies as it completely removes the uterus, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Davis, 47, has one son, Ayden, 11.
Who is Linsey Davis? What to know about ABC anchor moderating Harris-Trump debate
Davis said she also experienced intense bloating due to her uterine fibroids. She said during coverage of the Oscars in March, people online began to speculate she was pregnant. Both Braxton and Bailey said they also experienced severe bloating.
Lupita Nyong’o joins fight to fund fibroids research: ‘I no longer want to remain silent’
“I stayed on the celebrity baby bump alert. Like I was always giving ‘(I’m) pregnant with imaginary children’ because of my fibroids,” Bailey said. “And I was shutting down on rumors, I was like, ‘I’m not pregnant, I have fibroids.'”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘ABC News’ anchor Linsey Davis reveals uterine fibroids
