*Venus Williams recently opened up about her nearly three-decade battle with fibroids and adenomyosis. In a candid interview on NBC News Daily, the tennis champion revealed how these conditions caused excruciating pain, heavy bleeding, and vomiting, significantly impacting her life and career.
For years, Williams dealt with symptoms that were consistently dismissed by medical professionals. Despite having access to top-tier healthcare, doctors failed to provide an accurate diagnosis or effective treatment. To cope, she relied on medication, carrying pills with her wherever she went.
“As bad as things were for me, crazy amounts of bleeding like you couldn’t imagine my doctors told me it was normal,” she recounted. At 37, one doctor brushed off her symptoms as “a part of aging, this is normal,” while another referred to them as “natural birth control.”
It wasn’t until 2024, when Williams stumbled across a social media advertisement declaring, “you don’t have to live like this,” that she began researching proper treatment options. This led her to Dr. Taraneh Shirazian at NYU Langone Health Center for Fibroid Care, who provided a comprehensive diagnosis. “I was the first person to ever tell her [of the adenomyosis],” Dr. Shirazian told SELF magazine.
In July 2024, Williams underwent a myomectomy, a procedure that successfully removed her fibroids while preserving her uterus. Reflecting on her journey, she noted, “I went through a lot, and you would imagine that I would have access to the best health care—and I did. But I still didn’t have the best health care [until I went to NYU].”
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Beyond her battle with fibroids and adenomyosis, Williams has also been open about living with Sjögren’s syndrome, a condition she discussed on The Tamron Hall Show on October 17, 2024, while promoting her book, “Strive: 8 Steps to Find Your Awesome.”
In the book, she shares insights from her life as an athlete, blending lessons on wellness with candid reflections on her mistakes. Speaking to NPR, she explained, “This book is really kind of the story of my life… I share the mistakes that I’ve made, too – like, what I learned from, not to do again. I call it, I did this. I made this mistake so you don’t have to.”
Williams also addressed the emotional toll of her health challenges, particularly with Sjögren’s syndrome. “If you have no energy and you still have to play a match, it’s not easy,” she told Tamron Hall.
“You have no idea what’s going to happen when you walk on the court. And that’s hard… So I had to just focus on what I could accomplish instead of what I couldn’t.”
Her resilience shines through in her approach to managing her health. Williams told NPR that lifestyle changes, including prioritizing rest and balance, were critical to continuing her tennis career. “I realized I had to find more balance. I had to have a lifestyle change. I had to take more moments for myself. I had to rest more – things that I wasn’t necessarily used to,” she said.
At 45, the seven-time Grand Slam champion remains selective about her tournament appearances but has not announced her retirement.
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