Bindi Irwin has been diagnosed with endometriosis after suffering with "fatigue, pain and nausea" for a decade.
Bindi Irwin has undergone surgery
The 24-year-old star - whose father is the late 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin - admitted she wasn't sure whether or not to discuss her health publicly, but she felt like she had a responsibility to try and help other women by sharing her story about the reproductive condition, which sees uterine tissue grow outside the uterus.
In a lengthy Instagram post, she wrote: "For 10yrs I've struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain and nausea. Trying to remain a positive person and 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 and I gave up entirely, trying to function through the pain.
"I didn't find answers until a friend @lesliemosier helped set me on a path of regaining my life. I decided to undergo surgery for endometriosis."
Bindi - who has 23-month-old daughter Grace Warrior with husband Chandler Powell - admitted she was scared going in for surgery, but she "couldn't live like she was".
She continued: "Every part of my life was getting torn apart because of the pain. To cut a long story short, they found 37 lesions, some very deep and difficult to remove, a chocolate cyst.
"@seckinmd’s first words to me when I was in recovery were, 'How did you live with this much pain?; Validation for years of pain is indescribable."
Bindi thanked her family for their support over the last decade and more, while praising the doctors and nurses who "believed" the pain she was in.
She added: "I’m on the road to recovery and the gratitude I feel is overwhelming.
"To those questioning the cancelled plans, unanswered messages and absence - I had been pouring every ounce of the energy I had left into our daughter and family."
She noted that while "things may look fine on the outside looking in" on someone else's life, "that is not always the case".
She urged: "Please be gentle and 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."
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