BINDI'S 10-YEAR HEALTH BATTLE Everything Happens For a Reason'

Learn how a life-changing endometriosis diagnosis and surgery ended a decade of silent suffering for Bindi Irwin

She was in agony, facing near-constant pain as well as fatigue, cramping and nausea. But doctors couldn't explain why Bindi Irwin - the daughter of late The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin - struggled to function even after she underwent MRIs, ultrasounds and CT scans. All the tests they gave her, for everything from cancer to tropical maladies to Lyme disease, "came back totally clear, fine and normal," she tells Life & Style in an exclusive new interview, noting that some medical professionals even dismissed her complaints. "For 10 years, I had no idea what was wrong with me. And yet, as I got older, my pain increased."

Things were never worse than following the 2021 birth of daughter Grace Warrior, though. "After I had her, it was a snowball," Bindi recalls. "It was like I was on fire inside."

When a friend publicly shared her own health journey with endometriosis - a condition in which uterine tissue grows outside of the womb, causing intense pain and, for some, infertility-a light bulb finally went off. "I was reading it thinking this is the first time I've ever heard about someone having symptoms so similar to mine," says Bindi, who would go on to be diagnosed with the same disorder, have 37 lesions surgically removed and discover there was a large cyst "taking over my ovary. It was very, very scary, but I'm grateful to get to share my story. I believe everything happens for a reason." 

SHOCK & RECOVERY