Canada Calling Fern's Fresh Start

The Kiwi Star Opens Up About Taking Some Time Out In North America.

- Amy Prebble

Despite her success on The Brokenwood Mysteries and The Almighty Johnsons, talented New Zealand actress Fern Sutherland recently considered giving up acting altogether.

The 31-year-old was completely exhausted from keeping up with a demanding work schedule, exercise regime and her own incredibly high expectations of herself.

“My body was literally tired, in every sense of the word,” she tells. “So I had to find out what was going on.”

Fern was subsequently diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. “I had an absent period for quite a long time. I have cysts on my ovaries and, associated with that, crashing blood sugar levels and energy spikes, crazy mood swings and weight gain, and all of that kind of thing,” she says.

“Your ovaries are a part of your body that you don’t want to have to think about and you just kind of assume that they’re going to tick along nicely.”

Fern worked with an endocrinologist who basically told her she was over-training.

“It was really interesting because a lot of women she was treating were yoga teachers, fitness bloggers, personal trainers, dancers or marathon runners. They’re people you look at and you’re like, ‘You are super healthy!’ But they all had lost their periods.”