The daughter of legendary wildlife educator and TV host Steve Irwin is opening up about her biggest battle yet.
Bindi Irwin, who followed in her Crocodile Hunter father’s footsteps to become a conservationist and “wildlife warrior,” has struggled with a chronic health condition for over a decade.
On Monday, Bindi, 27, posted pictures of herself in a hospital bed on Instagram.
In the accompanying text, she explained, “In the last three years, I’ve had over 50 endometriosis lesions cut out of my body.”
Bindi Irwin shared pictures from her hospital bed on Instagram in honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month.
Endometriosis is a condition in which lesions of tissue similar to the uterus lining grow in areas where they are not supposed to, such as in the fallopian tubes or the ovaries. It can cause severe pain and menstrual issues and may affect fertility.
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“A chocolate cyst that was adhering to my ovary to my side was removed,” she continued. “An appendectomy and a hernia repair.”
A chocolate cyst, or ovarian endometrioma, is a lesion attached to the ovary and filled with old menstrual blood. It is more common in cases of severe endometriosis.
Reflecting on her experience, Bindi continued, “I’ve felt indescribable, inescapable pain,” and shared that she had tried to keep her illness to herself because doctors dismissed her pain as “part of being a woman.”
Bindi’s father, Steve Irwin, was an environmentalist and zookeeper who starred in his own television show, “The Crocodile Hunter.” Pictured here together in Hollywood in 2002, when Bindi was four.
She revealed that she lived undiagnosed for a decade before finding answers—a common experience among endometriosis patients, who wait seven to 10 years on average for their diagnoses.
“As a teenager and young woman, I felt weak and deeply insecure. I was trapped in my own body,” she said.
Bindi, known as the youngest person ever to win an Emmy Award for her children’s wildlife show Bindi the Jungle Girl and for winning Season 24 of Dancing With the Stars, shared the post in honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month. encouraging people to remember the “invisible illness.”
Bindi Irwin at the Steve Irwin gala to support the Wildlife Warriors conservationist organization in Las Vegas in 2024.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
“It’s up to all of us to raise awareness, not just for endometriosis but for women’s health as a whole. No one deserves to suffer in silence,” she wrote, tagging endometriosis surgeon Dr. Tamer Seckin and the Endometriosis Foundation of America as sources for more information.
“If you’re in pain, my heart breaks for you,” she wrote, adding, “I believe you. Please find answers. And don’t give up on yourself. I know how hard that can be.”
Bindi Irwin with mother Terri and brother Robert at the launch of their family show in London in 2018.
Comments on the post quickly filled up with people thanking Bindi for sharing her journey and shedding light on endometriosis—a condition that an estimated 10% of reproductive-age women have, though many don’t realize it.
Her mother, Terri Irwin, also commented on Bindi’s post.
“I am so proud of you for sharing your journey, Bindi,” Terri wrote, adding, “I have learned that it is important for women to seek out a surgeon who performs excision surgery instead of ablation. Everyone deserves to live without pain!”
Excision surgery is a minimally invasive surgery where lesions are removed with laparoscopy or laparotomy.
Endometrial ablation, on the other hand, is a non-surgical approach where the lining of the uterus is destroyed using methods like extreme cold and microwave energy, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In March 2023, Bindi first shared her diagnosis on social media, writing that for the past 10 years she had struggled with “insurmountable fatigue, pain, and nausea” while visiting doctors and undergoing multiple tests and scans, all without answers.
Steve Irwin with Terri and Bindi at the premiere of the adventure comedy film “The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” in Hollywood in 2002.
At the time, Bindi opted for surgery after finally receiving a diagnosis and learning she had 37 lesions.
She thanked her doctors, nurses, and everyone who had taken her pain seriously.
“I’m on the road to recovery,” the mother of one wrote, adding, “Please be gentle and pause before asking me (or any woman) when we’ll be having more children.”
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