Title: Emma Barnett: We must not overlook the condition that condemns one in ten women to torment

Chloe is facing one of the most profound choices a woman can make. Following a previous surgical intervention that failed to alleviate the "horrendous" pain inflicted by her endometriosis, the 26-year-old is preparing for a hysterectomy. This procedure involves removing her womb, effectively ending her ability to bear children.

"I’ve reached a point where I simply could not care for a child. It wouldn’t be right," Chloe explained from her home in Edinburgh, fighting back tears. "I just want it all removed. I understand this isn’t a cure, but I need to improve my quality of life."

Chloe is among the women I encountered during a six-month journey across the UK to produce the documentary Emma Barnett: Fighting Endometriosis. This investigation into how our shared condition impacts women’s lives has only deepened my conviction that this invisible illness—afflicting one in ten women of reproductive age while remaining in the shadows—constitutes a silent medical emergency. It is a crisis that healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers can no longer afford to ignore.

A pervasive misconception is that endometriosis is merely a severe menstrual issue. This is incorrect. It is a systemic inflammatory disorder. Cells resembling those lining the uterus begin to proliferate in other areas of the body, such as the lungs or bowel, forming raw, irritated lesions. Triggered by menstrual hormones, these spots thicken and bleed monthly, leading to inflammation and scarring of adjacent tissues.

Symptoms vary based on the location of the disease and which organs are bound together by scar tissue, but the defining feature is excruciating, life-disrupting pain. "I always have a deep ache, but then the flare-ups hit," Chloe described. "I become unable to speak, sleep, eat, or function. It is terrible; nothing compares."

The late Dame Hilary Mantel, who lived with the condition, wrote, "Anything I have achieved has been in the teeth of the disease." Her choice of the word "teeth" is apt, and I find myself gritting mine daily, recalling my own diagnosis. Ten years ago, just as I began working at the BBC, my husband and I were struggling with infertility, leading to my diagnosis. However, I suspected something was wrong with me as early as age 10, when my hormonal cycles began. It took 21 years to receive confirmation.

According to a survey of over 3,000 women by the charity Endometriosis UK, the average time to diagnosis in the UK is nine years and four months. For women from ethnic minority backgrounds, this delay extends to 11 years. Madalitso, who arrived in the UK from Malawi at age 13, waited a staggering 25 years. Her symptoms started at age 10. At one point in her late teens, her pain was so severe that doctors removed her healthy appendix, mistaking it for the cause. Now awaiting further surgery to remove or destroy the tissue, she stated, "My main goal is pain relief. It’s about getting my life back."

While these prolonged diagnostic waits are infuriating, media coverage often fixates exclusively on long wait times and medical misogyny. Having consumed most of these reports, I know they are important, but a diagnosis is merely the starting line of a difficult path. What comes next?

The origins of endometriosis remain a mystery to even the most skilled doctors and scientists; no one globally knows precisely how or when it initiates in the body. Currently, there is no cure for a disease that is devastating the lives of more than 176 million women worldwide, according to Endometriosis UK. (I shudder to think of the women in the developing world with little or no access to care.)

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-01 05:00:08 UTC