Halsey Is Freezing Her Eggs At 23 Years Old & Here’s Why It’s So Important

If there's anything you should know about Halsey, it's that she's no stranger to advocacy or activism. When she feels strongly about something, she lets you know about it. With that in mind, it will come as almost no surprise to know that Halsey has made a decision to stand at the forefront of endometriosis awareness. As a woman living with the condition, Halsey is the latest celebrity to use her platform to educate people about endometriosis, and the often-painful reality of living with this disease. Halsey is freezing her eggs because of her endometriosis, a decision she went public about in a recent episode of the show Doctors, E! News reports. If you ask me, this just might be the single most powerful thing Halsey could publicly speak out about, as it's also one of the most personal decisions a woman could ever make in her life.

According to People, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her decision in an episode of Doctors, after having struggled with endometriosis for years. What's more, People reports, Halsey revealed that she also went through a traumatizing miscarriage that apparently happened while she was performing on tour back in 2016. After going through these painful experiences, Halsey said she wants to be "aggressive" and proactive about protecting not only her ability to one day have biological children, but also her own body's well-being, in general. During the Doctors episode, she explained,

I’m 23 years old, and I’m going to freeze my eggs. And when I tell people that, they’re like, "You’re 23, why do you need to do that? Why do you need to freeze your eggs?"

Despite how young she is, Halsey said freezing her eggs is important to her "because I’m fortunate enough to have that as an option."

Again, even though some people might think 23 years old is way too early to be thinking about, let alone actually freezing your eggs for the sake of guaranteeing you can have biological children in the future, Halsey's thoughts and fears here aren't totally unwarranted: According to Mayo Clinic, endometriosis can affect your fertility, and "approximately one-third to one-half of women with endometriosis have difficulty getting pregnant."

Halsey's decision to freeze her eggs will ensure that she has an opportunity to have biological children several years from now, regardless of any effects endometriosis may have on her fertility and her body. In 2018, when the conversations around the female reproductive system and the right to be in control of yours are still woefully lacking, Halsey's decision to go public about freezing her eggs is a welcome and honest addition to this discourse.

This is not the first time Halsey has talked about the drastic ways in which her life has been changed by endometriosis, an incredibly painful disease in which tissue from the uterus grows in other parts of the body. In 2017, Halsey opened up on Instagram about several surgeries that she had to undergo to treat the condition. Although she wasn't specific about the types of surgeries she had, she was clear about her relief in finding a diagnosis for the disease, the symptoms of which are often overlooked or ignored in women.

According to Halsey's interview on Doctors, her endometriosis was finally diagnosed when she collapsed during a world tour in 2016. She explained,

My tour manager had to take me to a hospital. And the whole time I was there no one knew what to tell me. Dehydration, stress, anxiety and I was saying, "What about my pain?" A lot of the time they can make you think it’s in your head.

According to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, around one in 10 women are living with endometriosis, but the condition often goes undiagnosed, undiscussed, or mistreated.

This is not a new problem for women: There is a longstanding, psychological phenomenon in which many doctors do not recognize female pain with the same legitimacy as male pain, even though many women have literally told their doctors that their menstrual cramps are as painful as a heart attack.

As more influencers like Halsey come out to have open, educational, and encouraging conversations about endometriosis, specifically (and about female bodies, in general), one can only hope that the state of female pain in the world will be one that, someday, is treated with genuine legitimacy and recognition.

Halsey's decision to freeze her eggs isn't just about her choice to keep future options open for biological childbearing. It's a message for anyone who doesn't yet understand the full scope and severity of endometriosis.