Halsey reveals she's had three miscarriages after troll mocks her chronic illness
American singer and songwriter, Halsey, has opened up about having three miscarriages and suffering from endometriosis, after a troll took aim at her chronic illness.
The 24-year-old took to Twitter earlier this week to shed some insight about what it's like to live with a chronic illness. "I’m a pretty competent individual. But I’m a whole entire idiot when I’m sick. You don’t understand the true meaning of 'im baby' till u see this sh*t. I need to retire from life [sic]."
She then proceeded to joke about people saying she's always sick: "Me, with a chronic illness, staring into the camera like I’m on the office".
But as is so often the case with chronic - often dubbed "invisible" - illnesses, it didn't take long for trolls to come for Halsey.
A social media user commented on the singer's final tweet with the rather uninspired: "so quirky".
Halsey was quick to clap back, however. "I have endometriosis. I’ve had 3 miscarriages, 4 surgeries, pretty much in pain every day of my life, and I’ve donated/raised upwards of 300,000$ in the name of research and support. I’m not trying to be quirky. Or different. I’m just trying to normalize an underdiscussed illness [sic]," she asserted in a now-deleted tweet.
Credit: Halsey / Twitter
In April of 2018, Halsey - who's real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane - opened up about her endometriosis during a guest appearance on The Doctors. "I think doctors can tend to minimize, you know the female experience when it comes to dealing with it," she said. "My whole life, my mother had always told me, 'Women in our family just have really bad periods'."
Her symptoms only got worse when she was touring, however, "I was fainting all the time," she said. "And I got misdiagnosed with chronic fatigue, with anxiety, they were telling me I was fainting because I was anxious."
Halsey explained that she once woke up in "so much pain", and was "bleeding so much". She also recalled a story of managing to make her way into a hotel to "vomit" before collapsing in the road outside her tour bus.
Per Endometriosis UK, endometriosis is a condition where the tissue which normally lines the inside of the uterus starts to grow in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
This chronic, and often debilitating condition, can cause painful and heavy periods. It can also lead to fatigue, infertility and bowel or bladder issues.
Endometriosis affects more than 200 million women worldwide, and around 1.5 million women in the UK are currently living with the condition. It can affect all women and girls of childbearing age, (though it is most commonly diagnosed in women in their 30's and 40's) regardless of their race or ethnicity.
Thanks for speaking up, Halsey!