Fibroids affect many women, but they affect Black women differently; earlier onset, more aggressive growth, and more frequent complications. By the age of fifty, over 80% of Black women will have fibroids. That’s almost every Black woman you’ll meet!

It’s no wonder so many women feel tired of persistent bloating or as though their womb is working against them. And for those of us who have undergone surgery only to watch fibroids return, the frustration runs deep. Medicine often reduces the problem to hormones or genetics, and while those play a role, they don’t tell the whole story.

Look closer and a different narrative emerges: one shaped by history, chronic stress, environmental exposures, and ancestral survival strategies that have been encoded into the body. These forces interact with biology to create a lived reality most Black women have never been taught to recognise. Healing fibroids, then, requires more than symptom management, it requires tracing the deeper roots and restoring the body’s sense of safety.

Subscribe now

What Science Shows

The womb of a Black woman is wired differently, and that wiring affects how her body reacts to hormones.

There are 3 patterns researchers keep finding:

Your body makes more oestrogen locally

There’s a gene that controls an enzyme called aromatase.
Think of aromatase as a tap that pours oestrogen into the womb. In many Black women, this tap runs a little faster.

Your womb is more sensitive to oestrogen

Your womb has “receptors” that pick up oestrogen signals. Black women naturally have more of a certain type: oestrogen receptor alpha (ER-α), so your womb responds to it more strongly.

Fibroid tissue often shows higher ER‑α activity, which makes the womb more sensitive to oestrogen; that heightened sensitivity helps explain earlier onset and faster growth, especially when combined with environmental and ancestral factors.

The womb reacts more strongly to progesterone

Progesterone is usually a soothing hormone, but in fibroids, the receptors can be extra responsive. It’s like the womb reads hormone messages in bold font, even if the message is normal. All of this creates a womb that is more reactive… a bit like a highly tuned instrument. This is why “standard advice” doesn’t always work for Black women. It’s because it doesn’t speak to our unique biology.

Leave a comment

Why the Womb Responds This Way (Looking Beyond Biology)

Science can explain what happens. But it rarely explains why it happens so intensely in Black women. To understand that, we have to look at history - at what we as a people have lived through. Because, whether you believe it or not, the womb is much more than just an organ that carries babies. It is a memory keeper.

Your Body Remembers

When African women were taken from their homelands, they were also taken from the land that grounded them, fed them, and connected them to Mother Nature. Nature was a spiritual system, a source of wisdom, a teacher if you will. A really great film to watch to see this connection to nature in action is Avatar.

Unfortunately, that connection was severed. During enslavement, the womb became a site of survival. A place where life was created under pressure, under control and force.
Our ancestors had no option but to learn to adapt, protect each other and to produce even in unsafe conditions.

And when Christianity was enforced, indigenous spiritual systems that honoured the womb were replaced with teachings that often shamed it. Sacred systems and teachings were met with fear and suspicion; intuition replaced with obedience, and feminine energy suppressed.

So, beyond becoming cultural history, these behaviours also became our biological history; etched into our ancestors’ DNA, shaping the very way our genes express themselves today.

So from this standpoint, you could say that hormones don’t just fluctuate; instead they adapt. And the womb doesn’t just function, it also remembers.

When you’re born into a lineage shaped by centuries of fear and survival, your body learns fear and survival too. This is the energetic imprint many Black women carry. We may feel it, yet we have no idea it even exists or if we do, it often goes unnamed.

The Layer Many Doctors Miss

Many women with fibroids are given the same prescription: lose weight, take birth control, have a hysterectomy, or simply come back in six months. But if the womb is responding to deeper wiring, then treating fibroids without addressing the root cause [biological, emotional and ancestral] is like silencing a fire alarm while the fire still burns. The signal (as in fibroids) will return, because your body is still trying to protect you. This is why so many Black women feel unseen, not because their symptoms are too complex, but because the medical system is too narrow in its approach.

The Spiritual Severing

Imagine your womb had a voice and for centuries, that voice wasn’t allowed to speak. Instead, it inherited powerful messages like: “Control your emotions. They will be used against you.” “Don’t be seen. Visibility is dangerous.” “Don’t say anything. Survival depends on silence.” These messages didn’t vanish with time; they were passed down through generations, shaping how your body responds to life, how your hormones react to stress, and how your womb interprets the world around you.

This is what I call a spiritual severing - it’s a deep disconnect from nature, intuition, trust, feminine power, and ancestral wisdom. What I have learned over the last 8 years is that dealing with fibroids isn’t just about balancing oestrogen or managing symptoms. Yes, it helps, but restoring the relationship between your womb and your sense of safety is far more important. It’s about reclaiming the voice that was silenced, and rewriting the messages your body has been forced to carry. It’s about restoring safety in your body, because when your body feels safe, it no longer needs to scream through symptoms.

How Do We Begin Healing

Understand your body’s unique wiring

The biology of fibroids in Black women follows different patterns shaped by ancestry, stress, and survival adaptations. Once you understand that your body isn’t your enemy but a messenger, everything changes and you stop fighting with it and instead, begin working with it.

Lower the noise the womb is reacting to

Reduce the external and internal signals that keep the womb in protection mode. Practical steps include:

• Reduce endocrine disruptors (household products, plastics, cosmetics)

• Support liver detox (nutrient support, gentle protocols, clinical guidance)

• Restore vitamin D (testing and appropriate repletion)

• Use foods that reduce aromatase (anti-inflammatory, phytonutrient-rich choices)

• Reduce chronic stress (sleep, nervous-system practices)

When your environment changes, your womb will signal that change.

Rebuild the inner conditions of safety

Healing starts when your body can finally let go. Receptors relax when your nervous system feels safe; hormones rebalance when the root-level threat response weakens; your womb can begin repairing when lineage wounds are acknowledged and held. This is the heart and soul of The Ascension Accelerator© - a 6-Week Activation Journey to Reset Your Body, Reclaim Your Power, and Rise Into the Woman Your Life Has Been Asking For. The Womb Codes© (the foundation of the Ascension Code Blueprint) are the instructions your body can learn to follow.

Create a tailored protocol

Black women need bespoke plans that reflect:

• their biology;

• their ancestry and intergenerational survival patterns;

• their lifestyle and daily exposures;

• their current stress load;

• their emotional history;

• their spiritual wiring.

• the hidden thoughts, habits and behaviours that trigger deep anxiety

Not just “eat better,” “do yoga,” or “take supplements.” A bespoke protocol mirrors the depth and origins of the condition and supports lasting change.

Science & Spirit Working Together

Science gives clarity and measurable steps. Spirit restores meaning and belonging. Together they create transformation. Your womb is not betraying you… it is however, trying to get your attention. It carries a story much older than you, and it’s waiting for you to rewrite the next chapter.

If you’re a high-achieving woman who recognises your body is speaking and you’re ready to truly heal, comment below: “I’m ready to rewrite my womb code.”

Let’s begin the conversation.

Prominent anatomists such as John Goodsir and George Dancer Thane explicitly framed racial difference as anatomical. They presented non-white populations as regressed or less evolved versions of humanity, positioning the white body at the top of an imagined evolutionary ladder. Thane’s meticulous classifications of hair type, skin tone, facial features, stature, and body proportions demonstrate how systematically these ideas were taught within British universities.

This framework was woven into the very fabric of medical education. In textbooks like Alexander Macalister’s A Textbook of Human Anatomy (1889), whiteness was portrayed as the ideal, while the bodies of women and people of colour were labelled as deviations or abnormalities. Though such texts claimed only to record the unusual, they embedded a vision of normality that centred exclusively on white, male bodies.

The dissection room reinforced this hierarchy. Non-white cadavers were explicitly marked and treated as distinct, while white male bodies were taken as the unspoken standard. Through both language and practice, medical teaching enshrined whiteness as the default, with all other bodies rendered variations from the norm.

The legacy of this historical normalisation remains visible. A 2008 study analysing over 16,000 images from anatomy textbooks across leading universities found that depictions of the human body overwhelmingly featured white, heterosexual men. This enduring dominance highlights how deeply the “white norm” is institutionalised in medical discourse, shaping not only how medicine is taught but also how it is practised today.

By naturalising whiteness as the anatomical standard, nineteenth and early twentieth-century medical education helped entrench a hierarchy whose effects continue to reverberate in clinical practice, medical imagery, and patient care.

Reference

Molina, A. (2021). The New (White) Normal: Human Anatomy and the Naturalisation of White Bodies in British University Teaching, 1860–1910. Social History of Medicine, 34(4), 1314–1339. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkab002

Why?

Because no one is talking about the deeper problems. No one wants to say the uncomfortable thing out loud: that for many so-called ‘Black’ women, fibroids are much more than a medical condition. They are a manifestation of much more than that, and in today’s discussion, I am focusing on just ONE aspect.

These growths and recurring masses are not coincidental, neither are they just the result of poor diet or hormonal imbalances, although these do play a major part. For many of us, fibroids are the result of an unspoken lineage of trauma, passed down to us through our DNA. So yes, you could indeed say they are hereditary. Fibroids are the unhealed grief, unprocessed feelings, and unspoken pain passed down through the maternal line.

Fibroids are the womb’s attempt to speak what the mouth has been conditioned to suppress. They are the body’s way of forcing us to feel what the passing of time learned to bury.

Until we deal with that, no healing will take place.

Share

The Invisible Weight We Carry Around

In her ground-breaking book: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Dr. Joy DeGruy explores the multigenerational psychological impact of slavery on Black people in America. Her research gives language to what many of us already feel but don’t always know how to articulate. Slavery may be over, but the toxic residue remains. It shows up in how we parent, how we protect, how we cope, how we survive and even, how we relate to each other. It lives in our nervous systems, in our stress responses, and yes, in our wombs.

The legacy of slavery didn’t just leave scars, it got encoded into our tissues, which we now carry around without even realising it, and is always activated by modern-day triggers, such as medical neglect to systemic racism. We continue to live in a world that reinforces the message that we don't matter, and the harmful belief that ‘black’ women tolerate pain better, or don’t feel it at all, has deep historical roots, and it was reinforced by both pseudoscience and medical racism. One of the most infamous figures tied to this belief is Dr. J. Marion Sims, known as the "father of modern gynaecology."

His thinking still permeates throughout the medical industry at a cost to us as melanated women.

“A 2016 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that a significant number of white medical students and residents still believed that Black people have thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings.”

The ‘Black’ woman’s body has long been treated as public property, disrespected, and exploited. From the horrors of forced reproduction during slavery to the present-day crisis of maternal mortality, our wombs have been under siege for generations. And while the external control may have shifted forms, the internalised impact has not.

The only way for us to have coped was to disconnect, push through and numb ourselves. Unfortunately, our body does not forget. This invisible pain and scarring manifests itself through clots, cramps, bleeding, bloating, fibroids and other so-called disease states. Essentially, your body is telling you something is up. Your body will always tell the truth. It does not lie.

It's Not Just Biology…

The high rate of fibroids among so-called ‘Black’ women is a clear, traceable outcome of systemic neglect, chronic stress, and unresolved generational trauma, as well as living and eating in a way that is alien to our bodies' biology. Yet, we rarely look beyond the physical when we are thinking about healing.

Fibroids form in the womb, the very centre of creation, life, and legacy. Your womb is where you carry possibility, but it’s also where you carry pain. And when that pain is unprocessed, unspoken, and inherited over generations, your body will find a way to express it. Because that kind of energy doesn’t disappear, it just gets stored in the body.

You are not just carrying your own experiences. You are also carrying your mothers’ unresolved grief, your grandmothers’ silent endurance, and your ancestors’ survival mechanisms. You are carrying years of hypervigilance, swallowing your words and always being “the strong one” in the room.

Fibroids, in many cases, are the result of that accumulated load.

You must stop asking “What did I do wrong?” and start asking “What am I still carrying that was never mine to hold in the first place?”

Fibroids as a Wake-Up Call

By the time fibroids show up it’s often because the mental, emotional and spiritual issues have gone unheard. After researching fibroids for a number of years, I have come to see fibroids as a pattern interrupt. I believe they are a message from the body that says: “This stops here.”

But most of us don’t get the space or the support to interpret that message.

Instead, if we don’t want surgery, we jump on every quick fix we can find to shrink or eliminate them fast. Or, we opt to cut them out or remove the womb altogether. While symptom relief is important, it’s not the same as resolving the problem. Because even when the fibroids go, the conditions that created them remain.

And if nothing changes… they return…again and again.

Fibroids force you to make a decision: either you go deeper and choose to interrupt the cycle of inherited suffering, or you keep, endlessly treating symptoms.

This is why dealing with fibroids isn’t just a physical process. It requires a woman to stop bending to systems, expectations, and identities that keep her small and self-sacrificing.

And that kind of transformation won’t happen inside a prescription pad.

It happens when a woman draws a line in the sand and says, “I’m not repeating this story anymore. Not in my body. Not in my lineage.”

You Were Never Meant to Be on the Bottom

We’ve been conditioned to endure, outwork and over function. We wear resilience like a badge of honour while bleeding in silence.

You believed you were strong, so you kept pushing. You believed that you were built for pain, so you kept absorbing it because you didn’t want to ask for help. You believed you were lucky to have anything at all, so you stopped reaching for everything you truly deserved.

But that narrative is a lie. And your body knows it.

Fibroids are a collective scream. A revolt against the roles we were assigned but never chosen. They’re the womb saying, “No more.”

• No more carrying entire family systems on your back.

• No more swallowing rage to keep the peace.

• No more outsourcing your worth to other people’s approval.

• No more living on the bottom rung of a ladder you weren’t meant to be on in the first place.

You were never meant to live in survival mode.

You were designed for expansion and to step into your power. But to reclaim both, you’ll have to break the agreement you made with mediocrity. You’ll have to give up the idea that you can heal without changing how you show up in your life.

That’s the real reason fibroids don’t budge for some women. Not because the information isn’t out there, but because true healing will require you to rise.

This Is the Work

Healing fibroids will take much more than changing your diet, taking herbal remedies or having surgery.

Your body's calling you to heal because it's your calling to step into something bigger.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Why Are Black Women More Prone to Fibroids?

• The “New White Normal” in Anatomy

• Healing the Wounded Womb

This space is where I teach the real truths about fibroids, womb health, and healing: the things women are never told. Stay connected as I continue to share the frameworks, insights, and root‑cause teachings that shape my work.

Leave a comment

If you're a so-called ‘Black’ woman, chances are you've heard about or even experienced fibroids first hand. They're incredibly common, but what’s frustrating is that ‘Black’ women are disproportionately affected. Not only do we develop fibroids at higher rates, but we also tend to have more severe symptoms and an earlier onset. The question you constantly have to ask yourself is why?

Science has a lot to say about it, and while they say the research is still evolving, there is plenty of evidence that explains why this is happening; some we are fully aware of, but there are factors we might be less aware of.

Vitamin D: The "Sunshine" Factor

One major piece of the puzzle is vitamin D deficiency. We all know vitamin D is important, but did you know it plays a role in fibroid growth? Many of you do.

• Studies show that women with low vitamin D levels are significantly more likely to develop fibroids than those with sufficient levels.

• Because Black women have higher melanin levels, we need sunshine. Sunlight is a natural nutrient for darker skin.

• Although research suggests that supplementing with vitamin D may help slow down fibroid growth or even prevent them from forming in the first place, the best form is sunlight.

So if you’re not getting enough sun or eating vitamin D-rich foods, this might be something to look into if you are not already doing it.

Oestrogen, Aromatase, and How Hormones Play a Role

Hormonal imbalance is another big factor, particularly when it comes to oestrogen and aromatase. Aromatase is the enzyme responsible for converting androgens into oestrogen, and guess what? Black women have been found to have higher aromatase activity than other racial groups. Since fibroids thrive on oestrogen, this can contribute to their rapid growth.

• A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that Black women have higher circulating oestrogen levels, even before puberty.

• More oestrogen = more fuel for fibroids, which may explain why we experience them more often and at younger ages.

This is why managing oestrogen levels through diet and lifestyle is so important. Do note that this oestrogen is mainly coming from external sources.

The Extracellular Matrix (ECM): A Fibroid’s Playground

If you’ve never heard of the extracellular matrix (ECM) before, don’t worry, let me explain. It’s basically the structural support system for our cells, but when it comes to fibroids, it’s overactive in Black women.

• Fibroids contain excessive amounts of ECM, making them larger, stiffer, and harder to shrink.

• ECM also stores growth factors that can keep fuelling fibroids, making it a vicious cycle.

Understanding this is key because it means tackling fibroids isn’t just about balancing hormones, it’s also about addressing how our bodies build and maintain tissue.

Stress: The Missing Piece No One Talks About

We know stress affects our health, but did you know it can also impact fibroid growth?

• Chronic stress leads to increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that can throw off the delicate balance of oestrogen and progesterone in the body.

• Stress can also promote inflammation, which has been linked to fibroid growth.

• Let’s not forget that dealing with daily microaggressions, systemic pressures, and just life in general as a Black woman adds another layer of stress that often goes unaddressed.

This means that incorporating stress management techniques, whether it’s meditation, exercise, therapy, or just setting boundaries, can be an essential part of fibroid prevention and management.

Why Diet Matters for ‘Black’ Women

Given these unique biological differences, it makes sense that what we eat plays a huge role in managing fibroid risk. While there’s no one-size-fits-all diet, research suggests that certain foods can help regulate hormones and reduce inflammation.

To keep fibroid growth at bay, avoid these foods:

• Processed meats and high-fat dairy – May contribute to increased oestrogen levels.

• Alcohol and caffeine – Elevates oestrogen and cortisol levels.

• Refined sugars and artificial sweeteners – May lead to insulin resistance, inflammation.

• Soy and soy-based products – Contain phytoestrogens that mimic oestrogen in the body.

• Non-organic produce – Contains pesticides and herbicides that act as endocrine disruptors.

• Refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, pastries, etc.) – Can cause blood sugar spikes and increase inflammation.

• Fried and fast foods – High in trans fats, which can promote inflammation.

• Soda and sugary beverages – Contributes to insulin resistance and increases the risk of fibroid growth.

• Excess salt – May lead to water retention and bloating, worsening fibroid-related symptoms.

• Conventional poultry and eggs – May contain added hormones that can contribute to oestrogen dominance.

• Gluten (for sensitive individuals) – May contribute to inflammation and digestive issues.

Further reading: Nutrition and Uterine Fibroids: Clinical Impact and Emerging Therapeutic Perspectives

My Final Thoughts

So, what does all of this mean? Black women’s increased risk of fibroids is linked to a combination of hormonal differences, vitamin D levels, extracellular matrix activity, and stress. It is possible for the body to break down fibroids, but it will take time, commitment and dedication to change the way you eat, your lifestyle and the ability to deal with stress; which is possibly the number one factor, so understanding these factors can empower you to take charge of your health.

Now, I’d love to hear from you. Are you struggling with fibroids? What lifestyle changes have helped you? Drop a comment below and let’s talk! And if you found this helpful, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more discussions on women’s health.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Why Fibroids Hit Black Women Harder

• What No One Tells Black Women About Fibroids

• The “New White Normal” in Anatomy

This space is where I teach the real truths about fibroids, womb health, and healing: the things women are never told. Stay connected as I continue to share the frameworks, insights, and root‑cause teachings that shape my work.

Fibroids are more than just a physical ailment—they are a manifestation of deeper, unresolved traumas that many melanated women carry within their bodies. This has been discussed in more depth in a previous article, and it bears repeating because healing fibroids isn’t just about following a physical treatment plan. It’s about addressing the mental, emotional, and spiritual scars that continue to influence our health and well-being.

Many of us are suffering in silence. Fibroids are rampant among melanated women, but few realise that these physical tumours are not just random occurrences. They are deeply connected to the generational trauma we’ve inherited and continue to experience. This isn’t just about biology; this is about history, culture, and the unspoken wounds that have been passed down from one generation to the next.

Inspired by the insights from *Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome*, *Health First*, and *Our Bodies, Ourselves*, it’s clear that healing must go beyond the surface. Dr. Joy DeGruy, in her work on Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome, illustrates how the unresolved trauma of slavery continues to play out in our daily lives, influencing our beliefs, behaviours, and ultimately, our health. We cannot ignore the psychological and emotional impacts of such trauma on our bodies. *Health First* urges us to prioritise our well-being, not just through diet and exercise but through understanding the mind-body connection. And *Our Bodies, Ourselves* empowers us with the knowledge to reclaim our health by understanding how our bodies work in relation to our mental and emotional states.

This is where we need to dig deep and get real. Healing isn’t just about physical treatments—those are essential, but they are only one part of the equation. The real work begins when we confront the unconscious beliefs and behaviours that have been embedded in us through generations of trauma. Example, why would we, often unconsciously, favour someone with lighter skin over someone darker? Why do we devalue ourselves and others based on the colorism that was forced upon us? These are the questions we must ask ourselves if we truly want to heal.

To break free from the cycle of pain and suffering, we must look within. It’s not enough to simply follow a set of instructions or adopt a healthier lifestyle. We must confront the beliefs that keep us bound—beliefs that were born out of survival but now only serve to perpetuate our suffering. Healing fibroids on a deeper level means acknowledging the trauma that lives in our cells, the pain that our ancestors carried, and the ways in which we continue to act out these traumas in our relationships, our self-worth, and our choices.

This is not an easy journey, but it is a necessary one. We have to be willing to face the raw and uncomfortable truths about ourselves and our history. We must be willing to dismantle the internalised beliefs that tell us we are not enough, that our beauty is measured by the shade of our skin, and that our worth is tied to how closely we can conform to someone else’s standards.

It’s time to start healing on every level—mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Begin by becoming aware of the unconscious beliefs and behaviours that are driving your actions. Challenge them. Replace them with beliefs that affirm your worth, your beauty, and your right to heal. Seek out the resources, the books, the communities that support this deeper level of healing. Don’t be afraid to dig deep, to ask the hard questions, and to confront the uncomfortable truths. This is the path to true healing—the kind that not only frees you from the dreaded symptoms of fibroids but also liberates you from the chains of generational trauma. The time to heal is now. Look in the mirror. It starts with you.