Black History Month and Endometriosis: Why This History Still Matters

Black History Month is a time to remember stories that were ignored, voices that were not heard, and people whose experiences helped shape the world — even when they were never given a choice.

In women’s health, this reflection is especially important.

A Difficult Part of Gynecologic History

In the 1840s, doctors were trying to find ways to treat devastating childbirth injuries called fistulas. These injuries caused constant pain, infection, and isolation for many women.

Some of the surgical techniques developed during that time helped shape modern gynecology.

But those techniques were refined through repeated surgeries on enslaved Black women — including Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey, who could not give consent and had no control over what was done to them. Not only was consent not given, but they were forced to go through repeated surgeries with no anesthesia.

For many years, their stories were left out of medical history.

Diagram of birthing injury.

Today, medicine is beginning to acknowledge both truths:

• These advances helped create treatments that save lives.

• They also came from a system that denied basic human rights.

Black History Month gives us space to remember these women and reflect on how history influences healthcare today.

Rows of beds for the patients of experimental surgeries.

What Does This Have to Do With Endometriosis?

It may seem like a story from long ago, but the connection is very real.

The common thread is this: women’s pain has often not been taken seriously.

People living with endometriosis know this experience all too well:

• Waiting years for a diagnosis

• Being told pain is “normal”

• Feeling dismissed or misunderstood

• Having to fight to be heard

• For many patients from underserved or racialized communities, these barriers can be even greater due to differences in access to care, bias, and lack of representation in research.

This is why history matters.

It reminds us that trust in healthcare must be earned, by listening.

Endometriosis Does Not Discriminate — But Diagnosis Often Does

For a long time, endometriosis was incorrectly described as a disease that mostly affected white, affluent women. We now know that is not true. Endometriosis affects people of every background.

But not everyone has had equal access to:

• Specialists

  
  

• Timely diagnosis

  
  

• Treatment options

  
  

• Research representation

When some voices are missing from research and care, the whole system falls short.

What We Can Learn Moving Forward

Black History Month is not just about looking back.

It is about doing better now.

This means:

• Listening to patients sooner.

• Respecting autonomy and consent.

• Patients must be partners in their care.

  
  

• Improving education and awareness.

• Young people should learn what is normal, and what is not.

• Making research inclusive.

Better representation leads to better care for everyone.

No one should wait a decade to be believed.

The Future We Are Working Toward

At Endometriosis Canada, advocacy is about more than awareness.

It is about changing how pain is understood and treated.

We are working toward a healthcare system where:

• Pain is investigated, not dismissed.

Young people are educated early.

• Care is accessible and equitable.

Every patient is heard and respected.

This Black History Month, we remember, and we recommit to a future where no one’s pain is ignored.