RHOA Star Porsha Williams Opens Up About Emergency Hysterectomy That “Saved [Her] Life” But Left Her Unable to Have More Kids

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Porsha Williams revealed she was forced to undergo an emergency hysterectomy on Friday.

As she opened up about the procedure that “saved [her] life” but left her unable to have more children, the 45-year-old Real Housewives of Atlanta star confirmed that 21 uterine fibroids, some as big as a cantaloupe, had left her with no choice but to go under the knife, spoke of her past miscarriage, and gushed over her 7-year-old daughter Pilar, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Dennis McKinley, 45.

“I found out I had fibroids the same day I found out I was pregnant. I was 30, trying for my first child, and dealing with fertility issues that had landed me with a specialist. The fibroid outgrew that pregnancy, and I ended up having a miscarriage at four months,” Porsha told Glamour on September 18.

One year later, she underwent a myomectomy, which removes uterine fibroids while keeping the uterus intact, but she continued to deal with fibroids, even when pregnant with Pilar.

“She outgrew the large one that returned, fighting through it, which is why she’s my rainbow baby. During my last month of pregnancy, I was on bed rest while the fibroids degenerated. It was painful, but I was so thankful my little miracle baby pushed through.”

Once she gave birth, Porsha continued to be faced with fibroids and underwent a fibroid embolization, which shrinks fibroids, as she aimed to preserve her chances at having more kids.

“It seemed to work. My heavy periods, headaches, and lower back pain all eased up, and I got some quality of life back,” Porsha shared.

Then, as she engaged in a tumultuous divorce from Simon Guobadia, 62, Porsha’s headaches returned and she began to urinate often.

Although she suspected perimenopause at the time, she eventually underwent an ultrasound to see if she could still carry children during a friend’s doctor’s appointment, amid which the doctor went quiet as huge white circles appeared on the screen.

After being sent to a fibroid specialist for an MRI, where a little more than 15 large fibroids were discovered in her uterus, Porsha was diagnosed with both endometriosis and another condition involving the uterine lining and told she would need a hysterectomy.

“I just looked at her, stunned. I asked if there were other options. Could we try embolization again? No, she said. At this point it had to be a hysterectomy, though a partial one, so I’d keep my ovaries and lose only the uterus,” Porsha explained.

One week later, Porsha had the surgery and learned that she actually had 21 fibroids in her uterus.

As noted by Black Women’s Health Imperative, about 80% of Black women and 70% of white women will develop fibroids by age 50, but Black women are up to three times more likely to need a hysterectomy because of them.

“I had no idea fibroids disproportionately affect Black women until after having Pilar, when I connected with March of Dimes and found a whole community of women who’d been through the same thing,” Porsha admitted, adding that she “couldn’t ask the right questions or connect my symptoms.”

“Knowing sooner that fibroids could cause this much damage to my fertility could have changed things,” she noted.

While Porsha was devastated to lose her uterus, she felt blessed by the physical results of the surgery.

“I didn’t have a choice about the hysterectomy, but it saved my life. My quality of life has improved 100% since,” she revealed. “I hadn’t realized the fibroids were behind my migraines, my low iron levels, or how stressed my body had been just from everyday life. I’d also lost my ability to have sex, since the fibroids had grown large enough to close off more than 60% of my birth canal, and put my bladder at risk from their sheer weight.”

Although she always wanted a big family, and was “optimistic” about it happening one day, that door has “officially closed.”

“I couldn’t even have eggs retrieved for a surrogate,” she explained. “I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, since I do have Pilar, but privately I grieved the possibility of another child.”

As she moves forward, Porsha said she takes snapshots of every single moment with her daughter.

“I’m even more present, more grateful, because when I look at her, I see a true miracle. I’ve always called her my lifesaver, since she gave me my purpose, and now that feels even more true,” she reasoned. 

“But sitting with it,” she continued, “I realized speaking up could actually make a difference, maybe helping save a young girl from a myomectomy, a miscarriage, or a hysterectomy of her own. If I could give even one woman more power to ask questions and speak up in a doctor’s office, I knew I had to talk about it. I’m not ashamed anymore, and I want to use every platform I have.”

The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 17 is currently in production.