Florence Pugh Froze Her Eggs After PCOS & Endometriosis Diagnosis

It’s been a busy five years since Florence Pugh broke out with 2019’s Midsommar, and she’s already looking toward the next five. The We Live in Time star wants kids — and she’s taken proactive steps to prepare for motherhood, including freezing her eggs.

Pugh shared on the Nov. 19 episode of the SHE MD podcast that she’s wanted kids since she was a child but learned she might struggle with fertility after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis at 27. In her conversation with hosts Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi — who diagnosed her — and Mary Alice Haney, Pugh recalled how “mind-boggling” the realization was for her. When she initially made her appointment, she’d had a sense that she needed to see a gynecologist but wasn’t worried about fertility.

“I’d just had this sudden feeling that I should go and get everything checked,” the now-28-year-old said. “Like, I’d had a few weird dreams; I think my body was telling me.”

She made an appointment with Aliabadi, and the doctor asked if she’d ever gotten an egg count. For Pugh, it was a big surprise. “I was like, “No. What do you mean? I’m so young, why do I need an egg count?” she recalled.

Both the results and Pugh’s medical history pointed to her diagnosis. PCOS affects the ovaries and can cause a range of symptoms, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. For Pugh, it was acne, excess hair growth, irregular periods, and weight gain. Meanwhile, her periods were also painful, which is a common hallmark of endometriosis, a condition that causes tissue similar to the uterine lining to grow outside of the uterus, according to Cleveland Clinic.

“I had acne, I definitely have hair that shouldn’t be in certain places, but I just thought that was part of being a woman and also living a maybe slightly stressful life,” Pugh said. “Like, I didn’t think that constant weight fluctuation would also be a part of it. And I’m someone that has never been the same size in my entire life. I’ve always gone up and down and up and down.”

PCOS and fertility problems hadn’t seemed like concerns. “It was just so bizarre because my family are baby-making machines,” she said. “My mum had babies into her 40s, my gran … had so many kids as well. I just never assumed that I was going to be in any way different and that there was going to be an issue with it.”

Pugh had to come to terms with her diagnosis quickly, as Aliabadi recommended that she freeze her eggs. As someone hoping to have kids in the next five years, she was glad to have a chance to prepare. It’s inspired her to share her story with friends, family, and the general public so that others can get diagnosed and treated if needed.

“Just by me learning the tiniest bit of information that Thaïs has taught me, it’s led for other women to go and check to see if they also have the same,” she said, adding, “My life is completely changed since finding out this information, and in a great way, because it means that I have to really be on the ball and I have to really wake up and take it more seriously than I would have done.”