Uterine fibroids affect tens of millions of women, yet many live for years with debilitating symptoms before receiving care, a delay that falls hardest on Black women. A Newsweek investigation reports that by age 50, 65% to 70% of women will develop fibroids, but the disease is “much more common and more severe” among Black women, who are three times more likely to be diagnosed than White women.
Erica Marsh, MD, head of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Michigan Health, told Newsweek that fibroids are among the most prevalent conditions in women’s health, yet diagnosis and treatment lag. Symptoms include heavy menstrual bleeding, severe pain, infertility risk, and organ damage, but many women wait years before care. According to the Society for Women’s Health Research, patients take an average of 3.6 years to seek treatment, and more than 30% wait over five years.
Marsh described the barriers as “the four deadly Ds—delay, dismissal, denial and disrespect.” Women often report that clinicians normalize heavy bleeding or pain, leaving symptoms unaddressed. Marsh noted that unconscious bias can shape how concerns are heard, adding that providers may not ask the right questions to uncover abnormal symptoms.
The consequences are not only clinical but economic and emotional. Despite fibroids costing up to $34 billion annually in treatment and lost work, federal research funding remains low. In 2024, the NIH devoted about $17 million to fibroid research, placing it near the bottom among funded conditions. “Mortality shouldn’t be the bar,” Marsh said, emphasizing the toll on quality of life and mental health.
The report underscores how delayed recognition and underinvestment deepen racial health disparities, leaving Black women to bear the heaviest burden of a condition that is common, treatable, and too often ignored.
See: “Fibroids Affect Millions – So Why Do Many Women Still Wait Years for Treatment?” (September 18, 2025)
