When Beverley Knight, 48, first noticed abnormal swelling in her belly, she thought she was pregnant. In fact, the opposite was true. Knight was experiencing the symptoms of large uterine fibroids–a common condition that resulted in her becoming infertile.
Uterine Fibroids are benign tumours that can range from the size of a seed to a grapefruit.
Roughly one in three women are expected to get the condition in their lifetimes although they are most common for people aged 30 to 50.
Most of the time, fibroids are symptomless and can even shrink and disappear without treatment.
But in Beverley’s case–as the fibroids were so large–she was taken to surgery to have her uterus removed after her diagnosis in 2017.
Talking about her discovery of the fibroids to Hello! Magazine, she said: “I noticed that my tummy was very swollen.
“At first I assumed I was pregnant. I thought ‘this cannot be happening’.
“I’m a proud aunty and god mum, but having children of my own has never been part of the plan.”
Despite the removal of her uterus during hysterectomy, Beverley spoke on Loose Women about how she had “no regrets”.
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There are other treatments available other than a hysterectomy, such as myolysis.
Myolysis involves inserting a needle into the fibroids to destroy them.
In the past, Beverley has been open about her reluctance to have children–suggesting that they could affect her professional work.
She told the Daily Mail: “For me, music was a vocation and I knew if I had children I would want to be the best mum I could be, which would mean that my life wasn’t focused around music; it would be focused around my children.
“I’d felt happy with that decision until the choice was taken away from me. But now I feel at peace with it. It wasn’t meant to be. I’ve completely accepted it.”