Why our #wombstories need to be heard

We tell girls a simple story:

Get your period around twelve. Deal with some pain. Have some babies. Then more periods. And then around fifty your body is meant to politely retire.

But it’s never that simple. The unseen, unspoken, unknown stories of our periods, vulvas and wombs - our wombstories - are so much more complex and profound.

They are real stories of love and hate, Of pleasure and pain and pain so severe it's a disease with a name, endometriosis, it's stories of longing and trying for babies. And of never wanting children. Ever. The joy of birth. The pain of birth. And the silent devastation of miscarriage. Stories of clockwork periods. And haywire ones. Of awkward beginnings and roller-coaster peri-menopausal endings. Good stories. Bad stories. Mundane ones. Profound ones. The bitter. And the sweet.

And all of them, all our wombstories are as valid, as normal, as real as any othrs. And none of should be made to hide what we feel inside.

Because to know each other, to help each other, to see each other, all our real #wombstories need to be heard and shared.

Thank you to the women who've shared their inspirational stories with us. If you'd like to become one, we'd love to hear yours, too.

Everything we learn from your stories will inspire our taboo-breaking actions, helping to change the stigmas around women's intimate experiences.