Brooke Shields has opened up about something very personal, very surprising and very unfortunate.
In new new memoir — Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, which goes on sale on January 14) — the actress/model delves into an unexpected trauma that came at the hands of medical professionals.
Specifically, Shields says she was forced to undergo an unwanted and unneeded vaginal rejuvenation procedure at some point in the recent past.
“I’d be lying if I said I’m not embarrassed to share this very intimate information,” Shields writes in an excerpt published by Us Weekly.
“But, if we are to change the way we approach and talk about women’s health, then we need to bring up the uncomfortable but very real issues.”
The star proceeded to explain how she lay down for labia reduction surgery during her 40s due to discomfort, chafing and bleeding.
However, during post-op checkup with her surgeon, she said she learned he also performed a vaginal rejuvenation procedure while she was under the knife … without her consent.
In the book, Shields pens an apology to readers who might find the story “too graphic or simply TMI, as some generations still call it,” but said her intentions were pure.
“Shame is no longer an option,” she writes.
Neither is staying quiet about such a violation.
Regarding the surgeon and what he somehow chose to do to her, Shields says:
“He informed me that he threw in a little bonus. It felt like such an invasion — such a bizarre, like, rape of some kind.”
Shields recalled that the doctor “legitimately proudly explained to me that he, you know, threw in a little twofer,” telling the aforementioned tabloid that she “dumbfounded” by this logic.
“Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there,” Shields added of this body part, noting that both she and her gynecologist were enraged.
Now 59, Shields didn’t even tell husband Chris Henchy about what happened “for the longest time.”
But she’s now going public with her story as a way to raise awareness about women’s autonomy over their personal health.
This isn’t the first time the celebrity has been outspoken on the topic of aging, either; or the topic of how women are viewed in society.
“Isn’t it interesting how we even have to say, okay, well if you’re going to age, you’re going to have to do it gracefully,” she told Allure last year. “Excuse me, but f-ck you.”
