Florence Pugh Says It Was a 'Mind-Boggling Realization' to Learn She Had to Freeze Her Eggs at 27

Mar. 15, 2025

Florence Pugh attends the “We Live in Time” screening in New York in September 2024.Photo:Marleen Moise/Getty

Marleen Moise/Getty

Florence Pughshared that she decided to freeze her eggs at age 27 when she discovered she hadPCOSandendometriosis— conditions that could make it challenging for her to conceive later in life.

“I had this sudden feeling that I should go and get everything checked. I’d had a few weird dreams, I think my body was telling me,” theWe Live in Timestar, now 28, toldDr. Thaïs Aliabadi— aka,  “Dr. A” — and women’s advocate and influencer,Mary Alice Haney,on Dear Media’sSHE MDpodcast.

Pugh, who met with Dr. A, said, “She asked if I’d ever had an egg count done and I was like, “No what do you mean? I’m so young. Why do I need an egg count?' ”

Florence Pugh attends Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif., in July 2024.Jerod Harris/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Jerod Harris/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

After conducting her egg count, Dr. A diagnosed theThunderboltsstar with PCOS and endometriosis — conditions that can impact fertility — and suggested she freeze her eggs.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the leading cause of infertility in women. The genetic, hormonal, metabolic and reproductive disorder can cause irregular periods, acne, infertility, weight gain and excessive hair growth, according to thePCOS Awareness Month website.

Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi (aka, Dr. A).Emma McIntyre/Getty

Emma McIntyre/Getty

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Endometriosis can also cause fertility issues, theCleveland Clinicsays. The condition “causes tissue that is similar to the lining of the uterus to grow in other places where it doesn’t belong. It can cause pelvic pain and heavy periods, as well as fertility issues.”

Pugh said she’d heard of PCOS but “didn’t think that it was something that is common. I really just thought that it was something that you’d feel and that you’d know you had and that it wasn’t really a worry.”

“And then of course you find out you do have it, and you realize you have to change your lifestyle, you have to be proactive and think ahead into the future,” theAcademy Award nomineesaid. “I think [for] lots of young women, that’s not really necessarily what you’re thinking of doing when you’re In your 20s.”

Florence Pugh, here age 27, in London in February, 2024.David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

Pugh shared that she did have some symptoms like “acne …hair that shouldn’t be in certain places,” but explained, “I just thought that was part of being a woman, and also living a maybe slightly stressful life. I didn’t think constant weight fluctuation would also be a part of it.”

TheOppenheimerstar stressed the importance of talking about PCOS and fertility issues, because “if you have a dream of maybe one day being a mum, these things are so important, much like learning how to find lumps in your breast.”

“It wouldn’t be that hard to educate everybody on this when you’re at school,” Pugh said. “It’s something that will be the defining factor of whether you can have children or not.”

New episodes of Dear Media’sSHE MDpodcast drop Thursdays.

source: people.com