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The Real Housewives of Atlanta - Season 10

Source: Bravo / Getty

It took Porsha Williams six years to get pregnant after suffering a miscarriage while married to her ex-husband Kordell Stewart. Porsha announced she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Dennis McKinnely and opened up about her struggle with fibroids. Porsha revealed her immediate excitement about the joyous news was met with fear.

“I’ve had a miscarriage before in my past, which I’ve also been open about because I suffer with fibroids and had to have a myomectomy,” Porsha told PEOPLE Magazine, who broke the exclusive. “So just the fear of, ‘Is the baby going to be okay? Will I make it full term?’ All those questions that you ask if you’ve had a miscarriage before.”

According to the BWHI, Black woman are three times as likely that white women to develop uterine fibroids and are at higher risk to develop them in their prime birthing years from 20-30.

“It is likely that if you’re Black and over the age of 20, you have a fibroid,” M. Natalie Achong, M.D., of the Yale University School of Medicine’s department of obstetrics gynecology and reproductive sciences, told Ebony.com. “Fibroids are benign knots of muscle tissue. Sometimes they’re really tiny . . . sometimes they’re really big. I have patients [who’ve had ones] as big as watermelons.”

While Porsha revealed she underwent a myomectomy to remove her uterine fibroids, which allowed her to keep her uterus intact, hysterectomy surgery is one of the most common procedures among women.

Studies show Black women undergo hysterectomies at much. higher rates in comparison to white women, which is often attributed to socioeconomic or social status, Am J Public Health reports.

More women are opening up about their infertility issues including Porsha’s RHOA co-star Kenya Moore, who congratulated her on Instagram. Kenya incorporated her struggle to get pregnant on the show, but is now expecting her first child.

“The challenge is being informed, asking the right questions and finding the best possible place to get treatment, if needed,” M. Natalie Achong, M.D. said.

Porsha also raved about her boyfriend Dennis, who she said shed more tears than her. “The thought of me getting that blessing after praying for it for so long and getting that blessing with someone who is just as excited as me — it’s Dennis’ first child, just like me — and it’s something we’ve both always wanted … It’s like a dream come true.”

Congrats Porsha!

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