Endometriosis, female empowerment and going solo: In conversation with Angie Kent

Tell us a little bit about yourself, for those who don't already know!

I guess people would probably know me from Gogglebox, originally. I started that when I was 25, which as of next week is 10 years ago! And then, from there, I kept doing loads of random things that came to me. Whether it was dating 20 dudes on national television or living in the South African jungle or dancing, pretending I'm a professional. So many amazing things came, so I rolled with it. I've been very open about the fact that I experienced chronic invisible health issues over the last seven years or so. I use my platform to talk about that and anything else that's really close to my heart, like animal rescue, mental health, all the things.

What was it like being diagnosed with chronic health conditions?

Originally, I only knew that I had endometriosis and fibroids. Then as I had my first laparoscopy and then my second laparoscopy, third laparoscopy and started to learn more about my body, I found out I had PCOS, adeno and interstitial cystitis as well. In my last laparoscopy, I found out that my adenomyosis is a lot worse than my endometriosis. Alot of people don't know much about adenomyosis. It's kind of like endo’s evil cousin, so I want to be able to lean into that a bit more and provide some more knowledge around that.

How do these conditions affect you on the daily?

Oh gosh, for so long I was just told that I was a super anxious person and that's why I had to go to the toilet all the time and that's why I might be in pain. And I was like ‘okay cool I guess I'll just deal with that’. As I started to get older, I was like, well, I don't want to feel like this anymore. It's not getting easier, it's getting harder if anything, so I decided to really invest into my health. I always tried to understand my mental health because I had a lot of anxiety and a lot of depression.

There was always something underlying that I didn't understand, and I was always in so much pain. Then as I got to learn more about my body, I was like ‘okay well, it's not always mental health, it's hormonal imbalance causing really, really big highs and these really, really low lows’. It was debilitating for two weeks out of the month. Sometimes, my mental health and pain was so bad with PMDD that I was like ‘oh well, what's the point? I don't want to be this horrible person’. Then sometimes, I experience complete shock where I'm not even myself and the things I think are not ‘Angie’. I'm so glad I invested in getting to know myself and then cultivated this beautiful Women's Health team over time that have really helped me understand. All of that has made me feel so much safer within what's going on instead of thinking I was going to die or end up in a mental ward every other week. I had no idea what was going on which can cause so much fear within yourself. I realized knowledge is power and shared knowledge is even more powerful.

What made you decide to take things into your own hands with the fertility?

I always knew that I wanted to be a mum. I didn't know how that looked for me whether that would mean being able to fall pregnant naturally with a partner, on my own, adopting, or fostering. I never knew. I just knew that I did want to be a mum, and obviously learning about my body came with the fear of the unknown. A lot of people do tell you if you have one of these chronic invisible illnesses, it's probably going to be quite hard, if not impossible, and I've got five of them!! I thought instead of waiting for ‘the one’, I am ‘the one’. I've invested all this time in ‘the one’. So why don't I create my own Modern Family and have that? And whatever happens after that happens, but least I know in my heart I've done everything I can, to create my own version of family.

You've got a nice approach involving your friends and your family. So, tell us a little bit about that and why that's important to.

I have lots of different friends, but then I have a few really close friends who are like family to me. I thought, I'm going to do this on my own, but it would be nice to include the people who have known me since I was six. That’s a long time! I thought it would be nice for them to play a little part in helping me navigate the donor part because they know how indecisive I am. But the rest? Ultimately, I have my mum. She's my best friend, but she was all the way here on the Sunshine Coast and I was in Sydney during that time. So, I kind of just did it on my own. I did have people I could reach out to but, I didn’t have anyone in my life that's done this. I didn't really have anyone to bounce thoughts or anxiety that came up for me or what was going to happen with the injections. I didn't really have anyone to talk to other than the professionals who were amazing, by the way. So, I did do it on my own, which some people might be like ‘oh, that's a bit sad’ but, I did it.

We know you're quite a spiritual person, so tell us how this tied into your journey! And tell us about this crystal penis.

Oh my god the crystal penis! We filmed that part at my place in Tambourine Mountain I have this big old yurt and it's very spiritual. My friend Lauren, who brought the crystal penis, is very crystally and woo woo like me. We had the space and magic of my beautiful yurt on the mountain, we had Mother Nature. We were all together and it was such a beautiful day. That was mostly good for my soul to have my friends there to help me. I do a lot of essence energetics work, which can look like anything. It depends on who your facilitator is. I have a beautiful friend called Marie Louise and she moves energy through your body, instead of doing therapy in your mind as you get so stuck in your mind. I'm really big on somatic experiences, like moving your body, chanting, shouting if you have to and just shaking it out. Move through that stored generational trauma. The body holds trauma, especially for women (people with wombs) so I do a lot of that bodywork, shake it out, breathing, journaling. I journaled a lot through the process to help me pick my donor and just to get out of my head and into my body. Process my thoughts.

Are there any management strategies that you use to cope with these chronic illnesses?

I have lots of alone time. I've noticed I couldn't recharge around people. I need a cabin in the middle of nowhere to completely disassociate. I need my shows! I get totally lost in switching off, and even if it's trash, just switching off for three hours and fully have that moment to myself. Exercise and moving my body is really important. I go through stages where I'm like ‘I can't move my body’, ‘I'm so tired after being in so much pain all day and having to pretend I’m ok for the camera’, ‘I just want to sleep and disassociate and rest. But, as soon as I do even a little bit of weights or a beautiful walk, I instantly snap out of the looping thoughts of the pain or the pain in general.

It's been almost 10 years since you were diagnosed with endometriosis, do you think there is more awareness about the condition today and what's been the biggest endo news that you have been supportive of?

A lot has changed since then. I felt very alone when I first found out, I didn't even know what it was. I just got the surgery because of my gynaecologist, who I’d met once before the surgery, which I highly recommend not to do. Make sure you love your gynaecologist; they're working on such a beautiful part of your body. I think that with endo, especially, the real sisterhood around it has been amazing. There's a lot more people out there and I do see that there's a lot of funding now going into Endo Australia. I love the groups that have come from people sharing their stories. I think that's the biggest thing over the last nine years. I've noticed there's a lot more sharing and connection around it.

What advice would you give to others in a similar boat?

Well, firstly on the chronic invisible illness front; pain is not normal. Anybody who comes into your life, that is a professional and tells you period pain is normal, it is not normal. Definitely be your biggest advocate. You know your body better than anyone in terms of how it feels so make sure you are getting the answers you want. If somebody doesn't hear you out, there's always another beautiful person down the road at the GP that will send you to the right Women's Health practitioner. Always trust your gut. For the fertility journey, I would say that don't let outside sources be the reason why you don't want to embark on something like this because it is super daunting. I'm not going say that it's not; It's so frightening to do things on your own, or do things where people say ‘Oh, you don't have a husband’. I feel it all the time, don't let that stop you from creating your family, there's no rules anymore. A lot of the time that judgement comes from fear because I bet you they wish that they could create their own life too instead of following this social norm. You’re not alone, and you can always talk to me about it, slide into the Dm's and we’ll have a chat.

If you’re feeling ready to take the next steps on your fertility journey, you can contact us via the form below or speak to our friendly team on 1800 111 483.