Sitar legend’s daughter has womb removed ... aged just 38
RAVI ShAnkAr’S daughter, sitar player Anoushka, has been hailed a ‘superwoman’ and a ‘role model’ after speaking out about undergoing a hysterectomy at the age of 38.
‘As of last month, I no longer have a uterus,’ writes the ex-wife of the Darkest hour director Joe Wright in a post online.
‘ I had a double surgery: a hysterectomy due to my large fibroids, which made my uterus as big as if I were six months pregnant, and an incredible surgeon removed multiple further tumours from my abdomen (which I blessedly then heard were all benign). One tumour had grown through my muscles and was visibly protruding from my stomach. There were 13 in all.’
Anoushka, who has two young sons — Zubin, eight, and Mohan, four — with Joe, from whom she split last year, explains she became depressed and worried about her children.
‘When I found out a few months ago that I needed to have my uterus taken out, I went into a short-term depression. The news triggered fears about my womanliness, my possible desire to have more children, the fear of dying in surgery and leaving my kids without a mother, the effect the changes may have on my sex life and more.
‘I spoke to friends and family about my news and was shocked to discover how many women had undergone hysterectomies, although I’d never known they had.’
Friends have praised her bravery and honesty, describing Anoushka, above, as a role model for women who have to go through similar surgery.
She adds: ‘I wondered why the surgery wasn’t talked about more if it was so common. When I asked, one woman said in response, “Well, we aren’t exactly going to flash our lady-bits everywhere, are we?”
‘I look back and grieve for my younger self and all the girls I knew, for how much we were expected to cope with in silence.’