Brooke Shields has revealed a traumatic experience she endured in her 40s. In her new memoir, “Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman,” Shields shares that a doctor performed an intimate surgical procedure without her consent. Shields, now 59, explained in an interview that when she was in her 40s, her gynecologist asked if the length of her labia had ever caused discomfort.
Shields had experienced bleeding, chafing, and discomfort since high school. She agreed to undergo a surgical reduction as recommended by her gynecologist. However, during a post-op checkup, Shields’ Beverly Hills plastic surgeon revealed that he had performed an additional procedure without her consent.
Brooke Shields’ unauthorized surgical procedure
“He informed me that he threw in a little bonus,” Shields said, noting that the surgeon had also performed a vaginal rejuvenation or tightening. “It felt like such an invasion—such a bizarre, like, rape of some kind,” Shields expressed.
She recalled the plastic surgeon “legitimately proudly explained to me that he, you know, threw in a little twofer.”
Shields said, “Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there.” Both she and her gynecologist were furious over the situation. Shields was left feeling “shame” and “anger” as a result of the experience and didn’t open up about it to her husband, Chris Henchy, “for the longest time.”
In her book, Shields writes, “I’d be lying if I said I’m not embarrassed to share this very intimate information. 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.
Shame is no longer an option.”
“Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman” will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
