Jessica Biel admits to being ‘shocked’ by ‘how little’ she knew about her own body until struggling to get pregnant in her 30s

Jessica Biel admits she was ‘shocked’ by how little she knew about her own body until she tried to start a family with her husband Justin Timberlake.

The 42-year-old actress, whose new book aims to destigmatize and normalize the conversation around menstruation, made the revelation while discussing which of her own life experiences put her on the path to authorship.

“I was probably in my 30s when I got married and we were thinking about starting a family, and then all these questions came up.” It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be,” the mother of two said People.

The Candy star shares sons Silas, nine, and Finneas, three, with Timberlake.

Because talking about periods is often a taboo subject, the Limetown star said, she still sometimes feels uncomfortable talking about it.

That’s why she believes her book, A Children’s Book About Menstruation, is important for children to read.

“I mean, even now, I’m still working on feeling confident and saying to a coworker, I don’t know, or someone like, ‘Excuse me, I really need to go to the bathroom.’ I need to change my tampon. I have to go right now.” I still struggle with just saying that outwardly, and I’m really not okay with that.”

The actress said the knowledge she now has can help others.

“When I was in that stage of my life where I was really trying to build my family, I was shocked at how little I knew,” she explained.

“I mean, I knew the basics. I was always working on the basics. But as I got older, things changed and my cycle became different and I didn’t get pregnant. What was going on? And I also had a lot of trouble the second time I became pregnant.’

‘I didn’t know where to go. And I kept running into people I knew, loved, admired, and respected who also had questions. It kept getting stuck in my head: “How is it possible that we all have all these questions?”

“I thought it was just me, I thought I was an idiot,” she said, “and then it kind of became clear that a lot of us don’t know enough about our bodies.”

Part of that is due to the lack of research on women and the lack of knowledge about women’s bodies as a whole.

A 2021 study analyzing federal funding found that twice as much money was invested in studying diseases that mainly affect men, compared to diseases that mainly affect women, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The actress revealed that she and husband Justin Timberlake, 43, had trouble conceiving and that difficulty led her to study the subject of menstruation (pictured in Los Angeles in May 2022)

Timberlake was seen kissing her baby bump in 2015 while pregnant with her first child

The couple have sons Silas, nine, and Finneas, three

Biel’s research led her to the nonprofit organization Period.org, with whom she formed a partnership to write the book. The organization works to end period poverty and period stigma through advocacy, education and services. She also worked with the media company A Kids Co.

“I wanted to discuss all the really technical things that are happening because I really believe that our kids are capable and we don’t give them enough credit on what they can understand,” she told the outlet.

‘Telling the truth about my own experiences, in the hope of inspiring other people to confidently tell their truthful stories, and then telling the facts of, “This is what it is.” Can we change our mind about that? Can we realize that the process of having a menstrual cycle is powerful and absolutely incredible?’

Biel worked with the nonprofit group Period.org and media company A Kids Co. to write the book

“I wanted to discuss all the really technical things that are happening because I really believe that our kids are capable and we don’t give them enough credit on what they can understand,” the actress said.

Biel has been making media rounds to promote the book, and she is receiving some push for the title on social media.

‘Girls’ book, no children. Only girls have their periods!!!’ shouted at fan.

“I’m immediately confused as to why the word ‘girl’ is clearly being avoided,” said another.

According to Planned Parenthood, intersex people people who are born with an extra chromosome, or develop biological sex characteristics that are not typically male or female, also have periods.

The United Nations estimates that 1.7 percent of the world’s population was born intersex.