American figure skating legend Tara Lipinski announced Friday that her fallopian tubes were removed during her third surgery to treat her endometriosis problems.
Lipinski announced her diagnosis with endometriosis in September 2020 and has since been candid about the details of the disease.
Endometriosis is “a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other parts of the body. It is one of the most common gynecologic diseases and its primary symptoms are pain and infertility,” according to the National Institute of Health.
Lipinski explained on Instagram that her third surgery was for “a painful endometrioma that formed in my ovary.”
“(My doctor) removed that and cleaned out all of my remaining endo. (That hopefully won’t come back, since I hopefully won’t have to do any more fertility treatments),” Lipinski continued.
Tara Lipinski announced on social media that she recently had her fallopian tubes removed
Lipinski won the gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics at the age of 15
Lipinski is best known for winning the gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
She defeated Michelle Kwan and denied her fellow skating legend her best chance at an Olympic gold medal.
For Lipinski, this surgery was special because her fallopian tubes were removed, which she says significantly reduces her risk of ovarian cancer.
“I have embryos on ice, so if I ever want to get pregnant again for whatever reason, I don’t need fallopian tubes anymore — they go straight into the uterus,” Lipinski said.
“But ALL of my doctors said they were going to remove my tubes because it’s a huge risk reduction for ovarian cancer. So glad they got it out!” Lipinski continued.
Lipinski and her husband Todd Kapostasy became parents to their daughter Georgie via surrogate last October.
Before Georgie was born, Lipinski had suffered four miscarriages during her pregnancy.
Lipinski, who has hosted the event multiple times with fellow figure skater Johnny Weir, also shared a photo of herself wearing a belly band to help ease the pain.