LATEST UPDATE: My challenge with infertility –Millen Magese
Former Miss Tanzania and model based in New York, Millen Magese, was among models that featured in the recent international fashion parade, Native & Vogue, in Port Harcourt. She told the audience the situation report on endometriosis, using herself as a case study. Millen who was first diagnosed at 25 and now in her thirties, took it upon herself to talk about it at any opportunity. Later that day, the Tanzanian beauty in an interview with Sunday Sun, talked about her battle with endometriosis – a gynaecological condition which can cause severe pain and infertility. At a certain point, her eyes were filled with tears as she discussed all she has been through in the course of grappling with endometriosis. Excerpts:
Is this your first time in Nigeria?
This is not my first time in Nigeria but this is my first time in Port Harcourt. I have been to Lagos several times for different organizations and I have worked with lots of fashion designers there.
What do you like about Nigeria?
Nigerians are assertive, focused and determined. That’s not common in a lot of African countries. If you know what you want, then you should work for it, and I see a lot of that happening in Nigeria.
What do you think about Nigerian food ?
I love Nigerian food. I eat Nigerian food and I cook Nigerian food. I like egusi soup and pounded yam . Most of my friends are Nigerians. I love to learn from different cultures and countries. That’s more important for me as it makes me happy.
What else do you do in New York?
I love giving back to society. I work to raise money for other organizations. In New York, I also do film making and I still go to school. I love that part of me, being able to catch up with what I really want to do. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer, now my life is changing and I feel like telling my story. I have used my story to change my pain having been through a harrowing experience for years. I have been living with endometriosis, a condition that made me infertile, but I feel so good now, because I have spoken about it. Sharing my story helps me heal personally.
What’s endometriosis all about?
A lot of women suffer from it but they are not aware of it. For African women, it’s like a taboo to speak about menstrual pain or infertility. Endometriosis is painful menstruation and it’s something you cannot control because you don’t even know when you have your days. A woman normally has 21 days or 28 days in a cycle or somehow 35 days, but a woman with endometriosis doesn’t know when she might have her period. In my case, I can have my period four times a month and I can’t control it in anyway. The hormones are all over the place and the pain is what I cannot bear. But you can prevent it with oral contraceptive and surgery called laparoscopy which I have done . I want to encourage every woman out there going through the symptoms I have mentioned, that you need to do a laparoscopy or read about it and understand more about endometriosis . If untreated, endometriosis makes a woman infertile and unable to conceive and that is my condition today. I have been trying to do egg retrieval and after 63 injections, I am left with only two eggs because one of my ovaries can’t produce eggs anymore. If I knew this earlier, I could have prevented it. Any woman contending with infertility is no longer alone. To be a mother, you can do IVF . You can also adopt as there are so many kids on the streets. Being a mother doesn’t only mean you have to bear your own child . Husbands, support your wives and don’t leave them because they’re infertile.
Would you like to marry an African or American?
Well, I leave that to God. We can have our own plans but God has the final say.
How was life growing up?
I grew up in Tanzania. We’re devout Christians in my family. My dad died in 2007. Of course, that left me with a lot of responsibilities but I’m proud to be a part of that family and being a Tanzanian. I’m proud of the way my mum raised me. I spent most of my childhood outside my family. The world has taken care of me for so many years and I am so proud of all mothers I have met.
Did you start your modeling career in Tanzania?
I started my modeling career in South Africa in 2004. I was in South Africa for seven years and I moved to New York in 2011 and signed with Ford models in New York
Thanks for Reading The LATEST UPDATE: My challenge with infertility –Millen Magese
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Former Miss Tanzania and model based in New York, Millen Magese, was among models that featured in the recent international fashion parade, Native & Vogue, in Port Harcourt. She told the audience the situation report on endometriosis, using herself as a case study. Millen who was first diagnosed at 25 and now in her thirties, took it upon herself to talk about it at any opportunity. Later that day, the Tanzanian beauty in an interview with Sunday Sun, talked about her battle with endometriosis – a gynaecological condition which can cause severe pain and infertility. At a certain point, her eyes were filled with tears as she discussed all she has been through in the course of grappling with endometriosis. Excerpts:
Is this your first time in Nigeria?
This is not my first time in Nigeria but this is my first time in Port Harcourt. I have been to Lagos several times for different organizations and I have worked with lots of fashion designers there.
What do you like about Nigeria?
Nigerians are assertive, focused and determined. That’s not common in a lot of African countries. If you know what you want, then you should work for it, and I see a lot of that happening in Nigeria.
What do you think about Nigerian food ?
I love Nigerian food. I eat Nigerian food and I cook Nigerian food. I like egusi soup and pounded yam . Most of my friends are Nigerians. I love to learn from different cultures and countries. That’s more important for me as it makes me happy.
What else do you do in New York?
I love giving back to society. I work to raise money for other organizations. In New York, I also do film making and I still go to school. I love that part of me, being able to catch up with what I really want to do. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer, now my life is changing and I feel like telling my story. I have used my story to change my pain having been through a harrowing experience for years. I have been living with endometriosis, a condition that made me infertile, but I feel so good now, because I have spoken about it. Sharing my story helps me heal personally.
What’s endometriosis all about?
A lot of women suffer from it but they are not aware of it. For African women, it’s like a taboo to speak about menstrual pain or infertility. Endometriosis is painful menstruation and it’s something you cannot control because you don’t even know when you have your days. A woman normally has 21 days or 28 days in a cycle or somehow 35 days, but a woman with endometriosis doesn’t know when she might have her period. In my case, I can have my period four times a month and I can’t control it in anyway. The hormones are all over the place and the pain is what I cannot bear. But you can prevent it with oral contraceptive and surgery called laparoscopy which I have done . I want to encourage every woman out there going through the symptoms I have mentioned, that you need to do a laparoscopy or read about it and understand more about endometriosis . If untreated, endometriosis makes a woman infertile and unable to conceive and that is my condition today. I have been trying to do egg retrieval and after 63 injections, I am left with only two eggs because one of my ovaries can’t produce eggs anymore. If I knew this earlier, I could have prevented it. Any woman contending with infertility is no longer alone. To be a mother, you can do IVF . You can also adopt as there are so many kids on the streets. Being a mother doesn’t only mean you have to bear your own child . Husbands, support your wives and don’t leave them because they’re infertile.
Would you like to marry an African or American?
Well, I leave that to God. We can have our own plans but God has the final say.
How was life growing up?
I grew up in Tanzania. We’re devout Christians in my family. My dad died in 2007. Of course, that left me with a lot of responsibilities but I’m proud to be a part of that family and being a Tanzanian. I’m proud of the way my mum raised me. I spent most of my childhood outside my family. The world has taken care of me for so many years and I am so proud of all mothers I have met.
Did you start your modeling career in Tanzania?
I started my modeling career in South Africa in 2004. I was in South Africa for seven years and I moved to New York in 2011 and signed with Ford models in New York
Thanks for Reading The LATEST UPDATE: My challenge with infertility –Millen Magese
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