Lena Dunham is one of the most successful women of today; she’s an actress, writer, screenwriter and producer of the TV series Girls. The “superstar” is also talked about because of her health – she recently shared with the world that she has been suffering with endometriosis since she was just a teenager.

Dunham decided to use her celebrity status to discuss something especially important and close to her heart: endometriosis, a condition where tissue that is supposed to line the endometrium instead grows outside it.

Although it’s not an easy subject to talk about, Dunham gave her face and voice to share her experience with this disease. Know for being very painful, it is believed to affect six to ten percent of women, with 20–25% of those afflicted being asymptomatic. Dunham has previously discussed living with endometriosis, describing it as the cause for having “lost all trust in or connection to my own body.”

Her symptoms were diagnosed only after the first season of Girls, meaning that she spent most of her life not knowing the cause of her pain. A friend later introduced her to a doctor who discover the reason for all that pain. She finally got the right diagnoses and now takes injections each month to help alleviate the symptoms. Fans were extremely supportive and appreciated how Dunham has helped to create awareness for the disease.

Recently, Dunham shared a picture on her Facebook page where you can see her holding a book dedicated to the studies of endometriosis and fertility. Although Dunham’s condition may make it hard for the actress to have children of her own, it hasn’t stopped her and her long-time boyfriend, musician Jack Antonoff, from discussing the possibility of starting a family together.