During a talk about women’s health with First Lady Jill Biden at Monday’s A Day of Unreasonable Conversation summit, Halle Berry recalled being misdiagnosed by a doctor after experiencing severe pain from having sex.
The Oscar winner, who is a vocal advocate for menopause awareness, is currently dating singer and songwriter Van Hunt. She told the crowd that she went to seek medical care for the pain after they had sex, per The Hollywood Reporter. But Berry, 57, recalled the doctor told her she had the worst case of herpes he had ever seen – though it later turned out she was experiencing perimenopausal symptoms.
Per Mayo Clinic, perimenopause “means ‘around menopause’ and refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years.”
Berry during the event said she has embarked on the aforementioned campaign because she aims to change the way “women and men feel about women during their midlife and how they feel about this — which used to be a dirty little word — menopause, perimenopause, and we in this room have to change that … it can’t just be the doom and gloom story. This is a glorious time of life.”
The actress then opened up about her perimenopausal phase and being misdiagnosed by the doctor. “First of all, my ego told me that I was going to skip it — I’m very safe, I’m healthy, I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since I’m 20 years old,” she started.
She then spoke about “finally” meeting the man of her dreams [Van Hunt] at the age of 54 before touching on their sex life and the time she went to see the doctor after experiencing severe pains.
Berry said she and Hunt ultimately got tested for herpes after the doctor claimed she had contracted the sexually transmitted infection. The results, however, came out negative.
The Monster’s Ball actress said she “realized after the fact that is a symptom of perimenopause” caused by dryness, per The Hollywood Reporter. “My doctor had no knowledge and didn’t prepare me, that’s when I knew, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to use my platform, I have to use all of who I am and I have to start making a change and a difference for other women.’”
The First Lady and Berry also urged creators and executives at the event to “help us change the way culture views women at this stage of our lives.” “We’re not exactly at the end,” Berry continued.
“We’re sitting up here, two women who are clearly down the path of life, we are not done. We’re just getting started in our next act.”
The pair’s conversation came after President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order to advance women’s health research and innovation.
