O TYM ODCINKU
This week, Monique sits down with Dr. Kemi Doll, a gynecologic oncologist, surgeon, and debut author, for a conversation that is equal parts education, confession, and wake-up call.
Dr. Doll's new book, A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing (Penguin Random House, May 2026), does what most medical books never do: it tells the truth in plain language, with warmth, and without talking down to you. In this episode, Monique shares how it changed her relationship to her own body, and Dr. Doll walks us through why so many Black women are bleeding too much, dismissed too quickly, and left to suffer in silence for far too long.
They get into the real numbers behind heavy periods and anemia, what your bleeding is actually telling you, and why the medical system has been so slow to listen. Dr. Doll also opens up about her own reckoning, including missing her own endometriosis diagnosis until she was on the operating table.
The conversation closes on the concept of womb sisterhood: the idea that healing this well-kept secret should not be a solo effort, and that the women in your life might be waiting for someone to simply ask.
GUEST INFO
Dr. Kemi Doll, physician, surgeon, advocate, career coach, and a double-board certified gynecologic oncologist and uterine cancer scientist | Website | Book | Podcast | Instagram
GEMS DROPPED
“I want women to have better gynecologic health. I don’t want us to continue thinking about gynecologic health as though, “as long as it’s not killing you, it’s probably fine.” - Dr. Kemi Doll
“I didn't realize how much I saw myself as a site of production, until you taught me that the unpregnant womb had its own life and role to play. And that my bleeding spoke an intricate language and that my well being was a part of that language.” - Monique R, Shields
“There’s something very powerful about receiving the message so young that, “when you suffer, be quiet about it.” That message carries forward in a way that goes beyond gynecology and womb health. And that is what I want us to heal from.” - Dr. Kemi Doll
“I invoke this concept of womb sisterhood, which means having one or two people in our lives we can share these things with so when you go to the doctor, you have someone who can come with you. you. There isn't embarrassment. There doesn't have to be silencing. These are such vulnerable appointments and having someone there who has your back can make a real difference. It also helps with accountability.” - Dr. Kemi Doll
“Especially for those of us born with a womb or gendered as female, I believe this is one of the first ways we learn to silence our bodies and hide. We teach girls how to have a period that nobody knows about. That's what we define as success.. This is how you hide it. This is how you very modestly go to the bathroom so nobody knows. And even when women talk about their most embarrassing moments, it's always somebody basically found out I was on my period.” - Dr. Kemi Doll
“This book has changed my relationship to my body entirely.” - Monique R. Shields
STAY IN TOUCH
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