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'I defied the odds': Bryan woman living with endometriosis has miracle baby, shares her story

Endometriosis is a gynecological condition, often painful, where tissue found inside a woman's uterus also grows on the outside. Infertility can be a symptom.

BRYAN, Texas — Three years ago, a Bryan woman defied the odds and had what she calls a miracle baby. Now, she is sharing her story in hopes to inspire other women who may be experiencing endometriosis.

March marks Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a gynecological condition, often painful, where tissue found inside a woman's uterus also grows on the outside, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. About 11 percent of American women between the ages of 15 to 44 have it, the department reports.

Cassie Schildknect says sharing that pain some women endure is simply unbearable.

Schildknecht began experiencing conditions of endometriosis at just 11 years old. She said she lived with constant pain and bleeding that ruined most of her childhood.

"I spent a lot of days and nights in tears not able to do anything, I couldn't go to functions, I couldn't go to dances sometimes, I couldn't go to the skating rink, the swimming pool, it limited a lot growing up and even more into my adulthood," Schildknecht said.

According to the World Health Organization, endometriosis affects 10 percent of women and girls globally and can lower the chance of a woman getting pregnant.

In the medical field, she says there are not a lot of studies on endometriosis to give definitive answers on when to have surgery. It took 11 years for Schildknecht to get her definite answer, after her complaints of pain kept being ignored she said; a norm for women, she stated. 

"On average one-in-10 women have endometriosis and it takes 10 to 15 years to get an official diagnostics. They don't want to talk about it, cramping is normal, you're supposed to cramp, that's part of being a woman, but being doubled over in pain and crying and missing school and work, that's not normal," she said.

The lack of specific surgeons for endometriosis and research is why there aren't enough resources, she believes.

Schildknecht's dream was always to be a mom, she said, which was soul-crushing to be told it would never be her reality by doctors. Though some women can get pregnant, despite endometriosis, infertility is one of the common symptoms because multiple surgeries put you at risk. 

"I've had five surgeries up until my hysterectomy in 2020. It caused me to have fertility issues every surgery, more scar tissue formed," she said. "That hurts, not only physically I was hurting, but it hurts a lot mentally, it takes a toll and you question a lot about why your body won't function the way that it should."

In 2019, her dream finally became her reality and her miracle baby was born. Three years later, she started a reality where she still is in awe.

""Having her there and in me and that joy of going, oh my god here she is, just, I defied the odds. I beat what I've been telling myself for 15 years," she said.

Additionally, she wants women to read her story and know it is possible, and for young girls in Bryan who may have endometriosis to know they aren't alone in pain and should not be ignored.

"We need to be heard and this is something that yeah, you read about it and you're taught about it, but this is what it's like for us and this is a problem," she said.

She recommends women living with endometriosis join support groups in the area such as Nancy's Nook on Endometriosis and Endometriosis Support on Facebook.

Now she said she is just happy to teach her young daughter about endometriosis and be an advocate for her.

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