Voices

You Are Not the Only One

Six women. Six different journeys. The details differ but the feeling of not being believed, of not recognising yourself, of carrying it alone, is something many of us share.

These are composite stories drawn from the experiences women share about perimenopause. Names and details are fictional. The feelings are not.

01
Meera · Pune · 39

The Doctor Said It Was Stress

Three doctors in fourteen months. That is my number. The first one said it was work stress. The second said anxiety. Neither ordered a single hormone test.

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02
Divya · Hyderabad · 38

Nobody Told Me It Could Happen at 38

I found out I was in perimenopause the same week my daughter turned seven. She was blowing out her candles and I was standing behind her thinking: something is very wrong with me.

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03
Ananya · Mumbai · 41

My Husband Thought I Was Becoming Someone Else

He said it on a Sunday morning, quietly, while I was making chai. You have not been yourself lately. He was not wrong. That was the part I could not argue with.

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04
Kavitha · Bangalore · 43

I Thought I Was Losing My Mind at Work

I am the person teams come to when they need clarity. That particular sharpness was not something I thought about. It was just who I was. And then, at 42, it started leaving.

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05
Sunita · Jaipur · 37

Everyone Said I Was Too Young. I Believed Them.

Thirty-seven. That is how old I was when it started. The number that made every doctor do a small double-take. Too young, they said. I went home and tried to rest more.

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06
Priya · Chennai · 40

I Was Ashamed of the Word Menopause

In my family, menopause was not a word we said. So when I found out what was happening, I did not tell anyone for four months. Not my husband. Not my closest friend. Nobody.

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