Elsie Hewitt, who’s expecting her first child with boyfriend Pete Davidson, originally thought that pregnancy wasn’t in the cards for her due to endometriosis.
The 29-year-old actor spoke about living with endometriosis, a condition where tissue grows outside the uterus, and the painful menstrual periods she endures during a recent interview with People.
She confessed that after “seeking a diagnosis for 10 years” and experiencing “really, really bad” pain, she underwent a laparoscopy — a minimally invasive surgical procedure to look inside your stomach or pelvis — in November 2024 to officially diagnose her endometriosis.
“I got to a point where I was like, OK, surgery is actually the only option. I feel like I’ve tried everything else. It’s exhausting,” she explained. Not only that, but Hewitt was concerned that the condition could cause fertility issues.
“I was 100 percent convinced that I was infertile and not going to be able to have kids,” Hewitt, who’s been dating Davidson since the beginning of this year, said.
“So I do think a big part of why I opted for the surgery was, obviously, first and foremost, my symptoms, but second, to preserve my fertility or try to get to a place where I could sustain the chances of having a family one day.”
Hewitt acknowledged that when she got pregnant, she was a bit surprised, given her endometriosis. Still, she’s “very grateful” to be having a baby.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I was [already] in the process of trying to figure out my fertility,” she explained. “I was seeing a doctor about these things, and there’s a whole process you have to do with blood work and getting your blood drawn when you’re ovulating, and then when you’re on the first day of your period. And [that process] coincided with this!”
“It was actually really funny. I was just like, ‘Oh, well, here we are!’ I was shocked, but I felt like I knew. It’s weirdly instinctual,” she added.
Endometriosis is “an often-painful condition in which tissue that is similar to the inner lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Along with painful periods, symptoms include pain with sex, excessive bleeding, and pain with bowel movements or urination.
One of the main complications of endometriosis is trouble getting pregnant, and 50 percent of people with the condition have a hard time conceiving. However, people with mild to moderate endometriosis “can still conceive and carry a pregnancy to term,” per Mayo Clinic.
Hewitt announced in a July Instagram post that she and Davidson were expecting their first child together. The carousel of images featured Hewitt receiving an ultrasound at a doctor’s appointment, a sonogram of the baby, and multiple photos of her and Davidson. She wrote in the caption: “welp now everyone knows we had sex.”
Davidson expressed his excitement about his girlfriend’s pregnancy a month later during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers in August.
“I’m stoked. I can’t wait. Let’s go,” the Saturday Night Live alum said. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been more excited for anything.”
