Endometriosis (Endo) is a chronic illness that can be defined as the presence of endometrium-like cells outside the uterus, even though there is still no consensus on what it really is. It affects at least 1/10 women and people assigned female at birth. According to the World Health Organization, there is a 4 to 12 years of diagnosis delay between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis. This means that most teenagers will not get a diagnosis until they are no longer teenagers . Pelvic pain, during and outside of menstruation is the most common symptom. However, it can also cause chronic fatigue, pain associated with bowel movements or urination, and pain during sexual intercourse. 

When focusing on teenagers with Endo, I am investigating the idea of having an undiagnosed chronic illness during formative years: the teenage years. It will examine how this experience of pain and illness is interpreted by the teenagers themselves, when and how they acquire support from socio-medical systems and how this affects the formation of their self-identities as young adults. It will shed light on the embodied self-transformation these young adults go through when they start painfully menstruating without realizing these period symptoms are abnormal.