- - Gabrielle Union Questioned Her 'Value As a Woman' During Menopause. Now, She Feels 'Empowered' (Exclusive)

Cara Lynn ShultzJanuary 27, 2026 at 2:30 AM

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Gabrielle Union shared that menopause initially made her feel “shamed”

The actress tells PEOPLE exclusively that she felt like her “value as a woman was diminishing”

Now, after realizing she's “not going to lose a thing,” she feels “empowered”

Gabrielle Union shares how she overcame feeling “shamed” by menopause — to a point where now, she feels “empowered."The Bring It On star, 53, opened up about her experience with menopause during a recent PEOPLE in 10 interview. "It challenges you to look at life differently — and not as an ending, but as a beginning.”

She continued: “When you're dealing with, you know, hot flashes — whether it's the first time or the 100th — everyone is different. There are no two that are the same.”

Gabrielle Union in New York City in January 2026.

Gary Gershoff/Getty

The actress has been open about her menopause journey, once revealing that she had a hot flash so severe at the 2025 Met Gala that Bad Bunny checked in to see if she was okay.

On PEOPLE in 10, she described menopause as a time that “forces you to shift. And initially, I felt shamed. I felt like my value as a woman was diminishing. I felt very isolated.”But, as the Love & Basketball actress shared, that mindset didn’t last. “Over time, now, I feel empowered and I'm going to talk about it and I'm not going to lose a thing.”

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Union went on to explain why she’s teamed up with Bayer, which manufactures Lynkluet, a medication that’s recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat moderate to severe hot flashes. The active ingredient in Lynkuet, elinzanetant, works on two receptors in the brain that regulate body temperature, and one that may help with sleep.

As Union explained, she’s “excited” to be “encouraging people to talk to their health care providers so they can figure out what best options are for them, because there are options.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”