For me and my friends growing up, it was a big deal to know which celebrities you shared your birthday with. March 1st is my birthday, and over the years I’ve proudly claimed celebrities like Justin Bieber, Kesha, and Paul Hollywood as my birthday twins. Elite company, honestly.

But recently, I discovered I share March 1st with another incredible woman: Lupita Nyong’o.

And while I love a good celebrity birthday fact, what truly stopped me in my tracks was hearing her story.

Lupita recently launched #MakeFibroidsCount, a campaign raising awareness and funding for uterine fibroid research. As I started learning more, I was honestly shocked. As a woman, even I didn’t fully understand what uterine fibroids were — or how common and under-researched they are.

Fibroids are benign tumors that grow in and around the uterus. Up to 8 out of 10 women will develop fibroids by age 50. IAnd yet, despite impacting millions, fibroids remain severely underfunded and under-researched. Treatment options are limited and often extremely invasive — they’re one of the leading causes of hysterectomies.

How did so many of us not know this?!

I’m fundraising for the Foundation for Women’s Health, a leading nonprofit funding women-specific health research. In partnership with Lupita Nyong’o, they established a Grant focused on advancing less invasive and non-invasive treatment options for Uterine Fibroids.

Since Lupita and I are birthday “twins,” I’m dedicating our birthdays to something bigger this year.

I’m fundraising in support of Make Fibroids Count — for our birthdays, and for the millions of women who deserve better research, better treatment options, and better outcomes.