Brooke Shields Opens Up About 'Violent' and 'Excruciatingly Painful' Miscarriage: 'Worst 12 Straight Hours of My Life'

The actress wrote about her experience in her new book, "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old"

Brooke Shields is opening up about a tough moment in her life.

The actress, 59, opened up about experiencing a miscarriage in her mid-thirties, writing about the difficult moment in her new book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old.

"In my midthirties, I had an irregular pap smear, which required me to get a cone biopsy, which is a procedure to remove abnormal tissue from the cervix," she wrote.

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She went on to add that the doctors discovered there were abnormal cells and it would have likely developed into cancer. They ended up having to take out a lot of her cervix, which caused her a lot of pain. And made her feel like "my entire uterus had fallen onto the bathroom floor."

"The doctor also failed to mention that such an aggressive biopsy could result in so much scar tissue that it could become difficult to conceive," Shields said. "And shortly after we got married I went to the doctor to get checked out."

The doctor discovered that the scar tissue from her cone biopsy had both tightened and shortened her cervix, causing so much damage that they couldn't pass a catheter through her cervical canal to her uterine cavity to implant an embryo for in vitro fertilization (IVF.) Instead, they went through her belly button.

"Amazingly, that first IVF round was successful, and I became pregnant — only to miscarry three months later," Shields wrote. "And what ensued was probably the worst twelve straight hours of my life."

"The miscarriage was so violent and excruciatingly painful that when it came time for a second IVF attempt I actually asked my doctor, 'Do you think it hurt so much because the scar tissue was getting stretched? Is that possible??"

She went on to say that it was her female fertility specialist who told her her difficulty getting pregnant was most likely a result of the cone biopsy, and that the first doctor, who had been male, should've told her.

"Had I been aware of the risks, I could have made other choices to support my fertility," said Shields, who welcomed her first child, daughter Rowan, in 2003, and daughter Grier in 2006.

Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman is available now, wherever books are sold.