It is with deep gratitude that MenoMedico shares the stories of women of colour who have chosen to speak with Dr. Malhotra for the purpose of educating the global health care system, or who have published their words to inform us all of the work that remains to be done to better serve.
Please read these stories with humility and an understanding that each word is a gift—offered with heart, bravery, and kindness. We invite you to receive the words shared on this site with humble curiosity and with the shared goal of improving health care for all.
Truth
“Black women in [the SWAN] study actually experienced menopause eight and a half months earlier than white women… more likely to experience those vasomotor symptoms—hot flashes and night sweats—and to experience those for a longer period of time. They were less likely to use hormone replacement therapy, and more likely to experience depressive symptoms.”
— Dr. Chrissy Freeman, OB-GYN Resident Physician, Therapy for Black Girls, Episode 319 published in SWAN trial.
What do we need to learn from Dr. Freeman’s insight in the SWAN trial?
For Black women, menopause may be shaped by the cumulative effects of systemic racism and exclusion from research —often without culturally responsive care or acknowledgement. Dr. Freeman’s quote, rooted in data from the SWAN (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation), illustrates that Black women not only enter menopause earlier but also endure more intense symptoms and receive less support.
Racism and Black Women’s Health in Canada
Systemic racism is a public health crisis. In healthcare settings, Black women, like many women of color, are often not believed, are under diagnosed, or face barriers to treatments.
What is needed?
- Structural Change in Research and Care
Black women, and all women of colour, must be centered in menopause research, education, and clinical practice—not as an afterthought, but as leaders, subjects, and storytellers. Data like that from SWAN is only meaningful if it leads to changes in care, policy, and practice. - Culturally Safe, Affirming Care
Menopause care must move beyond a one-size-fits-all model. It should affirm lived experience, cultural identity, and autonomy. That means provider training, representation in clinical spaces, and trusted pathways to supports. - Reproductive Justice
This moment demands an intersectional, justice-based approach to midlife health—one that affirms that Black women deserve informed, dignified, and proactive care in every phase of life.
Women’s health cannot be separated from the systems that shape it.
Menopause is not only biological—it is political, cultural, and historical. Healing must be collective, rooted in listening, and grounded in justice.