What to know
- Endometriosis and adenomyosis can severely impact daily life—causing chronic pain, infertility, and barriers to work and school—yet they are still not officially recognized as disabilities in Canada, despite affecting millions.
- Endo-warrior Laura Cairns launched a federal petition (with 8,000 plus signatures) calling for disability recognition, better care, paid sick days for symptoms and expanded treatment and fertility coverage.
- The Health Minister Marjorie Michelle acknowledges in a statement that endometriosis is a serious condition and points to existing funding, but has not committed to recognizing it as a disability—though support from some MPs and advocacy groups suggests growing momentum.
It’s endometriosis awareness month, and endo-warrior Laura Cairns has launched a petition to recognize the debilitating condition as a disability.
Cairns tells Now Toronto that endometriosis as well as another painful uterine condition, adenomyosis, affect “every aspect of your life.” She lives with endometriosis, not adenomyosis, but shares that both conditions affect those living with it when it comes to going to school, work, or even doing housework – it all becomes too much of a hassle. “You’re in too much pain to clean up after yourself or to make a meal,” she added.
From personal experience, she had complications around the age of 12, going in and out of the hospital’s emergency room and urgent care centre. “I was constantly dismissed from every single doctor I went to for 17 years until someone finally believed me,” she said. It usually takes five years to receive a diagnosis, according to The Endometriosis Network Canada, But Cairns’ journey took over three times as long. When she finally got her diagnostic surgery, she was diagnosed with stage four of the condition.
Her struggles with the condition have even spilled into her intimate relationship. “My husband and I have been trying really hard to have a baby, and my fertility has been absolutely destroyed and taken from me because the disease progressed for so long, undiagnosed and untreated,” she shared.
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What inspired the petition?
Her inspiration for the petition came not from her own experience, but from a heartbreakingly relatable Facebook post in an endometriosis support group.
A Canadian woman had written a post sharing that she lost her job because “she couldn’t do it anymore” and had lost her friends from isolating herself at home due to her intense pain. “She couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t get any help from the medical field, and she talked about wanting to end her own life,” Cairns recalled. Facebook deleted the post for being “too dark and graphic,” Cairns added.
“That is what inspired me to start this petition because that story is not just hers; that story is a copy and paste of thousands and millions of women worldwide. I’m just tired of hearing the same story, and I’m tired of living in a society that turns its back and ignores this massive crisis,” she said.
So, what does the petition entail?
The petition has seven action items for the Government of Canada:
The petition calls for publicly funded fertility care for Canadians with endometriosis, adenomyosis, or other medical infertility causes, including free or heavily subsidized IVF and IUI treatments. It seeks a funding model like those in Spain, Denmark, France, or the UK, where families receive support until having two children.
Request that endometriosis and adenomyosis be officially recognized as disabilities under federal and provincial disability programs when these conditions substantially limit daily activities or the ability to work.
It requests more federal funding dedicated to research, especially on diagnostics, non-hormonal treatments, and long-term effects.
This petition calls for the creation and funding of evidence-based clinical care pathways and improved access to timely referrals across provinces. Care should include access to diagnostic imaging, multidisciplinary pelvic pain clinics, and prompt surgical interventions.
Ensure public health coverage for proven treatments and allied health supports, including pain management, physiotherapy, mental health support, and fertility care where medically indicated.
Mandate education and training for front-line providers (family doctors, emergency clinicians, and gynecologists) to reduce the time it takes to receive a diagnosis.
The petition proposes three paid days off per month for period symptom relief, recognizing the physical and mental toll of these conditions.
The petition currently stands at 8,052 signatures at the time of publication.
If approved, how will this help women living with these conditions?
“I think it would go as far as to save lives,” Cairns said. She recalled countless women sharing their stories. “I’ve heard from women who are so desperate, who are so stuck,” she said.
Cairns explained that living with these conditions without it being recognized as a disability forces women to show up to work, because “you have no other choice.”
“[It’s] draining… everything’s been taken from you. To have this actually documented as an actual disability, to be able to apply for that… It would be a major step forward, and honestly, it’s the bare minimum,” she said.
What’s the response like?
So far, government officials like Green Party Leader Elizabeth May support the call to recognize endometriosis and adenomyosis as disabilities, a nod that shows the petition is gaining traction.
Now Toronto reached out to Health Minister Marjorie Michelle to see if the government is considering recognizing these health conditions as disabilities.
The statement didn’t directly answer whether it would, but emphasized, “Endometriosis is a serious health problem with far-reaching impacts on the health of women and some transgender people, including chronic pain, reduced fertility, and negative effects on mental health.”
It also shares that the Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund has allocated $4.1 million to four community-based initiatives to improve access to culturally relevant and evidence-based SRH training, clinical guidance and information for patients, their caregivers and their healthcare providers.
The statement added that the government continues to support efforts responding to the Canadian Pain Task Force recommendations, investing $4.6 million towards Pain Canada for those living with chronic pain (including women with endometriosis.)
Canadian endometriosis organizations such as The Endometriosis Network Canada and EndoAct Canada have been supporting the petition and reposting it on their social media, too.
Why are these conditions still not receiving the attention and treatment they need?
Endometriosis often has the misconception that it’s “just a bad period.” Cairns explains endometriosis is more than that, affecting more than 40 areas of the body, producing over 100 symptoms, and it’s actually a more common condition than even diabetes or asthma.
“It feels like I’m being murdered… It feels like I have a baseball bat that’s wrapped in barbed wire and glass shards that is being put inside of my body,” Cairns described. She explains that her condition has also affected her appearance. “My entire torso is absolutely covered in burn marks: my hips, my legs, my stomach, all the way up to my rib cage – and surgery,” Cairns said.
She shared, “As far as my body image, it’s just like every aspect of this disease. It just takes whatever you had for your life and just crumbles it.”
Cairns hopes for a push for more education in sex-ed courses for both doctors and the general public.
