This book is a tool that will accompany you as you seek answers to the questions you have about endometriosis. Each chapter is a piece of a puzzle that will help clarify many of your concerns, presented in the form of mini-chapters for a smooth reading experience. Once the puzzle is complete, you'll be able to make more informed decisions, which we hope will help you live better with endometriosis.

What will you find in this book?

•Evidence-based information divided into three parts.

•Part 1 will help you understand the disease (what endometriosis is and isn't), the social factors that contribute to diagnostic delays, and the power of endometriosis advocacy.
•Part 2 provides in depth information on treatments options, with information backed by 140 research studies.
•Part 3 focuses on a multidisciplinary approach, such as the pillars of health, nutrition, and mental health support.

•62 mini-chapters.
•The topics we cover are varied: chronic pelvic pain, endometriomas, what ideal care for endometriosis should look like, and dozens of others. Check out the table of contents (in the book preview) to see them all. You can read the mini-chapters in any order. Jump to the topics that interest you most!

•Perspectives from doctors in Latin America and the United States.
•We had the opportunity to interview 11 renowned endometriosis specialists who shared their opinions and perspectives on surgery, infertility, multidisciplinary treatment, and more.

•Patient voices from 21 countries in Latin America, the United States, and Spain.
•They share their lived experiences and advice. We hope you'll feel a sense of community and know that you're not alone.

If you're living with endometriosis, we're confident that our book will serve as a guide and source of support for you—whether it's to better understand treatment options or to feel comfort in the words of others who are also living with this disease.

If you're supporting someone living with endometriosis, throughout these pages you'll find information that will help you better understand this disease. We firmly believe that knowledge is power and that empathy is the best way to express love in moments of despair.

Who are we?

We are four empowered patients advocates: Amy Corfeli (United States), Andrea Ruiz (Peru), Virginia Vallejo (Dominican Republic), and Jennifer Mier Cabrera (Mexico), who have collaborated to share the collective knowledge we've gained over more than 18 years of raising awareness about endometriosis. We are podcast hosts, presidents of national endometriosis associations, published researchers, and people who don't want future generations to suffer from this disease as we have.

That's why we wrote this book, with the participation of our community, for our community—for you!—because we all deserve to find the puzzle pieces that will help us achieve a better quality of life.

English translation

Our book was originally written in Spanish, to highlight the voices of Spanish-speaking patients and the endometriosis specialists of their respective regions, and bring important information to a community that has historically had less access. Translation to English by Amy Corfeli.