Conversations With Friends Praised For 'Brutal' Endometriosis Scenes

Sally Rooney's hotly-anticipated Conversations With Friends dropped on BBC Three last weekend following the success of its predecessor, Normal People.

The 12-part drama follows student Frances, who embarks on a complicated affair with a married man named Nick, but it also explores a gynaecological health condition that plagues Frances every month during her period.

Viewers first see Frances struggling with the condition when Bobbi – her ex-girlfriend and best friend – finds her asleep on the bathroom floor of her flat the morning after an episode of agonising period pain.

Frances recovers, but one month later while visiting her mum, she suffers bleeding and pain so severe she is rushed to hospital with a suspected miscarriage.

After investigations, doctors rule out a pregnancy but send her for an ultrasound scan to help understand why she is suffering with such severe pain.

When Frances attends an appointment to discuss the results, she is told her scan was 'clear'. However, the consultant explains she believes Frances has endometriosis – a condition where cells similar to the ones in the lining of the uterus are found elsewhere in the body.

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Discussing the scenes on Twitter, one viewer wrote: "Conversations with friends is the first time I’ve ever seen something similar to my own experience with endometriosis reflected in popular media."

Another said: "I think the BBC 3 Conversations With Friends adaptation is the first time I’ve ever seen endometriosis depicted on television."

A third added: "I'm watching #ConversationswithFriends and I didn't know there was an underlying storyline about Endometriosis. They've shown the pain, fear and how scary the condition can be in a very truthful way, so big up for that."

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It is estimated to affect one in 10 women and is notoriously difficult to diagnose, taking an average of 7.5 years.

Frances is told that the condition could affect her fertility – something that comes as a huge blow following a recent conversation with Nick about how much he wanted children.

Since watching the show, viewers have been taking to social media to praise the adaptation for its candid scenes, which executive producer Emma Norton says were based on 'brutal' experiences.

Speaking to LA Times, she said: “The Endometriosis Assn. of Ireland contacted us to say that, for them, it was a really important book, and they wanted to be available to us and to make sure that if we needed any resources or to talk to anybody, we could.

"Some of the women we spoke to have had really, really brutal experiences, as one of whom was slightly older and had been through the medical system when even less was known about endometriosis. You realise the scale of the experience can be so extraordinary.”

You can find help, support and advice about Endometriosis at Endometriosis UK.