Understanding Menopause: Personal Experiences and Broader Implications
For years, María José Cuevas, a 54-year-old documentarian, has perceived menopause as a term laden with negativity. In her youth, being told one looked “menopausal” was akin to being labelled as irritable or bitter—an implicit insult. While she understood that this phase would mean the cessation of menstruation and the possibility of hot flashes, her knowledge was superficial at best. Now, two years after her last period, María José reflects that her greatest concern lies not in the hot flashes themselves, but in the uncertainty surrounding this life stage. “I have no guidance and an abundance of uncertainty, particularly regarding hormonal treatments,” she explains, revealing a deep-seated fear stemming from her mother’s battle with cancer. “I’ve been without my period for two years. I’m not on hormonal treatment because of this fear, yet I also feel anxious about not using it. It’s a constant source of distress.”
Similarly, Mayela Delgadillo, now 55, began to experience severe fatigue and a pervasive lack of energy about three years ago. This was soon followed by a disinterest in personal care, social outings, and activities she once cherished. Compounding these issues were memory problems that left her struggling to retain information. “I found myself unable to recall two sentences together—I would read the same page four times without comprehension,” she shares. As her symptoms intensified, she reached a breaking point, feeling utterly lost. “This doesn’t make sense. I don’t know what’s happening, but something is clearly wrong.”
This led her to consult multiple healthcare professionals. “You visit the doctor, and they say, ‘Are you experiencing headaches? Here’s some aspirin.’ But when I explain that I lack motivation, I’m handed vitamins or told it might be thyroid-related. After ruling that out, the conclusion was that I was depressed, and here are your antidepressants. This is the result of treating women without a holistic approach,” Mayela explains.
Seeking Answers: The Journey Towards Awareness
After experiencing this frustrating healthcare journey, Mayela had an epiphany: “I realised I needed to ask, ‘What is causing this?’ I don’t want aspirin or antidepressants; I want to understand what’s happening and what triggers it. Then it clicked—menopause. Conversations with friends revealed that this topic is rarely discussed.” This silence surrounding menopause is a central issue, she insists.
As a journalist, Mayela took it upon herself to research hormonal therapy, discovering that many women share a fear of its potential link to cancer. Yet, in her vulnerable state, she contemplated: “Between dying of cancer and living in this state for another 25 years, I would choose cancer. I want to be alive and well; I want to enjoy life again,” she confides.
In Mexico, over 24 million women are currently navigating some phase of menopause (whether climacteric, perimenopausal, or menopausal). Yet, countless women continue to face barriers in accessing reliable information, preventative care, timely detection, and comprehensive support during this life stage. Experts and organisations unanimously agree that two primary factors contribute to this lack of attention: menopause remains a taboo subject, and there is a significant absence of robust data to inform public policy. Women, it seems, are still rendered invisible.
The Consequences of Silence in the Workplace
The initiative to gather data in Mexico gained traction in 2022, spearheaded by Gabriela Rojas and Mamen Díaz, who founded the association “Sin Reglas.” Having faced similar challenges as many others, they realised that no one had adequately explained the changes occurring in their bodies. They discovered that the UK had been experiencing a significant movement around menopause since the late 2010s, involving activism, media engagement, medical professionals, businesses, and Parliament. A pivotal force was the activism of women who began to publicly question the silence surrounding menopause, a movement that even reached the UK Parliament. By 2021, an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Menopause was formally established, aimed at addressing the lack of understanding surrounding menopause among policymakers, the public, and employers.
An especially significant moment was the Women and Equalities Committee of the House of Commons’ investigation into “Menopause and the Workplace.” The committee received over 80 written testimonies and conducted a survey that garnered more than 2,000 responses. Its 2022 report examined menopause as an intersection of health, labour, and equality. Subsequently, the government incorporated menopause explicitly into its Women’s Health Strategy for England, which included measures for access to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), training for professionals, and workplace support.
Progress in Mexico: A Call to Action
Inspired by these developments, Gabriela and Mamen began their own efforts in Mexico, publishing their first report in 2022 titled “Survival, Perception, and Impact of Menopause in Mexican Society.” Among the findings, they noted that while advancements have been made in areas like menstruation, maternity leave, and breastfeeding, menopause continues to be overlooked. “It seems that once women stop being reproductive, they also cease to be productive. This is a significant error,” Mamen argues.
Gabriela Rojas emphasises that this oversight has tangible consequences, impacting women’s self-esteem and ultimately resulting in the loss of female talent due to resignations. “Discrimination manifests in various ways, including visible comments like ‘Don’t go near her; she’s a crazy menopausal woman’ or ‘Let’s not promote her; she’s always irritable and forgetful.’” Rojas highlights that silence can lead to symptoms such as brain fog, anxiety, or insomnia being misinterpreted as incompetence, resulting in women being overlooked for promotions, excluded from work groups, denied salary increases, or even losing their jobs.
Addressing the Economic Cost of Menopause
Recent collaboration with the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) revealed that the primary reason for unemployment among women aged 45 to 54 was voluntary resignation—more prevalent than for women in their 30s, a period typically associated with motherhood. “Imagine the talent we are losing. This indicates that menopause is not merely a rights issue; it’s also a business matter. It benefits the country to invest in women’s health,” Gabriela asserts.
There remains a significant lack of sensitivity in corporate environments, with both Gabriela and Mamen agreeing that supervisors often fail to recognise symptoms of menopause. “When they see a woman struggling with memory, they don’t realise that brain fog is a symptom of menopause. Instead, they assume she’s underperforming and opt to hire a younger employee,” they note.
Research and New Perspectives on Menopause
Efforts to gather evidence continued, and in 2026, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in conjunction with Sin Reglas and CIDE, published the first study on the effects of menopause on women’s economic participation in Mexico. Dosia Calderón, a UNFPA representative, highlights the need to quantify a problem that has long been absent from discussions on health, work, and economics. “What isn’t measured cannot be transformed,” she states.
The report illustrates how stigma and lack of support drive talented women out of the labour market or hinder their professional growth. This concern intensifies when considering the timing of menopause in a woman’s life. The report reveals a persistent gender pay gap for women aged 40 to 60, with up to 30% of this disparity unexplained by observable factors like education or work experience, suggesting the impact of invisible elements such as health, stigma, and gender/age discrimination during this transitional phase.
Menopause as an Economic Justice Issue
Dosia Calderón argues that this issue extends beyond health: “It’s also about economic justice since menopause typically coincides with a woman’s peak professional leadership. Ignoring these health needs is not just a lack of empathy; it’s a poor economic decision for the country.” She emphasises that “Mexico cannot aspire to sustainable development if it allows 50% of its population to navigate this transition in institutional abandonment.”
Qualitative evidence from an online survey of 115 women and focus groups supports these findings. A staggering 67% of respondents reported that menopause symptoms adversely affected their work performance and daily activities. Furthermore, more than half incurred out-of-pocket expenses not covered by the public health system to manage these symptoms. The predominant emotions expressed in testimonies ranged from sadness and disappointment to frustration, although a sense of awareness, self-care, and resilience emerged among those with adequate support networks or treatment.
The Need for Improved Access to Health Services
The report also highlights a concerning decline in access to health services as women age. Less than 30% of women aged 40 to 44 have access to health services, a figure that plummets to below 10% for those aged 56 to 60. This progressive dismantling of healthcare access occurs during a life stage that requires increased medical attention due to physiological changes associated with menopause and aging. “This reflects that women are not experiencing menopause in a dignified manner,” Dosia asserts.
Breaking the Stigma Surrounding Menopause
However, the statistics alone do not fully explain the ongoing silence surrounding menopause. According to Hortensia