Kesha is grateful to be here. In an interview with Self published on June 20, the 36-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about complications resulting from a fertility treatment. “I almost died in January,” she said. Kesha froze her eggs in 2022, but was later unable to walk following a New Year’s Eve performance in the Bahamas. After going to the hospital, doctors confirmed she was suffering from an uncommon procedural complication potentially related to her weakened immune system.
“I just was taking my reproductive health into my own hands.”
She was eventually transferred out of the Bahamas, spending nine days in a Miami hospital. “I finally feel recovered, but it took a couple months,” she said. “It was horrifying.” Kesha had initially decided to freeze her eggs prior to releasing her album “Gag Order” — the final release under Dr. Luke’s label. “I just was taking my reproductive health into my own hands,” she explained, adding that she wanted more time to consider having kids. “And I stand by everyone doing that and [honoring] your body.”
The same year she froze her eggs, Kesha also learned she had an immunodeficiency disease called CVID, or common variable immunodeficiency, which she hasn’t spoken about publicly until now. CVID is not yet entirely understood, but in cases like Kesha’s, it can cause autoimmune problems, sending the immune system into overdrive, and attacking healthy parts of the body.
This was something Kesha wanted to keep private at first, especially considering so much of her image had once revolved around her party-girl persona. “I just never wanted to be the whiny, privileged girl,” she said. “I learned after my diagnosis that sleep is the most important thing. I took that for granted for, God, about 29, 30 years. I feel like I’m just playing catch-up on my teens and twenties, still. But I try to get as much sleep as possible, and I have to protect that fiercely.”
While digging into the details of her health scare and her feelings about family, Kesha also mentioned her “amazing” boyfriend (although not by name). “I didn’t really want to mention the relationship, because I think making a family is everyone’s choice, and family can mean so many different things to everyone,” she said. “My family right now are the people I spend time with, and my actual family, and also my band, my friends, and my cats.”