Janel Parrish Turns Pain Into Purpose After Divorce and Endometriosis

Sometimes the hardest chapters become the ones that matter most. That’s the message Pretty Little Liars star Janel Parrish is living out right now, and she’s using her platform to shine a light on a disease that’s been quietly devastating millions of women.

The past two years have been a whirlwind for the 37-year-old actress. After nearly eight years of marriage to Chris Long, Parrish filed for divorce in April 2026, with the split becoming official in May. But the public breakup was only part of her private battle. While trying to start a family with her then-husband, Parrish received a diagnosis that changed everything: endometriosis, a notoriously difficult-to-diagnose condition that causes tissue similar to the uterine lining to grow outside the uterus, triggering pain, inflammation, and scarring. The kicker? There’s no simple test for it. She spent roughly two years dealing with unexplained agony before finally getting answers.

“This thing happens to your body, and then all this pain hits,”Parrish recalled, describing how the symptoms blindsided her. What made it harder was the emotional toll—the condition often affects fertility, and learning she had endometriosis while struggling to conceive added another layer of heartbreak to an already difficult situation. But instead of staying silent about it, she’s channeling that experience into advocacy. This month, on June 3, Parrish celebrated the launch of the End of the Cycle documentary alongside the official unveiling of The Endometriosis Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming how the disease is researched, treated, and understood. The condition affects more than 265 million women worldwide, yet it remains chronically underfunded and misunderstood.

What’s remarkable is Parrish’s mindset as she moves forward. She’s not pretending the endometriosis will disappear or that her divorce was painless. Instead, she’s chosen to live in the present moment, focusing on what genuinely brings her joy.“I feel fulfilled. I feel good in my body. I feel happy with where I’m at in my life,”she told Us Weekly.“We don’t know what the future brings, and I am just trying to really stay in the present and follow what makes me happy and follow my joy, and that’s been bringing me so much happiness.”

That’s not toxic positivity—it’s wisdom earned through hardship. Parrish is doing the work to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, and she’s not ashamed to admit that endometriosis will be part of her story going forward. But so will her purpose in raising awareness for a disease that’s been ignored for far too long.