A recent diagnosis has completely changed how Halle Berry approaches intimacy with her fiancé, Van Hunt.
The couple met during the COVID-19 pandemic and initially connected over phone calls and text messages. They have publicly acknowledged their relationship since September 2020, and Berry recently announced their engagement.
Speaking on the latest episode of the S*x With Emily podcast on February 24, Berry revealed how discovering she had perimenopause pushed her to drop one behavior that changed things in the bedroom.
Highlights
- Halle Berry opened up about the one change that improved the quality of intimacy with her partner, Van Hunt.
- A misdiagnosis by her doctor set the Academy Award-winning actress on a path that helped her better understand her body.
- Despite impacting most women, the condition does not get enough attention in the medical field, according to reports.
“I never heard anyone talking about perimenopause, only menopause, and thank god for Halle Berry,” one user said.
Halle Berry revealed why she decided to stop faking during intimacy with her partner
Image credits: Getty/Stefanie Keenan
Speaking with the host Emily Morse, a doctor of human s*xuality, and the crowd at the Eudemonia Summit, Berry admitted that growing older has changed her outlook toward physical intimacy.
“The oxytocin leaves us, that which we have when we’re younger, and we can take care of our babies, and take care of our man, and take care of everybody else’s problems, that leaves our body, and a beautiful thing happens,” Berry said. “We stop caring about all of that.”
Image credits: Youtube/S*x With Emily
An honest conversation with her partner and clear communication about her likes and dislikes helped her improve the quality of intimacy with her partner, which means she no longer fakes reaching climax.
“Everybody has faked it, because you just want it to be done,” the Die Another Day star continued on the topic. “Sometimes, you just want the pounding to stop.”
“I don't do that anymore. We had to get there so that he felt good about bringing us to org*sm,” she added.
Image credits: Getty/Samir Hussein
“We had to say that we did it so that he would feel good about himself. But what is that doing? That’s putting his needs before your own. Now, I don’t do that anymore,” Berry continued.
“I am like, ‘No, I come first as you come first to you.’ We both deserve to have this be a mutually enjoyable experience, so we both can roll over and go to sleep because we feel good.”
Halle Berry detailed the health scare that led to the change in intimacy
Image credits: Youtube/S*x With Emily
The 59-year-old revealed that discomfort and pain in her private parts made things difficult for a while, which was further complicated by one doctor’s misdiagnosis.
However, it is “back and popping” now after she researched and learned about her real condition, perimenopause, which affects 80-90% of women in their mid-to-late 40s.
Image credits: Youtube/S*x With Emily
Earlier in the podcast, Berry shared that she woke up one morning with “excruciating pain” in her v*gina and could not urinate without discomfort. Her gynecologist diagnosed it as a “bad case” of herpes, which caused a few days of discontent between her and Hunt.
Image credits: halleberry
“We go through 72 hours of ‘I thought I knew you, I thought we were being truthful,’ not knowing who gave herpes to whom,” she said, laughing.
However, after their reports on the viral infection came back, both were negative.
“This was my ‘Aha!’ moment that set me on this journey of Respin,” she said.
The Oscar-winning actress launched Respin Health in February 2025, a health-focused platform backed by community, trained medical professionals, and AI support to help women navigate through perimenopausal and menopausal stages.
Nearly 40% perimenopausal women get misdiagnosed, according to statistics
Image credits: Getty/Mike Coppola
A November 2025 survey by Biote claimed that nearly 40% women seeking care for perimenopausal symptoms feel misdiagnosed, and only 15% feel adequately informed at early symptom onset.
Berry mentioned on the podcast that her gynecologist should have guided her better with her issue, but he may not even have the tools to do so.
Image credits: halleberry
“I also know that my doctor should have known this, but he didn’t. There’s no blaming him. Let me be clear,” she said. “They can only do better when they know better.”
“Doctors don’t study our bodies. Only 13% of doctors in our country know anything about the menopausal body and the myriad of symptoms that we suffer from,” Berry added.
Image credits: halleberry
A 2023 survey by The Menopause Society found that only 31.3% of obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors had any menopause curriculum as part of their training.
“All programs with a menopause curriculum included five or fewer menopause lectures per year for trainees, with 71.0% reporting two or fewer lectures per year,” the report said.
"This is how we change the conversation." The internet lauded Halle Berry for opening up on intimacy wellness.
