Parton Broke Barriers Earlier in Life by Openly Discussing Her Infertility
Parton’s legacy hinges in part on her openness in discussing personal health issues that have affected her throughout her life.
In 1982, Parton canceled a tour while experiencing abdominal pain and bleeding and was later diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus and can cause pain and fertility problems.
Parton eventually underwent a partial hysterectomy in the 1980s and learned that she would not be able to have children.
In February 2026, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital announced it was becoming Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital as part of a collaboration aimed at expanding pediatric care in the region.
Parton Spoke Candidly About Depression
Parton said the hysterectomy and other struggles during that period took a serious toll on her mental health.
In 2019 podcast, Parton revealed that during the early 1980s she considered suicide.
“I got overweight, and I was going through the change of life, I was having a lot of female problems, I’d been going through a whole lot of family things, just the stress, the heartache,” she said.
Her $1 Million Gift Helped Support Early COVID-19 Vaccine Research
Parton’s philanthropy reached into medicine, where a $1 million gift helped support early COVID-19 vaccine research.
In April 2020, she donated these funds to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, after her friend Naji Abumrad, MD, told her about research underway there to fight the deadly new coronavirus. The donation created the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund.
