In an exclusive interview with WWD, Hailey Bieber said she struggled with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, after welcoming her son Jack Blues in 2024. 'After I had my son, I struggled with that a bit, and there's just not a lot of conversation or research around it,' she said.

Alongside the disclosure, Rhode announced its largest philanthropic investment to date: a $5 million, three-year partnership with the Foundation for Women's Health supporting medical research, education and care in historically underfunded areas including pregnancy and postpartum health and autoimmune conditions.

Grantees are expected to be announced in 2027.

The disclosure is notable because Bieber ties a private postpartum health battle directly to the strategy of a brand that WWD reports has generated more than $500 million in annualized global retail sales under parent company E.l.f. Beauty.

She described the experience of pregnancy, childbirth and new motherhood as 'a really intense and special journey,' and said frustration drove the cause: her sister struggles with a women's health condition, and she cites a lack of research and awareness.

ABC News also covered the diagnosis, amplifying the story beyond the beauty press into mainstream health coverage.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, as cited by CafeMom, PMDD is a serious form of PMS that can cause extreme irritability, anxiety or depression before a period.

Bieber first opened up about the diagnosis on the SHE MD podcast in March, telling listeners the week before her period felt 'not just PMS.' 'It felt extreme mentally,' she said.

'Like, why does it feel like my whole entire life is going to end?' She added that the condition 'is also dangerous, and it should be taken seriously,' framing her disclosure as a warning other women can act on.

The Foundation for Women's Health founder and executive director Katy Brodsky Falco told WWD that the $5 million gift 'messages very strongly to young women... that the long-standing gender equity gap is not acceptable,' calling Rhode's visibility 'perhaps unparalleled.'

Falco pointed to long-standing research gaps in endometriosis, maternal health and related conditions, and argued the Evergreen Fund can help address a shortage of investment in women's health innovation by pushing research findings into diagnostics and therapeutics quickly.

The visibility of a founder speaking from experience gives the funding a human face that purely institutional gifts lack.

Of the $5 million, WWD reports that $1 million will establish the Foundation for Women's Health Evergreen Fund, a venture philanthropy vehicle that will invest in companies developing women's health diagnostics and therapeutics and reinvest proceeds to support future research.

The commitment builds on Rhode Futures Fund's existing work: WWD notes its Support for Moms Fund committed $2 million to 10 organizations serving mothers and caregivers between 2025 and 2026, and Rhode pledged $1 million toward relief for families affected by the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

The work continues under E.l.f. Beauty's collective pledge of 2 percent of net profits to meaningful causes.

Bieber says openness is itself part of the remedy. 'Conversation, for me personally, makes me feel less alone,' she told WWD, adding that identifying with each other's struggles makes the journey feel 'less of a lonely journey.'

Her message echoed at the community level: WWLP reports that State Rep.

Bud Williams hosted the seventh installment of his health and wellness series in Springfield, Massachusetts on Friday, a women's mental health seminar where counselor Kaine Compton urged that women's internal struggles 'get heard.'

Research institutions across the U.S. have already submitted proposals for the new funding, with grantees named in 2027.