Selena Gomez Flaunts Kidney Transplant Scar in Bikini Pic, Says “I feel Confident In Who I Am And What I went Through”

Selena Gomez won’t hide her scars from the world.

On Thursday, the Mexican American singer-actress posted a photo to Instagram that instantly made headlines. In the photo, she was wearing blue one-piece half-zip bathing suit from her friend’s new swimwear line La’Mariette.

But it wasn’t the bathing suit that turned heads, but the scar that Gomez proudly displayed on her right inner thigh.

In the caption, Gomez opened up about her body-acceptance journey, specifically in regards to the scar she received from emergency surgery after her 2017 kidney transplant surgery.

“When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” she wrote in her caption. “I didn’t want it to be in photos, so I wore things that would cover it up. Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through…and I’m proud of that. T – Congratulations on what you’re doing for women, launching @lamariette whose message is just that…all bodies are beautiful.”

The photo is notable because Gomez’s scar was first captured by paparazzi in 2018 while she was on a boating trip in Australia.

Back then, Gomez didn’t have control over narrative or how her body was presented to the world. But now she does. And a change like that makes all the difference.

Fans immediately praised Gomez’s bravery, adding comments like “You are so strong and powerful” and “Thank you for showing our scars are beautiful and all bodies are beautiful!”

A sufferer of lupus, Selena Gomez has had a long and difficult health journey. In 2017, she received a kidney transplant from her good friend and fellow Latina, Francia Raísa.

Gomez has previously been candid about how grateful she is to Raísa for saving her life. “My kidneys were just done,” Gomez explained in an interview with The Today Show. “That was it, and I didn’t want to ask a single person in my life. The thought of asking someone to do that was really difficult for me. [Raísa] volunteered and did it.”

But the scar that Gomez was displaying in her latest Instagram post was actually the result of an emergency follow-up surgery. According to Raisa, shortly after the kidney transplant, Gomez ruptured an artery. Doctors had to rush Gomez to the operating room to remove a vein in her leg and rebuild a new artery in order to keep the kidney in place.

As of now, Gomez’s body has healed, but as she implied in the caption above, she is still in the process of healing from the emotional trauma that comes with health problems. She truly is an inspiration to us all.