Tamsen Fadal Takes On Perimenopause with The M Factor 2: Before the Pause’

For decades, Tamsen Fadal delivered the news without ever uttering one word: menopause. Then, in a moment she has since described as life-altering, it hit her live on air. What followed was not just a personal reckoning, but the beginning of a global movement.

An estimated 1.1 billion women worldwide are currently in menopause, and 42 million women in the United States are in perimenopause. Yet this medically significant life stage remains widely misunderstood, underdiagnosed, and routinely dismissed. With her latest documentary, “The M Factor 2: Before The Pause,” premiering nationwide on PBS on March 19, the New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and women’s health advocate is once again challenging the silence.

“I never once said the word menopause’ during my 30 years on television. Until it hit me hard, live on air. That moment changed everything, and as I searched for answers, I realized just how big the gap was: women navigating midlife health were met with silence, confusion, and a lack of credible information. I set out to change that,” Fadal says. “I built a platform to turn menopause from a private struggle into a global conversation rooted in education, understanding, and real support.”

The new film serves as a prequel to her acclaimed 2024 PBS documentary “The M Factor: Shredding The Silence On Menopause,” which aired more than 1,066 times on PBS, generated over 10 million trailer views, hosted 1,200 screenings across 50 countries, and earned 2.2 billion media impressions. If the original ignited the conversation, “Before The Pause” zeroes in on the years leading up to menopause — a phase often cloaked in confusion.

“We’ve been told to just deal with it. That the hot flashes, brain fog, and exhaustion are normal.’ That it’s just part of being a woman. But that lie has silenced too many of us,” Fadal says. “Everything looks normal.’ But it’s actually perimenopause. And it’s talked about even less than menopause itself.”

The documentary follows women whose symptoms are minimized or misattributed, including a teacher told her debilitating symptoms are “all in her head,” and a firefighter navigating severe bleeding and hormonal shifts without workplace accommodations. It also features physicians who candidly admit they were never trained to recognize or treat perimenopause, even while caring for patients experiencing it.

Beyond the physical symptoms, the film explores how perimenopause disrupts careers, relationships, and identity, and how partners — especially men — can play a meaningful role through empathy, patience, and understanding intimacy with grace and compassion.

Through her documentaries, her podcast “The Tamsen Show,” and bestselling book “How To Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before,” Fadal has brought midlife health conversations from living rooms to Capitol Hill.

“This past year, I’ve worked to put menopause and midlife health at the center of conversations everywhere, from Capitol Hill to workplaces, clinics, and homes,” she says. “I’ve built a platform that gives women the guidance, real stories, and tools they’ve been missing for decades. I’ve brought these voices directly to policymakers, advocating for more research, funding, and workplace support, while helping advance legislation like the Menopause Research and Equity Act.”

Fadal says that since bringing menopause “out of the shadows and into the spotlight,” she has been able to help shape “policy, practice, and cultural perception in ways that are truly improving women’s lives across the country.”

What began as a personal wake-up call has become a cultural shift. And with “The M Factor 2: Before The Pause”, Fadal is making sure women are no longer told to simply endure, but to understand, advocate, and be heard.