When Jennie Garth announced she’d had not one but two hip replacements—the first at age 48 and the second in 2024 at 52—the general response could be summed up as follows: Isn’t she too young for that? In fact, Garth herself opened up about feeling scared to talk about her hip replacement surgery due to the stigma around the procedure.

“Sharing this moment with you all feels both scary and liberating,” the actress wrote in a September 2024 Instagram post. “I wanted to share this story in the hopes of inspiring both women and men to prioritize their health, listen to their bodies and challenge the misconceptions that aging and joint replacement are only for older people.”

The truth is, hip replacement surgery to address issues like pain, low mobility and instability is becoming more common, especially among younger adults. Currently, about 28 percent of hip replacement surgeries take place in those under age 55, experts at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) report. By 2030, experts predict that over half of hip replacements will take place in those under age 65, found a report in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Here we take a look at Garth’s journey to a full recovery and explore why women as young as 40 are considering hip replacement surgery.