Selena Gomez Posts Brave Swimsuit Photo Showing Kidney Transplant Scar in Powerful Post

Selena Gomez shared a new swimsuit photo unlike any other, showing off her kidney transplant scar. The 28-year-old posed in a light-blue, one-piece swimsuit on Thursday, writing that she feels “confident in who I am” today. Gomez underwent kidney transplant surgery in 2017 after her friend Francia Raisa donated a kidney to the “Boyfriend” singer.

“When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” Gomez wrote. “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.” She also tagged La’Mariette, the maker of the swimsuit. “Congratulations on what you’re doing for women, launching @lamariette whose message is just that…all bodies are beautiful,” Gomez wrote.

Back in October 2017, Gomez and Raisa appeared on the Today Show together, where they detailed the life-saving transplant surgery. Gomez said her kidneys were “just done,” but she would have to wait years for a kidney. Raisa heard about this and instantly leaped at the chance to help her friend. Gomez also shared a photo of herself and Raisa holding hands across hospital beds in September 2017. Gomez said she needed the transplant “due to my Lupus and was recovering.”

Two years after the surgery, Raisa told Entertainment Tonight her decision to help Gomez was “very faith-based.” “It just kinda happened coincidentally, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that that’s God’s way of remaining anonymous,” Raisa explained, adding “I’m very grateful for the opportunity.” Raisa, an actress who starred on Grown-ish, showed off her scars in a 2018 interview with Self Magazine.

This week, Gomez was also included on TIME Magazine‘s 2020 100 most influential people list. “Selena courageously uses her global platform in service of her full identity,” actress America Ferrera wrote of Gomez. “She is emblematic of her powerful generation, which patently rejects the notion that they belong in any one lane as artists, activists or citizens of the world.”

Gomez also gave an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone this week, noting that she no longer wants people to see her as “just sad and hurt” following her Rare album. “I wanted people to know that I experienced something real and that part of me is over,” she said. “It felt like [the material] was really, really strong, and I was very happy about it,” Gomez said of the songs on the record. “I think that becoming more involved than I ever have been [in the making of the album] helped me gain confidence and empowered me completely.”