Lena Dunham Opens Up About The Strains On Her & Jack Antonoff's Relationship

Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff's love story was one for the modern times. The couple, who dated for five years before calling it quits back in January, weathered many an emotional storm — and dog drama — all while juggling two incredibly successful careers. Though both artists are typically open about their lives with their fans, neither has shared much about the reason behind their split. Until now.

Dunham, who recently had a hysterectomy, penned a heartfelt essay for the March edition of Vogue explaining that her decade-long struggle with endometriosis ultimately put a strain on her relationship with Antonoff.

"My beautiful partner, who has seen me through so much pain with compassion and care, has to be away for work, and I can feel us growing slowly apart, since life is so determined to display its full complexity right now," she wrote, recalling her time in the hospital. "I am surly and distant. I offer nothing. He reminds me again and again that I am still a woman and still alive, but I also know that soon — for so many reasons that have nothing to do with my uterus — we'll slip away from each other and I will face everything I am losing in impossibly tiny steps."

That passage reveals a tenderness to Dunham that many of us can sometimes forget she possesses. She's not angry or bitter about the hand life dealt her; rather, she is grateful to have been surrounded by people who truly loved and cared for her, even if they're no longer present in her everyday life.

Antonoff, too, has proven that he still regards his ex fondly. Taylor Swift's go-to man shared Dunham's essay with his 148,000 Twitter followers with the simple caption, "beautiful piece."

It takes two strong people to handle such a public separation with grace and respect. Hopefully, Dunham will find even more people to support her through this emotional time.