Shelly Horton has revealed the shock and heartbreak she felt when her doctor told her she will need to have a hysterectomy.
The Talking Married host requires the surgical procedure, which removes a woman’s uterus, due to severe perimenopausal symptoms and heavy bleeding.
‘I’m shocked at how overwhelmed and teary I feel about it’ the 50-year-old writes in her column for Nine Honey.
Shelly says that while she has never wanted children, she’s still felt some grief over losing the reproductive organ.
‘I’m proudly childfree by choice, so I am furious this organ that I haven’t ever needed gives me so much misery’ she writes.
Shelly Horton (pictured) has revealed the shock and heartbreak s she felt when her doctor told her she will need to have a hysterectomy
‘I also feel a mix of anger, sadness and a sense of betrayal by my own body.’
Shelly stressed that ‘a uterus does not define a woman’ and added her story is a ‘call to action for all of us to redefine womanhood beyond biological functions.’
Horton has been open in the past about why she doesn’t want to have children with her husband, and they are perfectly content to be raising a family that includes two dogs instead.
But the Australian journalist admitted she was rattled by an email from a troll which labelled Horton as an ‘obese feminist’ he would like to see ‘get off TV’.
Shelly says that while she has never wanted children, she’s still felt some grief over losing the reproductive organ
The full email read: ‘I’m so happy you don’t have kids, now just to get you off TV would be the best Christmas gift any man could ask for. Obese feminist is nothing to be proud of’.
‘Trolls don’t normally worry me. I get messages like that a lot as do most women in the media,’ she said the following day.
‘But I’ve been working very long hours on some big new projects (plus a hell of a night at the Logies) so I was tired and he got under my skin.’
Shelly has recently touched on her suffering from anxiety and bouts of ‘extreme emotions’ as a result of perimenopause.
Perimenopause refers to the time when your body makes the transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years.
In May the usually bright and bubbly personality took to Instagram with a teary video admitting she felt overwhelmed and doesn’t ‘bounce back’ as she used to.
Horton revealed when she first started experiencing symptoms of perimenopause she changed into a completely different person.
Her personality and ‘go get them’ attitude was replaced with waves of sadness and even an inability to get out of bed.
READ MORE: Channel Nine’s Shelly Horton reveals why she ‘faked being happy’ on TV and would drive home ‘belittling’ herself
