Australian TV personality reveals her 'sadness' at learning she needed a hysterectomy despite being 'proudly child-free'

Shelley Horton has revealed the shock and heartbreak she felt when her doctor told her she had to have a hysterectomy.

The Talking Married host requires a surgical procedure to remove a woman's uterus due to severe perimenopausal symptoms and heavy bleeding.

“I'm shocked at how overwhelmed and tearful I feel about it,” the 50-year-old wrote in her column Nine honey.

Shelly says that although she never wanted children, she still felt grief over the loss of her reproductive organ.

“I'm proud to be childfree, so I'm furious that this organ I never needed is causing me so much misery,” she wrote.

'I also feel a mix of anger, sadness and a sense of betrayal by my own body.'

Shelly emphasized that “a uterus does not define a woman” and added that 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 raising a family with two dogs instead.

But the Australian journalist admitted she was upset by an email from a troll labeling Horton as an “obese feminist” who he would like to see “off TV”.

Shelly says that although she never wanted children, she still felt grief over the loss of her reproductive organ

The full email read: 'I'm so glad you don't have kids, just getting you off the TV would be the best Christmas present a man could ask for. Being an obese feminist is nothing to be proud of.”

'Trolls don't normally worry me. I get a lot of messages like this, as do most women in the media,” she said the next day.

'But I've been working really long hours on some big new projects (plus a great night at the Logies), so I was tired and it got under my skin.'

Shelly recently spoke about her anxiety and bouts of “extreme emotions” due to perimenopause.

Perimenopause refers to the time when your body transitions to menopause, which marks the end of the reproductive years.

In May, the usually cheerful and bubbly personality took to Instagram with a tearful video in which she admitted that she felt overwhelmed and couldn't “bounce back” like she used to.

Horton revealed that when she first started experiencing symptoms of perimenopause, she turned into a completely different person.

Her personality and “go get 'em” attitude gave way to waves of sadness and even the inability to get out of bed.