'I've wanted this for years.' Love Island Australia's Erin Barnett on getting a hysterectomy at age 28.

Love Island Australia's Erin Barnett has announced she can no longer have children after undergoing a full hysterectomy at age 28.

This week, the content creator and former contestant on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! told her nearly 500,000 Instagram followers about her decision to have the surgery after "years" of wanting it.

"TODAY I HAD MY HYSTERECTOMY!" she wrote in an Instagram post. 

"I went in around 9am and have been in my room since 1pm. Surgery went really well! 

"We did have some trouble getting my pain under control in recovery, but we got there in the end."

She added: "I’ve wanted this for years and I’m so overwhelmed with emotions now it’s happened."

Erin continued by saying that she "never gave up advocating for myself and my body".

"Please remember, we are all amazing with or without kids. Having children does not define you. Do whatever makes you happy and healthy," she said.

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A post shared by ERIN ALYSHA BARNETT (@erin.alysha)

A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. The procedure is used to treat a number of conditions that affect the female reproductive system. 

It is not possible to get pregnant after the operation. You'll also no longer have periods, regardless of your age.

In the days following the surgery, the 28-year-old has explained her reasons for getting the procedure done in more detail.

"I've said it time and time again. Since I was 14-15 years old I’ve had issues with my reproductive organs," she wrote in an Instagram story.

"I grew up knowing I’d struggle to have children. As time went on and I had numerous surgeries, I was told I would have to do IVF.

"Four years ago, I looked into freezing my eggs, I was then told I am a high-risk patient for IVF due to my POCS and how quickly I grow cysts and how fast they rupture and cause internal bleeding which turns into emergency surgery."

In 2022, Erin said that doctors were refusing to give her a hysterectomy. 

She had previously undergone 17 surgeries from the age of 14 for her severe endometriosis and PCOS. 

In March, Erin was finally approved to have the surgery.

"I came to accept the fact in this lifetime I won’t be a mother. It’s obvious that this is the path I was given and I don’t see the need to push for something that is clearly not meant for me," she wrote on social media at the time. 

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A post shared by ERIN ALYSHA BARNETT (@erin.alysha)

In 2020, the Endometriosis Australia ambassador told Nine Honey that although having the surgery wasn't a cure, it would decrease her pain exponentially.

"I would probably be 90 per cent pain-free and today I'm living with about 1000 per cent pain every day,' she told the publication. 

Erin appeared on the first season of Love Island Australia in 2018, where she was crowned runner-up alongside Eden Dally. 

In 2020, she was a contestant on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

She has been with her partner Mick Russell for several years now.

Feature image: Instagram/@erin.alysha

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