If Katija Cortez is certain about one thing in her life, it’s that she’s got absolutely no interest in having children.

For her, it’s never been a ‘someday’ or ‘maybe later’ situation. It’s always been a definite ‘never’ for the 30-year-old.

It was neither a sudden nor impulsive decision; Katija’s choice was shaped by years of being on contraception.

She says: ‘Women’s health and a woman’s right to choose not to have children just isn’t talked about enough. Especially when you’re single.

‘My body was breaking down, and no one listened.’

Between the ages of 16 and 29, Katija was on hormonal contraception.

For more than 10 years, her implant didn’t cause her any issues, but things took a turn in 2025 when she had it replaced. Katija started experiencing insomnia, exhaustion, brain fog, intense food cravings, constant bleeding and a general inability to function normally.

‘For two months, doctors ran tests and found nothing,’ Katija, a ‘professional girlfriend’ who has appeared on the cover of Playboy and lives in Sydney, shares.

‘Not once did anyone suggest my contraception could be causing it.’

After much thought, she requested that the implant be removed — but she says she was both gaslit and left traumatised by the procedure.

The removal process was supposed to take a swift five minutes, but it ended up being a two-hour nightmare.

Katija says she ended up with scars on her arm from the drip, and with one fell swoop, her confidence in doctors was completely shattered.

But within 24 hours, every single symptom she’d been enduring for months completely disappeared. It ended up being a watershed moment.

‘That’s when I knew, I was never putting my body through this again. I was done with contraception forever,’ she says.

It was this that led the then 29-year-old Katija to heavily consider a more permanent solution: sterilisation.

She knew that she’d never wanted children, and her experience with hormonal contraception cemented things for her.

While many of her friends were supportive, they were still sceptical that she’d find a doctor who would agree with her.

That said, her GP was supportive of her, but was still cautious, telling her that she’d ‘struggle’ because she was ‘young, unmarried and had no kids.’

Many also asked her what would happen if she met a partner in the future who wanted children — an experience Katija found ‘infuriating.’

She says: ‘I’ve always known what I want, I don’t date men who want kids. It’s a first-date question for me.’

Armed with this self-realisation, she decided to take a dive on the internet to speak to other women who felt similarly.

She uncovered a disturbing truth: countless women, including those who were married with children, had been refused sterilisation by medical professionals.

Many of them were told that they might change their minds in the future (reversal procedures for tubal ligation or ‘getting your tubes tied’ have success rates ranging from 50% to 80%), while others were told to ask their partners for permission or even forced into psychological evaluations.

After months of waiting, she finally got the go-ahead — and on the day of the surgery, she made one final decision. Rather than getting her fallopian tubes tied, she opted to have them completely removed, meaning the procedure could not be reversed.

She says: ‘I just didn’t feel safe with them tied. I wanted certainty.’

The recovery was another arduous process, but she’s beginning to come out the other side. She’s often ‘tired, sore, and crampy,’ but Katija says she doesn’t ‘regret it for a second.’

As a so-called ‘spicy worker’ Katija says she’s always challenged societal norms, particularly around dating.

Now, she says her sterilisation has unlocked potential to meet men who are exactly her type.

She says: ‘Men who date spicy workers have confidence on another level.

‘We know exactly what’s out there. If we choose you, it’s because you offer something rare.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.