HOLLY BROCKWELL is 30 and chose to have her tubes tied because she has absolutely no desire to have children.

“It’s my body and my life. I’ll do what’s right for me and that’s not selfish — I’m putting myself before children who don’t exist,” she told the Daily Mail.

If this Londoner had her way, it would have happened four years ago when she was just 26, but it has taken this long to win the battle with the medical system to be allowed to sterilise her own body.

It took years to persuade her GP that she was 100 per cent certain about the mostly irreversible procedure. It wasn’t until she turned up to her doctor’s clinic armed with her articles arguing in favour of sterilisation that her doctor finally relented: “You’re really serious about this, then?”

“That’s what it took to get the referral, and while I’ve had to answer the same questions over and over again, the answers are ones that I’ve known all along,” she says.

NOT A SINGLE REGRET

Holly had the operation two days ago and has no regrets. She was in and out of surgery in less than an hour and went home the same day. She admitted to “feeling nauseous, but delighted”.

The day after the surgery, Holly reconfirmed her decision with this tweet:

“Things I regret — Smashing my phone, supporting HD DVD over BluRay, Not buying Amazon stock. Things I don’t regret — getting my tubes tied.”

PUBLIC BACKLASH

Holly has been very public about her decision, despite the barrage of horrendous abuse from complete strangers who have condemned the tech journalist, who founded Gadgette, for her decision.

She has been told, among many things, that she is selfish and naive — and also that she will change her mind down the track. Not to mention that she owes it to her parents to give them the gift of becoming grandparents.

However, there are many names she has been called that are unprintable.

I replied with this. She was still typing when I blocked her. How sad that she won't get her say. pic.twitter.com/SZA0qGhazX — Holly Brockwell (@holly) May 16, 2016

‘HAVING A BABY ON THE NHS COSTS A GREAT DEAL MORE’

Much of the backlash has been about people saying she is wasting good taxpayers’ money on an operation that is not an emergency procedure. Holly believes otherwise, because other contraceptive options have made her sick.

“Doing something permanent means I won’t waste any more NHS time or money with prescriptions or dealing with side effects,” she says.

“Having a baby on the NHS costs a great deal more and that’s a lifestyle choice, too. I even had an NHS employee sending messages claiming that I am ‘wasting precious resources’.

‘MY MUM HAD AMBITIONS SHE’LL NEVER REALISE’

Holly says she has never had dreams of becoming a mother — something that her own mother has always been very supportive about.

Her mum was also unsure about having children when she was Holly’s age but eventually had Holly and her sister. Tragically, her father committed suicide five years after Holly was born.

Her mother went on to have her tubes tied but had them reversed when she remarried, and had three more children.

“I know she had dreams and ambitions she’ll now never realise. She’s not bitter: she doesn’t regret us, or wish we didn’t exist,” she says.

“She just says she’d stick to her guns if she had her time again and I’m taking that advice for myself.”

‘I WOULD BREAK UP WITH HIM IF HE WANTED CHILDREN’

Another big supporter is her loving partner Zack.

“I’ve harangued him about it a fair bit (the last time being the night before the operation: ‘You’re definitely sure you don’t want them?’ Sigh. ‘Yes’). But he’s never changed his answer,” she says.

“I love him to bits, but I’d break up with him immediately if he wanted children and he knows that.”

This article originally appeared on Kidspot.