BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty has opened up about her health journey and the difficult decision she made to be sterilised. Among the likes of Davina McCall, Dawn French and Naomi Watts, Naga has joined the growing list of celebrities boldly speaking about women’s health.

Since the age of 15, the broadcaster had endured painful periods, which would return every two weeks with no medical explanation. Finally, in 2022, aged 48, Naga was diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition where the lining of the womb starts growing into the muscle in the wall of the womb. When she and her television director husband James Haggar decided to have a child-free marriage, the presenter was faced with a “shocking” question from a doctor.

In 2019, Naga opted to get sterilised, which requires keyhole surgery to block or cut the fallopian tubes.

“I knew I didn’t want children and I didn’t want to be reliant on hormones or the regimen of the pill because it didn’t fit with my lifestyle,” she said, adding that she had been refused the contraceptive injection Depo-Provera. “It felt like it was my only option.”

However, in her final check-up before the operation, the surgeon asked Naga if her husband had agreed to her choice to be sterilised.

The 50-year-old told The Times: “I was so shocked at the question that I said yes before questioning why it mattered, why would I need my partner’s consent to make a decision about my fertility and health?”

The broadcaster revealed that hers and James’ choice to not have any children surprisingly gained backlash.

As Naga recalled: “There were even people who said, ‘Oh, they haven’t chosen not to have children, there are fertility problems.

“They just couldn’t accept that we’d chosen not to have children.” Today, she no longer explains her reasoning and insists: “It’s none of your bloody business.”

Initially, her mother was upset but has since changed her stance: “She says, ‘I’m happy you’re happy.’”