Reality TV star Erin Barnett, known for Beauty and the Geek Australia, Love Island Australia, and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, has written a book on her struggles with endometriosis, and it should definitely be your read for March 2022.

Next month is National Endometriosis Awareness Month, and there’s no better way of supporting the 830,000 Australians who suffer with endo than by getting educated.

As an ambassador for Endometriosis Australia, Erin has always used her platform to demystify endo and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), both of which she endures.

“While endometriosis and PCOS are separate conditions, they’re very good colleagues – they never take a day off!” said Erin in an interview with CW.

Her publicity has welcomed a flood of messages over social media asking for advice. Soon she decided enough was enough and joined forces with her own gynaecologist, Dr Tom Manly, to write Endo Unfiltered.

At 14 years old, Erin developed severe pain and sought medical advice from a doctor, who suspected she was 23 weeks pregnant – despite the fact she had never had sex.

Her experience as a “pregnant virgin” is more common than you might believe. Despite the prevalence of PCOS, it takes an average of 2 years to diagnose correctly.

“He made me do three pee tests in front of my mum,” said Erin.  “Everyone was mad, I jumped into panic mode. The whole room was giving me those eyes that said, ‘you yucky little thing’.

“They assumed that because I’m a teenage girl, I was lying.”

In the end, they found a three-kilo cyst sitting on top of her right ovary. Since then, Erin has battled through 16 ovarian operations, burst cysts, had an ovary removed, and was operated on by a now-disgraced surgeon who forgot to perform her surgery as a keyhole.

Her titularly unfiltered narrative delves into the medical-shaming endo patients tend to face in surgery.

“They will give you 50 different pills to trial before going for a diagnostic surgery. By the time you get the surgery, your body is already ruined from the medication, which I think is so silly because we give babies surgery.

“Of course there’s a risk, there’s always a risk, but you’re more willing to put a child under than an adult woman who’s done her research.

“Also, I don’t know why some doctors won’t give the green light for a hysterectomy if the patient is requesting one.

“In the cosmetic world, you can tell them that you want boobs so big that it might affect your spine, and most of the time they’ll just get you to sign a consent form.

“But if you’re woman that tells a doctor that you’re in so much pain, and you don’t want children and please can I have a hysterectomy, they make you see a psychologist to see if you’re ‘mentally capable’ of making that decision.

“If we had to get pre-approved by a psychologist to be a mother, people would be outraged.

“But we have to be pre-approved to have a hysterectomy, to choose not to have children, and people don’t blink an eye.”

Backed and fact-checked by Dr Manly, Erin writes with the purpose of helping women “get your way with your GP”.

“I want to say to unassuming first timers, don’t be intimidated. You’re coming to them for help, so you want to trust what they say.

“But if they try to dumb down what you’re saying, or tell you your pain isn’t valid, that’s a massive red flag.

“Actually, if a biologically male doctor says, ‘I completely understand what you’re going through,’ just stand up and leave,” she said. “Because in most cases, that’s impossible.

“I have challenged men on this, who replied, well, I have daughters.” Erin smiled, “Well, that’s not the same as painfully bleeding from your penis, is it?

“I approached writing this book in a way of what I would have liked to know when I was younger.”

Despite the pain of her journey, Erin retains a determinedly upbeat author’s voice, which she said, “wasn’t difficult at all”.

“I wanted Endo Unfiltered to be read exactly how I talk. Down to earth, no big words … endo, not endometriosis.”

Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.