Kym Marsh "couldn't go through" the trauma of another difficult pregnancy.
Kym Marsh
The 'Coronation Street' actress suffered a string of health problems while carrying her daughter Polly, now five, and lost her son Archie in 2009 when he was born 18 weeks prematurely, so made the decision to have an ablation of the womb - a procedure to permanently remove a thin tissue layer of the lining of the uterus - as she didn't want to put her family through another stressful time.
Kym - who also has kids David, 21, and Emily, 18, said: "I've made a decision not to have any [more kids] - and I can't physically have any now.
"After I had Polly, I was going through a lot of stuff woman-wise and my consultant said to me, 'Do you want more children?' and I said no because I don't think I could go through that again - the hanging on to the baby, the constant worry of whether they were going to survive, what quality of life they were going to have.
"It took its toll - not just on me, but my kids and family and I thought, 'I have three amazing children and an angel who takes care of us all - what else can I possibly have?'
"So I had a procedure which isn't a hysterectomy, but they laser away your womb lining so you can't have any more kids."
But the 40-year-old star - who is now in a relationship with personal trainer Matt Baker - feels "lucky" because she does at least have a family of her own.
She added to Now magazine: "I'm really happy with what I have and I'm lucky because some people can't have any [children]."
And Kym will always be grateful to her loved ones for helping her come to terms with losing her son.
She said: "Obviously I've been through one of the most traumatic things anyone could ever go through and it's a very difficult thing to come back from.
"You never get over it but you learn to live with what's happened.
"Literally, it was the love and support of my family and friends that got me through, and work as well."
Tagged in Kym Marsh