Anne Howe

Melissa-Ashley (born August 24, 1978 as Melissa Bertsch) is a U.S. pornographic film actress and model. She has appeared on a number of websites and filmed over 70 adult videos. The name Melissa-Ashley is a pseudonym formed from her true first name, Melissa, and one of her internet stage names, Ashley. She was most commonly credited as “Anne Howe” in her early career.

In 1998, in response to a modeling advertisement in a local newspaper’s classifieds, Ashley shot her first nude pictorial for a Phoenix company, RWB. This company was a content provider for adult websites and also produced a series of independent porn videos. Soon after she shot her first adult video with this same company. She then appeared in several other independent porn videos and on a number of adult websites as well as in a few adult magazine layouts. In these early videos and pictures she often appeared in girl-girl scenes with another Arizona model, Kensington. By the end of 1999 she was working steadily in the mainstream adult video industry.

Despite stating on camera an age of 18 in some videos, Ashley first appeared in adult movies 1998-99 when she was aged 20. She has been mistaken for a minor and in several cases where her images were mistaken for child pornography has successfully either testified for the defense or given evidence leading to those charges being dropped.

Ashley has stated she is bisexual.

In 2007 Ashley was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent treatment including removal of an ovary. In 2009 a cyst was discovered on her remaining ovary and abnormal cells were discovered on her cervix. She now requires a full hysterectomy but does not have health insurance due to her pre-existing conditions and the difficulty in obtaining affordable health insurance for adult performers. She is currently unable to schedule the surgery due to lack of funds. In July 2009 Ashley was hospitalised for several days due to heart problems.