New from Allure: Allure Perspectives

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

I'm Carolyn. I'm a wife, a mother, a grandmother. I have a beautiful life. When I was diagnosed, I was concerned. But then I realized, though my circumstances may have changed, I haven't. And the things that matter to me haven't changed either. We believe in my medical team. I also believe in Cascali.

SPEAKER_2 (0:19)

Carolyn is a real patient compensated for her time. Visit cascali.com. That's kisqali.com to learn more. And ask your doctor if Cascali Ribocyclobe is right for you.

Jessica Cruel (0:33)

It's Jessica Cruel, editor-in-chief of Allure and host of the Perspectives podcast. And this, my friends, is the last episode of our season. In this conversation, I'm talking to Stephanie Germino, who is known online as the boobless babe. Stephanie has a family history of carrying a BRCA mutation, which means an increased likelihood of developing breast cancer. Her maternal grandmother had breast cancer twice. And Stephanie's mom and aunt both decided to get preventative double mastectomies. But funny enough, when she went in to get tested in her early 20s, doctors turned her away and told her not to worry.

It wasn't until after she considered breast implants, became a bodybuilder, and breastfed her son that she got tested. When she tested positive for the BRCA mutation, she also decided to get a preventative double mastectomy, and she was only 28 That's when Stephanie became a flatty, which means she got something called an aesthetic flat closure. In this episode, we talk about how she's building an online platform and how not having breasts actually makes her feel more feminine. This is Perspectives.

Stephanie, I'm so happy that you're joining us today on Perspectives podcast. How are you?

Stephanie Germino (1:52)

I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. How are you doing, Jessica?

Jessica Cruel (1:56)

I'm doing so well, and I'm excited to have you here today because we've been having a lot of conversations about breasts over the course of this podcast. But I feel one that we could talk a little bit more about is a segment of young women who are dealing with the potential for breast cancer or breast cancer itself. Data shows us from the CDC that breast cancer among women under 40 is increasing. I feel I'm seeing even in my community, younger and younger women dealing with breast cancer. But you actually had the BRCA mutation.

Tell me what the BRCA mutation is.

Stephanie Germino (2:34)

So everybody has BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and they are essentially cancer fighting genes.

And so their job is to help reduce the chance of getting cancer.

But when you have a mutation in those genes in one of them, it's not able to do its job. And so you're at a higher chance of getting certain cancers. So my family, unfortunately, does have a history of breast cancer. And it started with my grandmother and my maternal grandmother. And then come to find out she had breast cancer due to having the genetic mutation, which then trickled down the line of my aunt and my mom getting tested. If one parent is positive with the mutation, there's a 50% chance you will be positive as well. So knowing that my mom was positive, I knew that I'd have to get the testing done to see if I was positive too at some point in my life.

Jessica Cruel (3:28)

Your mom decided to get a mastectomy, correct?

Stephanie Germino (3:32)

Yes, she did. She got a double mastectomy with breast mound reconstruction, and she got implants done.

Jessica Cruel (3:39)

When your mother discovered that she was positive, do you remember what that conversation was like?

Stephanie Germino (3:45)

You know, it's funny is that I come from a family, I don't know if it's every minority family, or if it's just my family, but it was very like hush hush about medical things and personal affairs, even with your children. And unfortunately, there wasn't a huge conversation around this as a woman, as a little girl. I think I was in my teenage years when my mom found out she was positive, because her younger sister actually got the testing done. And funny enough, all four of, well, including herself, siblings are positive for the bracket mutation, two boys, two girls. And so all of my cousins and I, we all have to do our testing. So when my aunt found out she was positive, I was younger at the time, probably around 15 or so.

And this was an aunt that I had grown up with, and I was close with my cousins, her daughters, and all of them.

And it was just like, oh yeah, this is just a genetic mutation, and she's just gonna get, her boobs are moved to get implants, like it was nothing, right? And then it led to my mom getting a test a couple of years later, and her getting her surgery scheduled. And again, it wasn't a huge conversation. I was actually looking back in pictures, and I'm like, I don't know if that did me a disservice, or kind of saved me, where it wasn't a huge deal in my mind. It was just like, oh okay, this is something she's gotta do, and she's gonna do it, and I was told it was something that I didn't have to worry about until I was older. And I was like, oh, sure.