Stephanie Germino was 27 years old and had no cancer diagnosis.
But a blood test confirmed what her family already suspected: she carried the BRCA1 gene, the same one her mother had inherited and that had led to her grandmother developing breast cancer twice.
In October 2021, at Tampa General Hospital in Florida, she decided to get ahead of the disease and underwent a preventive double mastectomy.
She breastfed her son Josiah, now 6 years old, before going into surgery. Her partner Diana accompanied her every step of the way. And unlike her mother, who did choose to undergo reconstruction, Stephanie chose to remain flat: without implants, without hiding the scars.
Today, through @theebooblessbabe, she shares her story so that other women with the same gene know that there is another path, although it has also brought her hateful comments on social media.