Autoimmunity and the Good Girls

"Sara's an architect of change."-Maria Shriver

The inspirational, deeply researched wellness journey by the award-winning filmmaker, activist, and founder of Women Rising, shining a light on how too many girls are trained to self-silence and serve others-and how we can heal.

When Sara Hirsh Bordo was growing up in a big Texas-Lebanese family, as the eldest daughter, she was expected to take care of everyone else around her at the expense of her own needs and worth. But the more she gave of herself, the more ill she became with everything from autoimmune disease to cancer. As an award-winning filmmaker, she spent decades empowering other women and telling their stories, all the while watching her own health decline. She soon came to realize that only when she was sovereign in her own voice did she grow stronger and healthier.

When she funded the first quantitative research at the intersection of female empowerment and autoimmunity, she found overwhelming confirmation of her theory that girls in caretaker roles-especially eldest daughters-are disproportionately likely to develop autoimmune conditions later in life, whether that's Hashimoto's thyroiditis, endometriosis, Crohn's disease, type-1 diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, or others. This groundbreaking study was endorsed by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona and received national media attention.

In these pages, you will learn from her insights, including:

inner child work, including how to remother and reparent yourself
how to unlearn your primary role as a caregiver
impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on autoimmunity and poor health
shocking facts from her research, such as the fact that more than 6 in 10 women with autoimmune diseases were raised as either the oldest or only daughter in their families
moving personal narratives from the women surveyed--and how they have healed

Incorporating proprietary, evidence-based research, practical resources, exclusive expert interviews, and inspiring stories, Autoimmunity and the Good Girls is a rousing testament to the missing modality in women's health--our voices, our needs, and our desires.