Navigated to Life without boobs: Meet the women staying flat after breast cancer

Life without boobs: Meet the women staying flat after breast cancer

Dec 8, 2025
27 mins

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Episode Description

We’re told boobs are sexy! Bouncy! Nutritious food banks even! But what happens when they betray you? 

Every year in Australia, around 20,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Forty per cent of those will need a mastectomy, surgery to have the breast tissue removed. Some of those women will choose not reconstruct, to stay "flat."

Yumi Stynes speaks to "flatties" about their relationship with their new bodies. You'll hear from women who've had one or both breasts removed about how their decision has reshaped their sex lives and body image and how they've found hope in new forms.

If you've got boobs, or know someone who does, this episode will make you question how you think about them. 

Featured in this episode: 

  • Dr Charlotte Tottman, psycho-oncologist  

Useful links:

Upfront About Breast Cancer – What You Don't Know Until You Do, with Dr Charlotte Tottman

Breast Cancer Network Australia

So Brave Breast Cancer Charity

Mastectomy: Breast Surgery and Recovery

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You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

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This episode contains references to breast cancer, going flat, staying flat, flatties, reconstruction, surgery, chemotherapy, body image, femininity, boobs, psychology, mental health, gender. 

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