KIRSTY COSTA. HUMAN COGS.
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Did you know that the average age of menopause is 51, menopause that occurs between 40 and 45 is called 'early menopause', and menopause that happens before age 40 is called 'premature menopause’?
October is Menopause Awareness Month. So we're opening up important conversations on Human Cogs to explore all of the usual sleepless, sweat-soaked challenges that menopause brings, and also to sit inside the lives of remarkable humans who invite us into the complex experience of an unexpected early menopause transition.
In this episode we meet Kirsty Costa - an award-winning educator, global environmentalist, values-based leadership coach and self-confessed “bird nerd” - who at the age of just 31 faced what she describes as her “Triple Whammy” year, when she lost a pregnancy, discovered she carried the BRCA (breast and ovarian cancer gene), and experienced a devastating premature menopause.
In this powerful and emotional conversation, Kirsty shares the story of how she and her husband somehow managed to get through that year, and how today she continues to get up and show up in the world when so much of her is still grieving, and coming to terms with the fact that life didn’t go according to plan.
Kirsty also reminds us all of how living with hope and optimism can be a galvanising roadmap through the inevitable highs and lows that life brings, and that fate is far less relevant than the choices we each choose to make every day.
Just a word of note to our listeners: this episode does touch on the deep grief and trauma of needing to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy; what it’s like to be diagnosed with the BRCA gene, and also the lived experience premature menopause. It’s a real and authentic conversation, however we do acknowledge that some of the content may be triggering for those who have lived through similar experiences. Please seek help from a professional if you do need support.
SHOW CREDITS
Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Guest: Kirsty Costa
Helpful Links: Health Talk Australia - Early Menopause, Jean Hailes - Premature and Early Menopause
Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax
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