Meeting Tyra Banks

Breastfeeding my oldest son was a wonderful part of my life. It was a very special bonding experience that any breastfeeding mother has with her baby. Unfortunately, breastfeeding caused me to lose a lot of volume in my breasts. I was left with a lot of stretch marks on both breasts and my areolas enlarged and didn't reduce in size.

I don't remember writing her show, but I wrote The Tyra Banks Show on their website. One year after writing them the phone rang. It was nearly midnight and a strange number. I reluctantly answered the phone. A female said, "Hi, this is Kimberly from The Tyra Banks Show. May I speak with Lauren, please?"

I sat there with the phone to my head and my mouth wide open. At that point I didn't remember writing the show, so I was very confused. I thought that it was one of my friends playing a joke on me.

"Yes, this is she," I said.

"Hi Lauren, this is Kimberly from The Tyra Banks Show. I'm calling because you contacted us last year about your breasts being a burden."

You wouldn't believe my reaction to what she said. I looked as if someone had told me I won the lottery. I just couldn't believe that they were calling me. Me! A talk show calling me! My husband was wondering who I was talking to and kept trying to interrupt me. When I told him who it was he didn't believe me.

Over the next couple of hours, I talked with Kimberly about my breasts. I told her of my breastfeeding experience and how my confidence had suffered because of their appearance. She seemed to almost guide me to answer a certain way at times. I didn't know it then, but a producer of the show was on the line listening. They were "screening" me to see if I was a fit for their show. Apparently I impressed them because they wanted my husband and me to fly out the very next morning to act as a sort of "mentor" for other women who may be experiencing the same pain and embarrassment that I was. The main thing they were intrigued by was my large areolas.

Between phone calls I had to convince my husband to go on the show. He had already taken way too many paid days from work and was not keen on being on television, especially a daytime talk show. I told him that they would probably offer to pay for breast implants. I told him I had been watching talk shows for years and that it was routine for them to offer surgeries when they were needed. (Of course, many would argue that I didn't need surgery, but that's up to the show to decide, isn't it?) I finally won him over and he managed to get the day off from work.

Kimberly kept in contact over the next several hours to arrange everything. She made note of our clothing sizes, scheduled our fights, and even arranged to have a limo pick us up from our home 45 minutes from the Atlanta Hartsfield/Jackson Airport, which was very unordinary for them to do.

The next morning we woke up early, got in the limo, and made our way to the airport with our 18-month-old son. He had to come along with us because it was such short notice and family was pretty far away. It was my first time flying...ever...and to this day I say that I would never have flown in my life had it not been for the show and my hope that my breasts would be fixed.