Sara Kourouma: From Childhood Loss to Empowerment, Creating Community for BRCA Carriers

Guest: Sara Kourouma
Theme: Loss, agency, and community—the emotional journey of living with BRCA2

Episode summary
When Sara Kourouma discovered she carried the BRCA2 mutation as a young adult—after losing her mother to breast cancer at age 10—she was thrust into a landscape defined by uncertainty, risk, and the weight of generational loss. In this episode, Sara Champie sits down with Sara Kourouma, a clinical social worker serving New York and Texas, to explore how privilege, access, grief, and human connection have shaped her journey through surveillance, multiple prophylactic surgeries, and finding a sacred role in supporting others living with hereditary cancer risk.

We cover

• Childhood loss and the evolution of understanding risk: Growing up after her mother’s passing, and how major developmental milestones brought a fresh wave of grief and questioning.

• Early genetic testing and access barriers: Navigating the impact of genetic knowledge on health and life insurance, and the privilege of paying out-of-pocket to keep results private.

• Decision-making in the shadow of family history: How approaching her mother’s age at diagnosis shaped Sara Kourouma’s relationship to her own risk and medical choices.

• Choosing prophylactic surgeries and finding agency: Why Sara Kourouma ultimately chose mastectomy, hysterectomy, and DIEP flap (autologous) reconstruction—and the emotional labor of claiming her needs as a parent and partner.

• The gaps in psychological care: The critical difference between medical expertise and psychosocial support, and the healing power of group connection and lived experience.

• Building community, in person and virtually: Why message boards aren’t enough, and the importance of human-to-human support for navigating body changes, hormones, and life transitions.

• Living with ongoing risk and uncertainty: The ever-changing landscape of surveillance, learning to listen to her body, and the meaning of living fully, today.

Highlights & takeaways

• “To be alive is risk. We happen to know our risk, and how can I use that information to empower myself in ways my mom never could?”

• Privilege and access shape every aspect of care and decision-making—financial, relational, and emotional.

• There’s profound healing in being witnessed by those who truly understand your experience—community is as vital as medical care.

• Living fully with risk doesn’t mean denying uncertainty, but learning to stay present, ask for help, and make meaning together.

• “My mother’s story lives on as a value in my life: live fully, make it meaningful.”

Content note
This episode includes discussion of childhood bereavement, parental death, surgical details, genetic testing, body image, and navigating privilege and access in medical care.

Resources mentioned

• DIEP flap (autologous) breast reconstruction

• BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations – information and support from FORCE

• Surgical menopause and hormone management

• Dr. Potter, Austin—reconstruction surgeon referenced in the episode

• Dr. Robson, BRCA research at Memorial Sloan Kettering

• BRCA mutation carriers: Reddit and Facebook peer-to-peer groups | BRCA Sisterhood Facebook Group

• Dr. Men, BRCA2 carrier & social educator on Instagram (discussed in this episode)

Connect
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Find Sara Champie on IG/TikTok @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools + therapy/support group offerings via the link in bio.

You’re not alone—we can walk this line together.