Jenny McCarthy, Autism Activist

Jenny McCarthy is an actress/model who started her career as a model for Playboy Magazine. She was Playmate of the Month in 1993, hosted the MTV show "Singled Out" and starred in "The Jenny McCarthy Show." After the birth of her son, Evan, McCarthy wrote several well-received books about pregnancy, birth, and mommyhood.

In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son had been diagnosed with autism in 2005. McCarthy told Oprah Winfrey that her son was developing normally until he received his measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (at 15 months of age).

In June 2007, she was named as the Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) spokesperson for families affected by Autism. TACA is a California-based nonprofit which focuses, in part, on biomedical treatments for autism. McCarthy's first book about autism, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, was published September 2007. A new book, "Mommy Warriors," is scheduled for release in September 2008.

According to Jenny, her husband was unable to deal with their son's autism, which led to their divorce. Today, she and boyfriend actor Jim Carrey are leaders in the "Green Vaccines" movement, dedicated to making safer childhood vaccines.

_Source:

TACA Website.