There is a moment in this week’s episode that I keep coming back to.
An 18-year-old girl walked up to her teacher after class and said, quietly: “I just want to thank you for telling me to wipe front to back.” She’d been dealing with UTIs for years. Nobody had ever taught her why it mattered.
That story tells you everything about why this conversation is so necessary.
Meet Dr. Sarah Denny Lorio
Dr. Sarah Denny Lorio holds a PhD in bioethics — a field that integrates philosophy, theology, biology, and law. She’s a speaker, educator, host of the What Women Are podcast (tune in here for her interview with Dr. Kayla!), and someone who has spent years asking one quietly revolutionary question: Is this really the best we can do for our girls?
Her work lives at the intersection of science and personhood. She teaches girls and young women to understand their bodies not just as biological systems, but as gifts — with language worth learning and patterns worth paying attention to. All through the view of a Catholic lens. Which, as a faith-based person myself, this is important.
Why the Conversation Needs to Start Earlier
The most common mistake we make in sex education isn’t talking too soon. It’s waiting until there’s already a crisis: a health scare, a wedding coming up, a prescription being filled.
Dr. Sarah describes what she calls the “fire hydrant” approach — where we try to pour everything out in one overwhelming conversation — versus the far more effective “little spurts along the way” model. You start when they’re small, with simple truths: your body is good. Your body is a gift. Look what you can do.
By the time they’re in fifth grade asking questions in a circle, the foundation is already laid.
What Integrated Sex Education Actually Looks Like
Dr. Sarah goes into schools — Catholic and otherwise — and sits in circles with fifth, sixth, and seventh grade girls and just asks: What are you curious about? What have you heard? What questions do you have?
She teaches them the names of their body parts. She explains ovulation not as a problem to manage, but as a sign that something is working. She talks to the parents too, because she’s clear that her role is to support families, not to replace them.
And she goes into the boys’ classroom as well. Because understanding and respecting the female body — including why women are five to eight times more likely to tear their ACL due to hormonal laxity — is something the young men in those classrooms actually want to know.
The Pill, Mental Health, and the Questions We Haven’t Asked
One of the most important parts of this conversation is Dr. Sarah’s gentle but clear discussion of restorative reproductive medicine and what we owe young women in terms of informed consent.
She watched students come to her with migraines, intense cramping, mood changes — jumping from brand to brand of hormonal birth control without anyone asking: is this really the best option? As a researcher, she started asking those questions herself.
This isn’t anti-medicine. It’s pro-information. And the difference, as she describes it, is the difference between a student who walks into a doctor’s appointment and accepts whatever is offered — and one who confidently says: I’d like to explore other options.
For the Female Athlete
If you have a daughter who plays sports, this part of the episode is for you.
Dr. Sarah (who tore her ACL twice and has the research to back up why) is clear: coaches, educators, and athletes all benefit when young women understand their cycles. Not to limit performance — but to support it.
She recommends starting with a simple cycle-tracking app like FEM, building in daily notes about symptoms, energy, and sleep, and creating a team culture where girls feel safe saying: I need to dial it back today.
The Phone Conversation
We ended the episode talking about something that keeps coming up in every parenting conversation right now: unrestricted phone access and what it exposes our kids to before we’re ready.
Dr. Sarah recommends books like The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt for parents, and the newly released The Amazing Generation by Haidt and Catherine Price for kids. She also talks about Good Pictures / Bad Pictures and Protect Young Eyes as practical tools for families trying to be on the offense rather than the defense.
Her most encouraging point: there are high school boys asking their parents to put their phones in a safe at night. These kids want to make good choices — they just need the language and the systems to help them do it.
What You Can Do Today
- For parents of young children: Start affirming what their bodies can do. Keep it simple, warm, and ongoing.
- For parents of teens: Download the FEM or Ovia app together. Make it a conversation, not a lecture.
- For coaches and educators: You don’t have to know everything. You just have to create space where the question is welcome.
- For everyone: Consider the resources Dr. Sarah shares. They are carefully curated and genuinely helpful.
The conversation your daughter needs? It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to happen. Ideally, in small moments that add up to the big picture.
Reclaiming Women’s Health: A Bioethical, Integrated Approach to Sex Education with Dr. Sarah Denny Lorio
This topic goes even deeper on the podcast. Whether you’re a listener, a reader, or a watcher — there’s a version of this conversation waiting for you. Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, and if it resonates, a review helps more women find their way here.
