Personal life

Personal life
In 1993, McCarthy underwent breast augmentation to enhance her look as a model for Playboy. McCarthy had the implants downsized in 1998.

McCarthy dated her manager Ray Manzella for a short time in 1998. After breaking up with Manzella, McCarthy began dating actor/director John Mallory Asher.[11] The couple became engaged in January 1999, and married on September 11 of that year. They have a son, Evan Joseph, born on May 18, 2002. Evan is autistic. In August 2005, McCarthy and Asher filed for divorce.

In a February 2006 interview with Howard Stern, adult actress Jenna Jameson said she had two sexual encounters with McCarthy.[12] When McCarthy visited Stern's show in April 2006, she denied having sex with Jameson, but said she "made out" with her during the two encounters. McCarthy also took a lie detector test and passed the questions regarding Jameson. During the appearance, McCarthy also admitted to having performed oral sex on women and that she cheated on her ex-husband with both men and women.[13] However, in a later appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she claimed they didn't cheat on each other because it was agreed upon.

In December 2005, McCarthy began dating Jim Carrey. They did not make their relationship public until June 2006. She announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 2, 2008 that she and Carrey are now living together, but have no plans to marry, as they do not need a "piece of paper". Carrey almost made a mock proposal to McCarthy as a promotion to the film, Yes Man, where Carrey's character has to agree to every single question.

Her brother-in-law is NHL hockey player Dan Hinote of the St. Louis Blues. Dan is married to her younger sister Amy.[14]

She is also an avid Chicago White Sox fan.[15]


[edit] Activism and autism controversy
In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son was diagnosed with autism in 2005. The disorder of McCarthy's son began with seizures and his improvement occurred after the seizures were treated; these symptoms are more consistent with Landau-Kleffner syndrome, which often is misdiagnosed as autism.[16] McCarthy served as a spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) from June 2007 until October 2008.[17] She participated in fundraisers, online chats, and other activities for the non-profit organization to help families affected by autism spectrum disorders. Her first fundraiser for TACA, Ante Up for Autism,[18] was held on October 20, 2007, in Irvine, California. Her book on the subject, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism was published September 17, 2007. She has stated both in her book and during her appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that her husband was unable to deal with their son's autism, which led to their divorce. She added that her relationship with Jim Carrey has made it easier on her and that finding someone who loves her and her son is great. McCarthy also told Oprah Winfrey that her son was developing normally until he received his measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (at 15 months of age) and claimed that they were the cause.[19] McCarthy's claims on television that vaccines cause autism have contributed to parental concerns about a possible link;[20] parental concerns have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease.[21] McCarthy has stated at many talk shows and rallies that chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism; the underlying rationale for chelation, which is that mercury in vaccines causes autism, has been roundly rejected by scientific studies, with the National Institute of Mental Health concluding that autistic children are unlikely to receive any benefit in return for the risk of cognitive and emotional problems due to the chelating agent itself.[22]

On April 2, 2008, she appeared on a Larry King Live special dedicated to autism.[23]


Publications
McCarthy began her writing career in 1997 with her first book, Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book, an autobiography.

In recent years, McCarthy has written a successful series of books about her experiences with pregnancy and raising her son, Evan:

Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth (ISBN 978-0-7382-0949-4)
Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth about the First Year of Mommyhood (ISBN 978-0-525-94883-4)
Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On (ISBN 978-0-525-94947-3)
Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (ISBN 978-0-525-95011-0)[24]
Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds (ISBN 978-0-525-95069-1)[25]
Healing and Preventing Autism (Forthcoming from Dutton - On sale March 31, 2009)
McCarthy is also an occasional columnist for FHM magazine and has also recently appeared in a commercial for Weight Watchers after successfully losing and maintaining her post-pregnancy weight by following the program. She is also the spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), and is a member of the board of Generation Rescue.

Appearances in Playboy special editions
Playboy's Playmate Review Vol. May 10, 1994 - front & back covers, pages 82-91.
Playboy's Girls of Summer '94 June 1994.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. July 38, 1994.
Playboy's Playmates at Play July 1994 - pages 6-7.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. September 39, 1994 - page 25.
Playboy's Wet & Wild Playmates September 1994 - page 73.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 4November 0, 1994.
Playboy's Nudes November 1994 - cover.
Playboy's Playmates in Bed Vol. January 1, 1995.
Playboy's Supermodels February 1995.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 4July 4, 1995 - cover.
Playboy's Nudes October 1995.
Playboy's Winter Girls February 1996.
Playboy's Celebrating Centerfolds Vol. December 1, 1998 - pages 6-7.