After her mastectomy, Handler began work on realistic breast prostheses, later founding Nearly Me.
In 1970, after undergoing a mastectomy, Ruth Handler began developing more realistic breast prostheses and later founded Nearly Me to manufacture them for breast cancer survivors. The exact day is not reliably documented, so the event is recorded by year only in the biographical record, but it remains one of the most important chapters of her life.
This work was historically significant because it moved Handler from consumer products into a deeply personal area of medical innovation. Breast prostheses at the time were often limited in realism and comfort, and many survivors faced both physical and emotional barriers after surgery. Handler’s response was practical and humane: she sought to create products that would better meet the needs of women recovering from cancer treatment.
The legacy of Nearly Me extends beyond a single company. It demonstrates how a business figure known for Barbie also helped address an unmet medical need for women. In that sense, Handler’s later career widened her historical importance: she became not only a symbol of commercial creativity, but also an example of how personal experience can drive socially meaningful invention.