Posted May 20, 2008 by Tommi Lewis Tilden with additional reporting by Audrey Turcot

Though they often appear impervious to life’s pitfalls, hardships and struggles, the truth is that being a star has zero bearing on spawning healthy kids.

Last month, Jenny McCarthy shifted into protective mama-bear mode on "Larry King Live" when she faced off against two doctors who do not believe there is scientific evidence linking vaccinations and autism.

McCarthy, whose 5-year-old son Evan is autistic and wrote a book about the experience ("Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism"), believes that vaccines could have contributed to Evan’s condition.

On camera McCarthy laid in to both Dr. Harvey Karp, a fellow at the American Academy of Pediatrics and author of "The Happiest Toddler on the Block," and American Academy of Pediatrics president-elect Dr. David Tayloe, for their belief that vaccinations are all about a commitment to public health efforts and are not a profit center for doctors.

Proving she’s more than just a pretty face (and self-professed boob-job poster babe), Jim Carrey's other half recently told Ryan Seacrest’s radio show audience that during the commercial break, she threw a chair across the room when Dr. Tayloe went into what she called his "grab and stab" methodology--meaning that doctors tend to vaccinate kids whenever they can, most often when parents bring the young ’uns in when they’re sick.

Crazy logic, McCarthy claims -- vaccinating kids when sick and doing it all at one time? "When I was growing up, we had 15 shots by age 5, now kids have 36 by age 2. With billions of pharmaceutical dollars, could it be possible that the vaccine program is becoming more of a profit engine than a means of prevention?"

Though McCarthy is not against vaccination wholesale, she does believe it should not be a "one size fits all" approach. "We take into account that some children have reactions to medicines like penicillin, for example, yet when it comes to vaccines we’re operating as if our kids have a universal tolerance for them." Check out http://generationrescue.org to learn more.

Home front struggles aside, fans of the funny can rest assured that her battle hasn’t zapped McCarthy’s signature sense of humor. The "Two and a Half Men" guest star, along with wise-cracking gal pals, Chelsea Handler and Leah Remini, recently launched a site called inthemotherhood.com where the trio take submissions from average Jill-moms and turn them in to funny sketches.

Rockers Do Good

Jenny McCarthy isn't the only one who knows a thing or two about courageous parenting. Just ask rocker Steven Stills whose autistic son, the dino-obsessed Henry,  was recently featured in the powerful doc "Autism the Musical." Or his ex-rocker partner Neil Young who has two sons (Zeke and Ben) with cerebral palsy. The list sadly goes on, but it also propels stars to further greatness, such as Young’s Bridge School, which helps kids with severe speech and physical disabilities.

Thankfully disabled kids of all walks get huge Hollywood support from any number of charities, organizations and fund-raisers. One small but shining example is William Shatner’s Ahead for Horses foundation helping disabled kids through "therapeutic horseback riding." Insists Shatner, "We know that the use of a horse in their therapy takes them beyond their handicapped body, their injured body, and into another area of health." Country crooner Randy Travis recently headlined Shatner’s benefit at a Burbank, CA riding stable.

Janine Turner's Profiles in Courage

Though to lots of us Janine Turner will always be the "Northern Exposure" helicopter pilot babe Maggie O'Connell, the 45-year-old has written her first book, delving into the lives of not-so-famous yet still notable single moms.

The single mom of 11-year-old Juliette has written "Holding Her Head High," a biography of 12 single moms throughout history. Running the gamut from a 3rd century widow to the first woman to try a case before the Supreme Court, Turner, who was engaged to Alec Baldwin back in ‘83, profiles these triumphant females with awe and respect.

What is it about single motherhood that bears such importance? As she told Redbook in March, "It’s important to remember that we’re not alone, these women did it before us and under incredibly difficult circumstances." True. But that doesn’t make the sometimes-Herculean task any easier. Turner concedes as much but says that these role models "prove that every woman has the gifts within her to make a difference."

Take that, Joel Fleischman!