Guest guest Posted July 31, 2001 Report Share Posted July 31, 2001 From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...> Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 6:15 PM Subject: Quest for the perfect body starts young ~ MSNBC > (posted by Myrl on alt.support.breast-implant) > > NOTE: There is a discussion board here: > http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/msnbc-health/index.asp > > It would be great to have some of your comments there too ... > > > http://www.msnbc.com/news/382325.asp#BODY > > > Sommer Seidel talks with her doctor before undergoing breast enlargement > surgery. She was 18 at the time. > > Quest for the perfect body > starts young > > Thousands of teen girls > are having cosmetic surgery > > NBC NEWS > > July 28 - Remember when all teen-agers asked for were the > keys to the car or a few more minutes on the phone? How times have changed. > The question more and more parents are hearing these days from their teen > daughters is: Can I have plastic surgery? And they're not just talking > about fixing their noses. As NBC's Hoda Kotbe found when she first reported > this story, many want to dramatically reshape their bodies. But does > plastic surgery for teens solve problems or create them? > > > BRITNEY SPEARS. Gellar. Love Hewitt. > > You may not know who they are, but your daughters sure do. They are > spending millions of dollars on their music and movies. But a lot of > teen-age girls want something else from their teen idols: their bodies - or > ones that look like them. > > Teens are lining up in big numbers to go under the knife for cosmetic > surgery - bigger breasts and liposuction, some even as young as 14. Last > year, over 17,000 teens, from all over the country, had their faces and > bodies sculpted. > > So, it seems, you don't have to be on " Beverly Hills, 90210 " to look like > them. Just ask Sommer Seidel of New Braunfels, Texas 78130. We met her > while she was considering getting breast implants. > > " It's just the fact that they never developed how I would have liked it, " > Sommer said. > > " If you don't like part of your face, you can cover it up with makeup. If > you don't like your nails, get them done. " > > Kotbe: " And if you don't like your breasts, you can make them bigger. " > > Sommer: " Exactly. " > > Ever since Sommer was 15 she wanted bigger breasts. After she graduated > from high school she figured she'd waited long enough. > > " Physically, I'll look better and I think that'll make me feel better about > myself, " she said. > > She says she's tired of the teasing and being compared to her younger > sisters whom she feels she will never measure up to, at least in one way. > > " They're beautiful girls. It's always a little funny, you have people walk > by and they're like, 'Those are your younger sisters?' They all stress > that, 'They're your younger sisters?' " she said. > > Kotbe: " I think people are going to look at you and say, she is beautiful, > she has her act together, she's going to college, why would she want to > change anything? " > > Sommer: " Why would you want to get a new car, you know? Because you like > it. It'd be nice, these little changes. " > > If Sommer gets her way, the " little changes " will actually take her from > barely a B-cup to a full C. But first she wanted the OK from her parents. > So she approached her dad. > > Sommer: " I just said, 'Dad, I think I'm going to get breast implants.' " > > Kotbe: " Just like that? " > > Sommer: " Pretty much. " > > " It caught me off guard, yeah, I'd have to say that, " Sommer's father, > , said. > > says it didn't come as a complete surprise though. He knew his > daughter had been teased as a teen-ager. > > After doing some research on breast implants, made a decision that may > surprise some parents. He said " yes. " > > " I love her just the way she is now. She's doing this for herself I think > because it's really gonna make her feel better about herself, and because > of that, I'm OK with it, " said. > > Kotbe: " , I know a lot of parents probably feel this way: 18 is way too > young to get breast implants. Any parent who allows it has got be out of > their mind. " > > : " I know a lot of people get their little baby's ears pierced when > they are 6 months old. I don't think age is a factor in this. She's 18. > She's an adult. She's out of high school. " > > So she didn't actually " need " her parents' permission, but she says she > wouldn't have gone forward without it. So with her mom and dad's blessing, > their financial help and the money that Sommer had been saving up from > part-time jobs, she was planning to get the $6,500 breast-enlargement > surgery. > > Across the country on Long Island, Dana Lieberman, 17 at the time we first > met her, was taking a close look at her body and considering liposuction. > The high school cheerleader with lots of friends was tired of being bigger > than her classmates. > > Dana: " I'm unhappy ... It's not so much my weight. It's just where it all > goes to. It all goes to one area. " > > Kotbe: " Your stomach? " > > Dana: " Yes ... and I don't like that. I don't feel comfortable with it. " > > Like Sommer, Dana says she had the same experience of being teased and she > also doesn't like the way she looks. > > And she says it's not a matter of dieting and exercise. > > " I exercise a lot. I go to kick-boxing. Once a week I try, " she said. > > But the extra weight around her middle sticks with her. > > " I'm the kind of person who [needs] to see results very easily, " she said. > > So Dana wanted the fastest way to get rid of that middle. She was tired of > wearing baggy clothes to mask her stomach, tired of not tucking in shirts. > So at 17 years old she decided she she wanted liposuction. > > " I don't think I'm too young. I just want to do it for myself; it'll make > me a lot happier, " she said. > > She read about the surgery in magazines and then she went to her mom, > Gayle. She needed parental permission to get anything done because she was > so young. > > Gayle: " Well, she begged, and I thought about it. " > > Kotbe: " But don't you think parents have to make the tough decisions - have > to say 'no.' " > > Gayle: " Yes, and for certain things I would, but my gut instinct is telling > me let her do this. I have a feeling it will make her happy. " > > Kotbe: " What about parents who say kids shouldn't be having this kind of > surgery? " > > Gayle: " Maybe I'm crazy, but I want Dana to be happy, and if this is what > it takes, go for it. " > > Gayle thought it was such a good idea that she even worked overtime so they > could afford to pay the $6,000 surgery bill. > > Dr. Sklar will be doing the liposuction. He says his business in > liposuction has tripled in the past few years, though when it comes to > teens he is especially careful. He says he turns away nine out of 10 teens. > > But Dana is a good candidate because of her body type and the problem area > that exercise hasn't corrected, he says, adding that he will take out > nearly four liters of fat. > > He says Dana may only be 17 years old but she is mature for her age both > mentally and physically, and that this is an appropriate age to do it. > > Kotbe: " What about the people who say this is just nuts. These are kids who > can't vote, can't drink, they shouldn't be getting cosmetic surgery? " > > Sklar: " For some of those kids they may be right. But if you're picking the > right person, then I don't think they're giving them enough credit. " > > Kotbe: " You don't know what's baby fat, what's not, what's going to burn > off tomorrow, what's going to still be here for the next 20 years, so why > not wait? " > > Sklar: " That's why we wait till after puberty. And [at] 15, 16, if you have > a certain disproportionate body type, that's already very evident. " > > Dana knows it will take a while to get back on her feet when the surgery is > over, but she is thinking way beyond that. > > Kotbe: " What would you wear after the surgery that you would never wear > today? " > > Dana: " Jeans and just, like, a tank top, like, tucked in with a belt. " > > Back in Texas, 18-year-old Sommer is also ready for surgery. > > Dr. lin Rose will perform the operation. It will take just over an > hour and Sommer will be under general anesthesia. > > Kotbe: " Why? Why do breast implants for 18-year-olds? Why do it at all? " > > Rose: " To help the patient. " > > Kotbe: " How do you think it's helping the patient? " > > Rose: " It's enhancing their self-esteem, enhancing their sense of > femininity, kind of rescuing them sometimes from a very distraught outlook > that they might have about themselves. " > > Kotbe: " I got to tell you, when I talk to people about 18-year-olds getting > breast implants, they are aghast. " > > Rose: " Right. " > > Kotbe: " How could this happen? How could a doctor do this? " > > Rose: " Right. " > > Kotbe: " And you say? " > > Rose: " Well, my response to that is that the patient is well-selected - a > good candidate of appropriate maturity. " > > Kotbe: " And do you still see that there may be some parent watching this > and shaking their head thinking, 'How could he? How could he do this > surgery? How could he?' " > > Rose: " Oh, not really. We know the type of care we are delivering to the > patients and we treat the patients quite carefully. " > > Kotbe: " How young is too young to get breast implants? " > > Rose: " I would think 17. You know, really, it's more a function of full > development and psychological stability. " > > Rose says only 3 to 4 percent of his breast implant patients are teens. He > screens each one very carefully and turns away those he thinks are not > appropriate candidates. > > But until the day of the surgery, Sommer never had a face-to-face meeting > with Rose. > > Kotbe: " Well, when it came to Sommer, there was just a phone call? " > > Rose: " Correct. Yes. " > > Kotbe: " There wasn't a long consultation? " > > Rose: " Well ... we spoke on the phone several times in advance of her > surgery. And I asked her very specifically what is your cup size, what do > you expect out of the operation? " > > Kotbe: " You're not a psychiatrist, are not a psychologist, you're not > someone whose job it is to get into someone's head. How are you making > these evaluations? " > > Rose: " Well, Hoda, it really depends on the experience of the surgeon and > after having evaluated maybe 5,000 or so breast implant pre-operative > patients, we really have a good sense for who is and who is not a > satisfactory candidate for the procedure. " > > But Sommer says she had her mind made up long before she ever went to the > doctor. Now, before the surgery, she has calm nerves, no second thoughts > and no backing away. And Dana, too, is totally confident about her choice. > > The American Medical Association and the American Society of Plastic > Surgeons have no formal position on teens and cosmetic surgery, but the > plastic surgeons group says parents should " appraise the teen's physical > and emotional maturity " and suggests a " careful evaluation under the > guidance of a board-certified plastic surgeon. " > > But some doctor's feel much more strongly. > > " I think both of these young ladies were too young to have their surgeries. > And I wouldn't operate on either one of them, " plastic surgeon Dr. Tom > Geraghty said. > > Geraghty says girls like Dana and Sommer should wait until their 20s to > consider plastic surgery because he says their bodies may still be changing. > > " It is not immoral but it borderlines on it. I think you're taking care of > kids, and you are doing a mature operation on potentially immature people, " > he said. > > Although scientists who have studied breast implants don't believe they > pose any significant medical risks, in any kind of surgery there is the > possibility of complications which, he says, teens may not understand. > > > Cheek lift a new cosmetic option > > And Geraghty believes you need several face-to-face meetings with a patient > - not just phone conversations - before doing this kind of plastic surgery > on teens. > > " I think you have to see them in the flesh. And you have to see the twinkle > in their eye, you have to quiz them, " he said. " In cosmetic surgery we're > talking about surgery invading a person's body, operating on a patient with > a potential risk and potential complication. And that reason to have that > perfect little body in a teen-age setting isn't a good enough reason for me > to take that risk. " > > But Dana, who wasn't worried about the risks at all, was happy with the > results two months after surgery. > > " This is called a tube top and I never tried it on before my surgery. I > don't think I would have [worn] it, my stomach was too big, " Dana said as > she modeled new, more form-fitting clothes. > > " You know, they always say money can't buy happiness, but this definitely > did buy me happiness, " she said. > > Dana's mother says the real change in her daughter is not in her body at all. > > " Her smile, I haven't seen that in a long time. She glows. She grins from > ear to ear, " Gayle said. > > Back in Texas, Sommer is out of surgery. After the procedure, she was > groggy and bandaged. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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