Doctor: U.K. Teen Too Young for Breast Implants
L O N D O N, Jan. 5 -- A 15-year-old British schoolgirl, offered breast implants as a 16th birthday present from her parents, has been told by surgeons that she is too young to undergo plastic surgery.
Jenna Franklin, whose parents run a cosmetic surgerybusiness, said an operation to increase her breasts would give her more self confidence and make her happy with her body.
But consultant plastic surgeon, Anthony Erian, who wasapproached by Martin and Kay Franklin to perform surgery ontheir daughter, said that Jenna — 16 in August — was too young to cope with the implications of the controversial operation.
“Breast augmentation is a good operation, it helps a lot ofpeople,” Erian told the BBC. “But I feel at 16 the breast isn’t matured enough and that there are also a lot of psychological implications.”
Erian said that the family should wait until Jenna is 18until deciding to go ahead with a breast enhancement.
Waiting for the Big Day
Jenna’s parents said they were happy for their daughter tohave the $4,900 operation, but added that they would respect Erian’s advice.
“If he says 16 is too young for Jenna to have the operationthen we will respect that and she will have to wait until she is 18,” Kay Franklin said. “I’m sure she may not be happy with that but if we were to do anything else then we wouldn’t be responsible parents.”
Jenna had earlier told the British daily Daily Express that she started thinking about the surgery when she was 12.
”Every other person you see on the television has had implants,” she wrote. “If I want to be successful I need to have them too — and I do want to be successful, though I don’t know at what at the moment.”
A spokeswoman for the British Association of Plastic Surgeons said that statistics are not kept on the number of teen-agers who undergo the surgery, but the usual advice is to wait until age 18. Younger girls are allowed to have the surgery earlier with a parent’s approval, she added.
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