An Old Head on Young Shoulders

Posted: Wednesday 9 June 2010 03:59pm

Ambah Young doesn’t feel young anymore. She’s 18. In two weeks, the single mum from north coast NSW is travelling to Malaysia on 13,000 borrowed dollars for a tummy tuck, breast augmentation and vaginal tightening - to reclaim her lost youth.

She told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper that “after the birth of my daughter, my body never went back to the way it was before”. Exercise hadn’t done the trick so “I’m having this surgery so that I can feel my age again.”

This rings alarm bells on many levels, though her chronological age may well be the least of them.

Social commentators have had their knickers in a twist that Ambah is too young to make this decision; that she might want more children, that her insecurities have been preyed upon by women’s magazines flogging unrealistic ideals of celebrities’ bodies bouncing back after babies, even the cosmetic surgery industry as a whole.

Never having met or spoken to Ambah, I have no idea what she’s like. Because I personally don’t agree with what she’s doing, I can’t assume that, because of her age, she’s immature and so incapable of making a reasoned decision. Or that, physically, she mightn’t need at least the vaginal tightening for medical reasons.

While anyone over the age of 30 may be tempted to see Ambah as still a child, at 18 she is, after all, legally an adult. And with a two-year-child of her own, she probably has similar responsibilities and lifestyle restrictions of someone 10 or more years her senior.

What is more critical is that:

• According to the Herald Sun, Ambah hopes the surgery will make her feel better about herself and help her get ahead in life.
• She is having the surgery in a foreign environment, away from home and presumably her child, and without the regulatory protection or standards she would be guaranteed in Australia.
• Why the pretty, fresh-faced girl with a nice-looking figure in the photo above feels old; so old that she’s borrowed a significant amount of money in what appears to be limited circumstances to reclaim her “youth”.

The trip was arranged by a company that specialises in arranging plastic surgery “holidays”, mostly in Asia. A spokesperson said she had seen photos of Ambah and that “she really is a very suitable candidate for surgery because she has an overhanging tummy. The only way she can actually improve is through surgery. She can’t diet, she can’t exercise because her skin is very saggy.”

However, Gold Coast cosmetic surgeon Dr John Flynn, Chief Executive of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery, is not impressed.

“I can’t say whether these procedures are clinically appropriate, as I have not seen [Ambah],” he says. “But it does raise various questions. Do we know if she’s seen a doctor? If not, why not?

“Specifically, has she met the doctor who will be performing her surgery? If not, her health and life will be in the hands of a stranger.

“Whoever is looking after her medically has a duty of care, not just about the procedure, but to assess her psychological suitability.”

Dr Flynn also points out that there are other significant risks associated with Ambah’s plan.

“Australia has the best standards and regulatory environment than any other jurisdiction,” he says. Ah yes, but similar procedures here would cost a great deal more than Ambah’s all-inclusive “holiday”.

“What if there are complications?” says Dr Flynn. “What doctors will she be able to access here to fix it, or will it be foisted on the Medicare budget?

“Patients are also at risk of blood clots for two weeks after surgery – especially multiple surgeries – and this risk is compounded by flying, as she will be doing to come home.”

As Ambah’s circumstances and motivations are really known only to her, we can only speculate that she is vulnerable and has an perception of herself that is wildly at odds with the lovely young girl in the photo.

For anyone considering cosmetic surgery, reputable practitioners will always first assess their patients’ psychological health and, thus, whether they are doing it for the right reasons.

Cosmetic surgery alone will not make you happier, find you a partner, get you a better job.

Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Michael Miroshnik tries to divide his patients’ motivating factors into “internal and external” groups.

“Internal motivators are those doing it for themselves, to enhance their appearance and make themselves feel great,” he says.

“They have often been thinking about it for a while and are very clear in what they hope to achieve from their surgery. From a plastic surgeon’s perspective, these people make the best patients and luckily form the majority of the patients we see.

“Conversely, external motivators are factors such as partners and careers, which give patients the incentive to seek surgery they would otherwise not be interested in.

“This is a smaller but dangerous group, because if the external motivating factors are not rectified by the procedure then these patients may not be happy. For these patients, surgery may not be the answer.”

by Jenni Gilbert

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