Designer vaginas in demand
2007-05-25 07:01
London - Rising numbers of women in
Britain are seeking state-funded cosmetic surgery on their
genitals, doctors said on Friday.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, they said the number
of "labial reductions" carried out in National Health Service
hospitals had doubled to 800 a year over five years.
"More and more women are said to be troubled by the shape,
size or proportions of their vulvas", wrote Lih Mei Liao and
Sarah Creighton from London's UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Institute for Women's Health.
Articles in women's magazines about "designer vaginas", the
rising popularity of cosmetic surgery and internet promotion by
private health clinics were all fuelling demand.
The authors said women seeking surgery were being influenced
by idealised images of genitalia shown in pornography and on
private genitoplasty Web sites.
Liao said research was needed into whether surgery was
bringing long-term benefits to patients, before the NHS started
routinely offering the cosmetic procedure.