Betty Blog

Plastic Surgery for Toddlers?

Extreme Makeover: The Toddler Edition

-Julie Ryan Evans

A mom walks into the office of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon for a plastic surgery consultation ... for her 3-year-old daughter. They discuss giving her Botox, breast implants - "anything bigger than a C would probably be inappropriate at her age" - and a nose similar to Gwyneth Paltrow's. You read that right - the girl is 3.

You've got to be kidding me, was my first reaction. And yes, actually they are. It's a joke - a Bruno-style spoof created by momlogic.com - that's pretty funny on the surface, but also really sad. Sad because the first time many people see it - myself included - they actually stop to question if it actually could be real. Sad because in our celebrity-saturated, image-obsessed world, it's not really that far of a jump.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) more than 333,000 patients under 18 had cosmetic procedures performed in 2005 including breast augmentation, nose jobs and liposuction. How young some of these patients are isn't reported, but it's probably safe to say that like everything else these days it's happening younger and younger.

A recent piece in The Washington Post points out a trend among tweens and teens -some as young as 9 - that want their parents to hire image consultants because high school can be traumatic if you don't dress right and look right.

Moms buy their teenage daughters Botox for birthdays. Girls as young as 11 and 12 get bikini waxes. And 5-year-olds are stepping out for spa days.

And why wouldn't they? Hollywood, sports stars, politicians are all preened and pruned to perfection ... or appear to be. And really, don't we demand that they be? Those who aren't are lambasted and ridiculed. We scrutinize every single pound a celebrity may or may not have gained and search for any trace of cellulite or bigger-than-usual bellies.