Girl, 17, gets boob job in BBC documentary
Monday, September 3 2007, 00:51 BST
story courtesy of Digital Spy www.digitalspy.co.uk
By Dave West
Doctors have criticised the BBC for a programme which sees a 17-year-old former anorexic have breast implants.
In Under 18 And Under The Knife, airing on BBC Three on Sunday, student Lynsey Bowman is sent to America for the surgery.
She could not have it done in the UK because of rules on under-18s so programme makers paid for her family’s travelling expenses.
Paul Bagley, a senior British cosmetic surgeon, said Bowman would not have “matured physically enough” for the operation.
And a leading child psychologist, Ruth Coppard, added of the Endemol-produced show: “They have behaved in a very dodgy way. It’s awful.
“This girl is only 17. Emotionally she is still a child and there’s still a lot of physical changing to do too.”
However, Bowman tells how she feels the surgery, to take her from 30AA to 30C, will improve her life.
And her surgeon Peter Driscoll commented: “It can really affect their personality if they have a big hang-up about looking like other girls.”
A spokesman for the corporation added: “Expenses are a normal part of the cost of a documentary. We didn’t pay for Lynsey’s operation, this was paid for by her family and done with her family’s consent.”
