A woman who had cosmetic surgery as a teenager to fix how her chest looked has revealed the £16,000 procedure, which means she’s able to wear a bikini for the first time.
At just 13 years old, Kaitlyn underwent surgery to have a breast implant.
It wasn’t done to look better in clothes or by the pool, though.
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At birth, she was born with both major and minor pectoral muscles on one side of her chest missing, otherwise known as Poland syndrome.
It meant that, as she got older, embarrassment followed her – from fear of classmates saying something cruel, to hiding away during sleepovers.
And, in her adult years after breastfeeding three children, the effects of her aforementioned procedure wore off.
And Kaitlyn, now aged 26, was back to square one.
“Growing up, I always knew I was different,” the student paramedic, from Shropshire, told Need To Know.
“While doctors could explain the condition, no one could say for certain how it would affect me as I grew older.
“I was extremely embarrassed about it as a teenager.
“As we all know, teenagers can be brutal, and I was so afraid of people around me finding out.
“I told a very close group of friends and tried to hide it from everyone else.
“I had one boyfriend when I was young, and I told him one day.
“The moment we broke up, he told everyone and even ended up posting something on Facebook about it.
“It was awful.
“Often other people would find out, and I felt really ashamed and would get made fun of.”
According to The Institute of Chest Wall Surgery, Poland syndrome affects roughly one in every 30,000 people worldwide.
However, this figure could be as high as one in every 100,000 due to mild cases often going undiagnosed.
Not only does it affect how breasts appear in women, it also causes back pain since certain muscles compensate for missing ones.
At birth, to help minimise the impact, Kaitlyn had regular physiotherapy to help improve movement in the affected arm.
Due to the syndrome, she had issues expanding her lungs and so relied on a nebuliser at night to breathe as a baby.
While this slowly rectified itself, the mental impact of her condition still weighed heavily on her.
She said: “At school, we used to have swimming lessons each week.
“I really enjoyed these, but as I got older, the thought of other people noticing became too much.
“I remember one week wearing a shirt in the pool and getting told off by my swimming coach.
“I ran into the changing room and cried.
“I never did another swimming lesson again and instead would have counselling at the same time.”
Kaitlyn struggled to buy new clothes, especially bras, and the thought of trying on garments knowing she would hate how she looked in them became “unbearable”.
The “mental torture” sparked by her daily embarrassment all got too much, and so this is when she had the aforementioned breast implant surgery at just 13 years old to fill the underdeveloped area.
Sadly, this made her lose complete sensation in the breast, which she has never gained back.
And, after hitting puberty, it was clear that one side of her chest wasn’t growing the same as the other.
Since she had rather large breasts, size 34DD, the difference was obvious.
Bra stuffers and baggy clothes were used to hide the lack of symmetry, but this was no use.
At 16, she had another breast implant surgery to fix the affected area.
But after three kids, her natural breast changed, making the asymmetry obvious once more.
She visited the surgeon who carried out her previous breast implants, Dr Roberto Viel, to figure out the best course of action, as implants were no longer doing the trick.
Kaitlyn said: “We knew this wouldn’t be as simple as most cases due to the nature of the surgery.
“But he felt very confident that he could give me the best result possible.
“Dr Roberto performed a breast uplift on my natural side and inserted an implant on my affected side to create as much symmetry as possible.
“He also took a fat transfer from my stomach to try and fill out some of the hollowness in my chest.”
In total, the procedure took five hours and cost £16,000.
While this is how much Kaitlyn had to fork out, the clinic notes that the price varies based on the condition of each patient.
While post-surgery was a challenge, it was worth it for the end result.
She said: “After living with Poland syndrome for so many years, to see my chest look symmetrical for the first time was so surreal.
“It felt too good to be true.
“The results look better each day.
“I will forever be grateful to finally feel confident about my chest.
“It really has been life-changing for me.
“I can wear clothes I would have never dreamed of wearing before.
“And I can buy normal bras from the shops, which I’ve never been able to do.
“I even wore a bikini for the first time in my life.”
Kaitlyn, since her surgery, has released the amount of emotional and physical weight she was once carrying.
She added: “I never imagined my result to be as good as it is, and I still am in disbelief when I look in the mirror.
“I hid my condition for years out of pure embarrassment.
“I had never heard of it before and had no one to look to.
“I hope that if there is someone out there who is going through what I’ve been through over the last 26 years, that hearing my story makes them feel less alone and gives them some hope that things do turn out okay.
“It has given me my life back, and I feel more confident in my body than I ever have.
“I would do the surgery a million times over and don’t regret it one bit.
“I strongly advise anyone who is in two minds about it to go for it.”
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