Just when we thought it was safe to look adoringly at women having multiple pregnancies, Nayda Suleman is back in the news. The Orange County Register blog reported on it once again. This time, Octomom, Nadya Suleman is in the news for posing in semi-nude for a British magazine. Just as before, questions- or rather accusations, about whether she’s had plastic surgery, most notably a tummy tuck — are once again talk around the water cooler. Suleman, the mother of 14 was compensated to appear in the photos for Closer magazine, where the cover marked in bold letters, “Octomum bares all! ‘My body’s never looked this good!’. After the magazine came out, Suleman gave a video interview on Celebuzz denying that she’s had any plastic surgery but a breast reduction. “I’ve never had a tummy tuck,” says Suleman, 36, in the video. She says she had skin removed from around her navel area because of an issue with a belly button ring. This admission alone is subject to interpretation. When the video interviewer asked if she would consider getting plastic surgery in the future, she said :“I think God gives us what we were born with. I’m different, my ethnicity is mixed. Middle Eastern, and European and Lithuanian and German. And so, I don’t believe in it.” Honestly, the most disturbing part about her statements are that she has not had a tummy tuck or any other large removal of skin. They are an insult to the overwhelming majority of women who have loose and lax skin after pregnancy that is virtually impossible to get rid of. Most of these women have not had 14 children; all of which were multiple birth pregnancies. Dr. Kim explains to his patients who have had children that pregnancy can take a cruel toll on the body of most women. Many women even after one pregnancy are left with loose and lax skin on the abdomen, stretch marks, and a loss of volume in their breast. In many cases Dr. Kim recommends the mommy makeover which includes both a breast augmentation as well as an abdominoplasty. Most patients will choose breast implants to help shape the breast and regain volume to the breast. Patients should not feel that having cosmetic plastic surgery after pregnancy is something they should be ashamed of. There are many factors to take into consideration when it comes to the ability of a woman to regain her pre-pregnancy shape. Some factors, like genetics; patients have no control over. The decision to have plastic surgery following pregnancy is a personal one and patients who choose to do so should make the decision based on their own personal desires.
