Jane believes the boob job changed her life. Photo / News.com.au
Jane believes the boob job changed her life. Photo / News.com.au
For years Jayne Richardson's breast size left her feeling like she had "a teenage boy's body".
But now the Gold Coast mother-of-three says her confidence has been transformed since increasing her bust from a "very deflated" B cup to an E — and her popularity with the opposite sex has skyrocketed as well.
"Without sounding really stuck up or whatnot, people treat me differently," Richardson told news.com.au.
"I wouldn't say I love it, [but] it's a little bit flattering to be noticed in that sort of way."
The 27-year-old sales manager always had small breasts and believes competing as a gymnast during her teens and giving birth to her first child at 17 "stunted" her development.
"By the end of having my three boys and breastfeeding for a combined total of 6-and-a-half years there was nothing there, it was just skin," Richardson said.
The mother-of-three said her breasts were 'just skin' after breastfeeding for years. Photo / News.com.au
"I felt like I wasn't much of a woman and I felt like I had a teenage boy's body or something, and I was really, really unhappy."
Richardson said the insecurities around her bust size stopped her from getting naked in the bedroom and she avoided photos of her figure.
"Honestly, I remember that mental toll that it took on me. Every time I got undressed to get in the shower I would look at myself in the mirror – absolutely hated what I was seeing.
"I would never get intimate or naked with my partner and things like that. It was like living a nightmare."
After splitting with her long-term partner, Richardson decided it was time to get the breasts she had always dreamt of having.
She hit Facebook and began researching breast augmentation surgeries in a private group where women shared and recommended their experiences at different clinics.
It's a "word of mouth" method Richardson's eventual cosmetic surgeon Ian Chinsee said was becoming an increasingly common way of finding a surgeon.
Her confidence was so bad she refused to get naked in front of her then partner. Photo / News.com.au
"I think that in no other medical specialty is social media and the internet so prevalent," Chinsee told news.com.au.
"A lot of women are using social media to find a cosmetic surgeon because it comes down to the village network and word of mouth. Twenty years ago people were finding their surgeons by speaking to their friends. Someone would recommend this surgeon because my friend had their work done there.
"Now it's Facebook and Instagram where people are doing the same thing and talking to other patients about their experience, and it's really just the word of mouth system again."
Richardson got a A$10,000 lift and breast implant surgery at Chinsee's Brisbane clinic six months ago and said the moment she woke after her surgery her life changed.
"For me I woke up and I looked down and I had happy tears," Richardson recalled, "because I really wanted them for so long and I felt like a woman."
Richardson's reaction to her surgery was no surprise to Chinsee, who believes most of his patients see him because of "something that they want to change in their mindset that's linked to their physicality".
"When they have that physical change they get that self-confidence increase, they feel better about themselves," he said. "Not just because they feel they look better but they've taken action, they've taken control of their mindset."
Since getting the implants, Richardson believes her new-found confidence has helped her succeed more at work as well as having an unexpected impact on her dating life.
"It's ridiculous – men the way they are with me now … I feel like I get a lot more attention," she said.
"I've had instances with guys that I've known and had something with when I was younger reappear in my life – they didn't want anything to do with me then but now all of a sudden they do.
"I've had one guy say something to me about wanting me now because I'm the upgraded model or something, and I was actually offended more than anything.
"Because at the end of the day one physical thing about me changed, nothing else, and if I wasn't good enough for you then, I'm not going to be good enough for you now."
Richardson now wants other mums to feel empowered enough to go under the knife if they're unhappy with their breasts after motherhood.
"You want to feel strong and confident about yourself and love your body," she said.
"And if you just can't manifest those positive feelings about yourself then there's no shame in trying to change something about you. As long as it's for you and you're doing it for yourself and it's not for anyone else."
