Should you have plastic surgery before having your children? This is a question I’m asked on nearly a daily basis and the answer is going to be one that each patient will need to answer for herself. In an ideal world, plastic surgery would be performed:
- After completion of childbearing
- At the patient’s ideal body weight
- At the weight the patient intends to maintain for the rest of her life
That being said, the ideal world and the real world don’t always align and most of my patients are living in the real world. Most are at least a little overweight and would like to lose a few pounds. Some haven’t had kids yet, plan to have kids later, or just aren’t sure if they’ll have a child sometime in the future.
Every woman’s body changes throughout her lifetime. Whether it’s due to weight changes, pregnancy, breast feeding, or just time and gravity, we’ll all change. These changes can affect the results of plastic surgery. Does that mean you’ll go back to looking like you did before the procedure? Probably not. Does it mean that your results would have been better if you’d waited? Maybe. The question each person has to ask themselves is “Am I willing to deal with my area of concern and wait until I’m an ideal candidate for the procedure I’m considering?”
If you’re thinking about having kids in the next year or two, it’s probably best to wait until later for an elective body contouring procedure. If your family planning is that someday you want to have kids and it may be 10, 15, or 20 years before you’re done, that’s a long time to wait for a procedure that can help your confidence, satisfaction with your body, and overall sense of well-being.
If you are interested in scheduling your consultation with Dr. Peters, please call us at 708-524-1400 or fill out our contact form today.
