Abby Wu was just 14 when she had cosmetic surgery for the first time.
After receiving hormone treatment for an illness, Abby’s weight increased from 42kg (6 stone 8lbs) to 62kg (9 stone 11lbs) in two months.
The change hadn’t gone unnoticed by her drama teacher.
“My teacher said, ‘You were our star but now you’re too fat. Either give up or lose weight fast,’” recalls Abby, who was preparing for her drama exams at the time.
Abby’s mother stepped in, taking her to get liposuction to remove fat from her belly and legs.
Abby remembers her mother’s words as she waited in the clinic in a hospital gown, nervous about the impending operation.
“Just be brave and walk in. You’ll become pretty once you’re out.”
The surgery was traumatic. Abby was only given partial anaesthesia and remained conscious throughout.
“I could see how much fat was extracted from my body and how much blood I was losing,” she says.
I suppose that if surgery is in the picture, it alters a lot of what’s realistically-achievable in many ways.
That being said, China also has something of a more-males gender imbalance due to a significant degree of infanticide of females, so you’d think that the pickings would be pretty good for surviving women in China compared to in most countries. I’d expect that you’d see the guys being more likely to go to extreme ends than the girls.