We lift the lid on new trend for designer vaginas — and why so many women dissatisfied with their privates are choosing to have cosmetic surgery
Two women share their very different experiences with the cosmetic procedure and reveal how it's changed their lives
GRABBING a quick shower before going out to meet friends, Aisling Ozdemir felt a weird sensation between her legs.
Quickly, she reached for a hand mirror to investigate what it could be.
As she looked in the reflection, her heart started to pound and she gingerly reached down to her genitalia.
“There was a fleshy bulge in my vaginal area that had never been there before,” recalls the mum of three.
“In all honesty, it felt and looked like a testicle. I was so shocked, I burst into tears.”
Just two weeks earlier, in January 2015, Aisling, now 39, had undergone labiaplasty to make her vagina more aesthetically pleasing – commonly known as getting a so-called “Barbie” vagina due to the tightening and neatness of the resulting area.
But that morning her vaginal wall had prolapsed, and this was what was she could see through her legs.
Over 100,000 women across the globe are making the decision to change the appearance of their vagina every year.
With the first operation taking place in the '80s, it’s a trend that’s been steadily growing in popularity over the decades.
And a massive surge in the past few years has seen it named the world’s fastest-growing cosmetic surgery, with operations up 45% between 2015 and 2016.
While more enquiries about the procedure come from the 18-24 age group than any other demographic, in a shocking BBC investigation earlier this year, it was discovered that girls as young as nine were approaching their doctors about the surgery in the UK, despite the NHS saying that it should not be performed on girls younger than 18.
Psychologist Emma Kenny explained: “Ten years ago, the Brazilian and Hollywood waxes weren’t popular, which meant we didn’t really see women’s vaginas up close and personal.
“But with the growth of internet porn and the popularity of extreme waxing, we can now see every crease, wrinkle and kink at the click of a button.
“Inevitably, the ones that we see online are homogenised – neat and in proportion. This has meant that a whole generation of women are now comparing themselves and feeling like they’re not good enough because their bits might appear too wrinkly or saggy.”
However, the UK’s leading labiaplasty expert Paul Banwell does not accept that porn is the reason behind the trend.
He said: “The increase in the numbers of women seeking it is simply down to the procedure becoming more readily available.
“Of the women who come through my door wanting labiaplasty, their reasons are usually a mix of function and aesthetics.
"The first thing I tell all my patients is that their genitals are completely normal. Secondly, they’re all offered access to a psychologist.
"I’ve turned women down for the procedure plenty of times, as they’re not clear about the aims and objectives of the surgery or, psychologically speaking, they’re not in the right place
emotionally to get the procedure done.”
But whether pornography is behind this surge or not, with the increase in procedures also comes a higher number of botched operations.
Anna Pearson, who specialises in clinical negligence cases at Express Solicitors, has represented labiaplasty clients for the past eight years.
Since 2009, she’s seen an increase in the number of women seeking compensation after the surgery.
She said: “Some have been left with psychological trauma – such as losing all self-confidence or struggling to cope with the new appearance of their private parts – as well as physical scarring, which can be severely damaging.
“One woman I represented had an entirely different labiaplasty procedure carried out to the one she’d agreed to.
"She ended up with severe bruising, needed three further surgeries and was left with recurring thrush and pain. Her relationship ended as a result.”
However, according to Anna, the problem with vaginal surgery is that even when there’s no clinical negligence, there isn’t always a simple way to rectify the issue.
She said: “When other surgeries fail, they can potentially be fixed, but women with vaginal surgeries that have gone wrong can be left in extreme physical pain in an area of the body with millions of nerve endings.”
This is something that Aisling, from County Wexford, knows all too well.
After three pregnancies between 2008 and 2013, she suffered from incontinence at the age of 36 and admits that her sex life with husband Osman, 42, was non-existent.
“Not for lack of trying,” she explains. “But, to put it bluntly, I was pretty cavernous and couldn’t feel anything. I’d lost all tightness in my vagina and incontinence was ruining my life. I just wanted it to be lovely and tight again.”
When Aisling first saw her GP, she was referred for physiotherapy, but when that didn’t make any difference, she was referred to a urinary gynaecologist.
She remembered: “He told me that there was no muscle strength left to tone up, so all the pelvic floor exercises in the world wouldn’t make a difference.
“That’s when I decided to have surgery. I knew it wasn’t available on the NHS, so I took out a bank loan of £5,500.”
In February 2015, Aisling went to a private clinic to have the op and says when she first came round she was really excited about her Barbie vagina.
Worst of all is that although I am able to have sex, I don’t get any enjoyment out of it, as I’ve been left with no sensation.
Aisling Ozdemir
She admitted: “I was happy that I was finally going to get my sex life back.
For a few weeks, she got her wish. But then suddenly, two weeks post-op, Aisling’s vaginal wall prolapsed while she was in the shower.
“I can’t describe the sheer horror of what it looked like,” she says.
“I saw my doctor the next day about getting it rectified, but was told they didn’t think surgery was an option and if i wanted it, I’d have to have it done privately, which I couldn’t afford.
"It was an awful realisation. What had I done?”
Since then, Aisling admits that her confidence has been completely shaken to the core.
“It feels like I’ve got a tampon half in and it’s constantly uncomfortable,” she says. “I have to wear wide gusseted knickers and a pad as my incontinence is back with a vengeance, too.
“But worst of all is that although I am able to have sex, I don’t get any enjoyment out of it, as I’ve been left with no sensation.
Osman would never say anything and is incredibly supportive, but we both know things down there aren’t like they are supposed to be.”
While Aisling’s story is shocking, for many women labia surgery can be life-changing for all the right reasons.
This is true for Sophie King, 23, from Croydon, south London.
A keen dancer since she was three, it wasn’t until Sophie hit her teens that she felt her labia looked unusual.
“They were longer and seemed to be more visible through my leotard than everyone else’s,” explains Sophie.
“I started wearing looser dance gear, and would make sure any Lycra I wore was really thick to keep everything in place.”
Even going on holiday with her friends caused Sophie to have a body crisis. “They’d be in tiny string bikinis and I’d be wearing big pants just in case anyone could see anything in the pool or when I got out,” she says.
“It bothered me so much that I’d wake up thinking about it and go to sleep with it on my mind. How I felt about the way my vagina looked affected every choice I made.
"Whenever I met a boy, I felt so embarrassed about what he might think or whether he would say anything.”
At 17, Sophie decided to speak to her GP about having a procedure to change the way her genitalia looked. “I’d done some research online and realised it was fairly common to neaten it up,” she explains.
“However, I was told that as mine looked perfectly normal, there was no medical need and I would have to get it done privately.”
Over the next four years, Sophie worked as a dancer and dance teacher, saving whatever she could for the £3,600 procedure, while scouring thousands of before and after surgery pictures looking for the “perfect” vagina.
However, because of her self-consciousness, she often turned down dancing roles as she was too embarrassed if they required her to wear tight outfits.
And it wasn’t just her career that was suffering – her sex life was, too.
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“I had a long-term boyfriend for a while and would never have sex with the lights on,” she remembers. “It was hard to enjoy it, as I just felt so paranoid.
I’d worry that he might say something or even split up with me because of it, but I don’t think it was ever an issue for him.”
Finally, in July, Sophie had saved up enough and had the procedure to “debulk” her labia.
It was performed in an hour under local anaesthetic by .
“I was back dancing within three weeks and my recovery has been amazing,” she admits. “I just wish I’d had it done years ago.
"I can’t stop looking in the mirror, as it looks so lovely and neat! I’ve since bought string bikinis, had my first bikini wax and have treated myself to a whole drawer of see-through underwear even though I don’t have anyone to show it to yet, as my boyfriend and I split up.
"But I can’t wait for when I do meet someone new.”
I was back dancing within three weeks and my recovery has been amazing
Sophie King
It’s clearly a far cry from Aisling’s experience, as two years on, she is still saving for a second £5,500 procedure to cure the crippling incontinence and disfigurement she’s been left with.
“I’m devastated that the first surgery didn’t work, but I didn’t have a choice,” she explains. “I had no sensation at all and would wet myself daily. It was no way for any woman to live.”
And while Aisling is hoping to be able to have the procedure by the end of the year, Sophie believes that the success of her Barbie vagina is down to good research.
“I spent years reading up on surgeries, surgeons and procedures – I’ve seen a lot of vaginas!
“I met my surgeon at the first consultation and spoke to a psychologist, too.
"My friends told me I could have had a Las Vegas blowout with how much it cost, but it’s changed my life. I only wish I could show it off!”
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