Is Liposuction Before Having Children A Waste?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a 21 year old female wanting to have liposuction to get rid of my stomach and reduce the fullness on my sides. I feel it would give me a much better figure and more of the hourglass look. My questions is whether doing it at my age would be a waste since eventually I am going to get pregnant. I want to look better now but I also don’t want to throw money away either. Please advise.

A: You have to recognize that many cosmetic procedures are not always going to create permanent results. This is particularly true when it comes to fat removal liposuction procedures. There are a lot of factors that influence the long-term retention of liposuction results, of which future pregnancies are certainly one of them. You also have to recognize, which you already know, that whether you have liposuction or not that an eventual pregnancy is going to change your stomach and waistline area. These changes will effect skin more than fat but they would not be considered to be beneficial at keeping the look of a liposuctioned result. The issue with looking at the ‘value’ of liposuction is how soon after were you planning to become pregnant. In other words, how much time would you enjoy the benefits of liposuction? If you were looking to become pregnant within the year after the procedure then it would not be a good use of your effort and money. But if there are no foreseeable plans for pregnancy as far as you can see in the future (years), then the benefits of liposuction may outweigh its cost when it amortized over that period of time. To put it any other way, how much would you pay a month to have a better looking stomach over that period of time?

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana