"Mom" Plastic Surgery: Is It Necessary?

Okay, moms, here's the controversial topic of the week: Is it really necessary to get plastic surgery to "cover" or eliminate your Mommy flaws?

I, personally, after 6 kids, have two (yes, two) stretch marks that came along with carrying my babies and quite often mention the possibility of a tummy tuck for the flabber belly on my (5 foot seven) 140-pound frame. But, is it really necessary? My husband says that my stretch marks are the sign of "Womanhood" and I tend to agree with him. I mean, how else can I prove that I actually had six kids? :)

But, then we look at those perfect bodies on magazines and we long for that pre-childbearing figure and smooth skin on our bellies that we once were so proud of and flaunted. The days of the bikini are gone...(although I actually had the nerve to wear a two-piece this past summer, but still was not completely comfortable when I looked around at the teenagers with that un-marked skin at the pool).

Is it really perfection that we need to strive for? Isn't "beauty in the eye of the beholder"? Didn't our husbands marry us, "for better or for worse"? What is it then?


Are we really so inclined to be perfect that we need to go get the flaws that motherhood brought along with it cut and sewn from our bodies?

Who really, honestly thinks that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?

Nothing against plastic surgeons...

I'm not knocking plastic surgeons, here. They're obviously talented and have gone to school and become very professional (for the most part) people in our society that actually help women feel better about themselves. I see their skills as more of an art form...but I wonder if it's all necessary?

What IS "Perfect"

What I'm simply saying here is: do we really need plastic surgery to feel good about the bodies that God gave to us? Do we need it to cover the fact that we had children? (However many children we may have had.) Do we have to look like the perfection that we imagine when we look at others? What exactly is PERFECT?

Would I do it?

I'm not sure if I would ever have the nerve to "go under the knife". To be quite honest, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I have managed to stay as petite as I am after carrying six children (I constantly get the eye from people and the "are they all yours?" or "you don't LOOK like you've had six kids"), but the body just isn't the same as it was back when I was a teenager...or even in my 20's. It doesn't look the same OR feel the same.

Would it be worth the scars that I would get if I went through the surgery to get rid of the small stretch marks and extra layer of skin? Seriously...would I really be happy with my body then? Because, to be quite honest, I don't remember EVER being completely happy, no matter how svelte I was (or am).

So, then I guess I would turn out to be one of those women that are never happy with their body and keeps getting more and more plastic surgery...hmmm.

The Media

Check this out about Padma! Can you believe it?

Oh, the lovely media makes us see the world from their eyes. Look at her! She's beautiful! And, they have the nerve to talk about her "pouch" after having a baby?

Of course, Kate Gosselin had a tummy tuck after having all 8 of her children...

Then, the photos that we don't realize have been airbrushed and the "fat" pictures that the media displays of women/gals who really are not fat at all, but are just wearing a few extra pounds that can be easily lost, can put some wear and tear on us women.

The media can be so mean and hurt more than just the women in the photos...they hurt the readers, too, who are looking at the photos thinking, "Man, I look like a whale compared to her!" Okay, there are times when even I think I look like a whale compared to these pictures - that's pretty bad.

The Risks...

And, what about the risks? Plastic surgery gone wrong. I think that I will just stay happy within this 6-times- over-Momma body. I've said it many times...I'm not the perfect mother...and now I'll say that I don't have the perfect body, either...

And, I'm resolved to work with the body that I was given by God and be proud of the fact that I've had six kids. After all, what would I say to my children in the place of "Thanks for the stretch marks!" if I had surgery to eliminate them?

What's your opinion on plastic surgery? Would you go under the knife? Do you think it would be enough?