Jemma Franklin, whose parents have agreed to pay for the surgery, believes she needs bigger breasts if she is to succeed later in life. She said they would boost her self-confidence.

The surgeon chosen for the procedure has expressed reservations about operating on someone so young. Child psychologists have also warned of future problems.

When is it right for teenagers to have such cosmetic surgery? Do you think Jemma's case is an indication of the pressure on teenagers to conform to certain stereotypes?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

Whatever happened to the push-up bra?

Gillian, UK

Whatever happened to the push-up bra? Works for me! And even the most expensive pump them up, push them out bra is a lot less expensive than surgery (and you can take it off at night).
Gillian, UK

Perhaps Jemma should have just one breast enlarged first to see if she likes it.
John, Belgium

I myself am naturally large up top. If Jemma enjoys the prospect of being leered at whilst shopping, groped whilst enjoying a drink in a pub and having her breasts being the constant topic of conversation amongst men in the office then go ahead have the op!
Emma, UK

I would prefer the company of a woman with small breasts and a big personality than the opposite.
John B, UK

Unless she plans to become a lap-dancer, I cannot see the immediate advantage

Kaye, UK

Jemma claims she will be more successful with bigger breasts. Unless she plans to become a lap-dancer, I cannot see the immediate advantage. If filling a bra is considered to be the height of female achievement, then I am proud to be a content and confident underachiever.
Kaye, UK

The blame for this sorry state of affairs lies squarely on the shoulders of the parents. Imagine agreeing to this ludicrous request. Maybe if a little more time was spent on the normal aspects of teenage life Jemma would stand more of a chance in the future. Get a life not a bust!
Ian, Nottingham, England

This is a publicity stunt. The girl should wait until she can pay for it and when she has to find £3,500 she might come to her senses.
Richard Chamberlain, England

I would've had my whole face and body done

Catherine, England

If anyone had offered me free plastic surgery at the age of 16, I would've had my whole face and body done, never mind my flat chest. Luckily, like most other people I was poor, so I had to start liking myself instead.
Catherine, England

I have recently had breast surgery, a reduction in fact, which I waited 2 years for on the NHS. The point I am making is that now at 28, I am happy I have had this surgery done and thinking back to when I was 15/ 16 years old, my body wouldn't have been mature enough for me to have made a decision on how I wanted it to look for the rest of my life.
Sharon, UK

I listened to the report on the radio and was very interested in Jemma's comments on why she felt she needed this surgery. To show how naive she was she mentioned that Pamela Anderson was someone who'd had an op and become famous and was a role model for her. But wasn't this the same Pamela Anderson who has now had her implants removed for health fears? Shouldn't Jenna be looking at this as well as the fact that she would like to become famous?
Matthew Hearne, UK

I only went through with my op after several interviews

Joanna, UK

Having undergone cosmetic surgery myself I can fully understand Jenna's psychological reasons for wanting to go ahead with the op. I would have found it a tremendous intrusion that strangers thought they could judge me on that. However, I only went through with my op after several interviews, physical assessments and counselling, a pre-requisite for NHS funding. I am alarmed that there is the potential via the private sector for surgery on demand, and relieved to see that the doctor in question has maintained ethics that others might not. I agree with the previous contributors that publicity for the parents' business seems to be the real point of this story going public.
Joanna, UK

I speak as a lesser-endowed woman who all too painfully knows that society likes a fuller chest. I too would like bigger breasts to adhere to the media's concept of femininity. However I'm old enough and wise enough to know that a new pair of boobs alone isn't fundamentally going to change the course of my life. The difference between Jemma and I is that I realise sexiness is a state of mind and not a silicone enhanced chest. Let's face it, it'll take a lot more that a perky pair of breasts to get on in life. Let's give these kids an opportunity to mature and discover this without the unwelcome influence of the media.
Rebecca Southwell, UK

I fully agree that Jemma should have breast implants

Jennifer, Australia

I fully agree that Jemma should have breast implants. I am a 16-year-old girl who has to compete with my classmates for the attention of the other boys. Most of the time, I am the odd one out as I am flat-chested and not as "attractive" as my "fuller" friends. Teenagers already have trouble with rejection and our confidence. Any help we can get would be a bonus.
Jennifer, Australia

Forty years of feminism and young girls are only worried about the size of their breasts.
Chris, Wales

Breasts for success? Perhaps - but success in what? Business? I don't think so. attracting a man? well only in the short term. I believe that the obvious preoccupation of her mother with her own physical insecurities have sadly been adopted by the child, for we often acquire the unspoken values of our parents. The parenting of this girl is wrong, the mother should lead by example and tell her daughter that large breasts have little do with ultimate personal happiness for a girl.
Elaine, UK

Feel better about yourself and you'll be beautiful

Shannon, Seattle, USA

How hypocritical of all of us. We condemn this child for believing what she sees every day. If any of us really have an issue with children taking unnecessary and outrageous risks with their bodies then WE need to change. Stop supporting the images which damage our lives and the lives of the children. Turn your backs and close your wallets to the media culture which pushes extreme slenderness and plastic surgery as the "ideal woman/man". We are all imperfect and that is what makes us unique. I find uniqueness vastly more interesting than cookie cutter look alikes. I find it pitiful that anyone feels that they must change themselves so radically for anything other than health reasons. Feel better about yourself and you'll be beautiful.
Shannon, Seattle, USA

Show me a teenager who is happy with their appearance! I, for one, wanted a nose job and a foot job (big feet). Fortunately, I still have the same nose and feet with me today. The feet are still like boats, but the nose I have grown to live with, nay love. If Jemma thinks happiness, love and success come in the form of silicone implants, she has nothing but disappointment ahead of her.
WGS, UK

This girl and her parents seem to believe that the only way to have self-esteem is to hide or ignore any "imperfections" one may have. Why can't they see that this perpetuates low self-esteem, the only cure for which is to learn to be proud of yourself and your body. No-one is perfect (physically or mentally) and this girl should not grow up believing she (or anyone else) can be. She can learn this as she develops into an adult, or she can grow up thinking that cosmetic changes in her life will solve her problems. Her parents need to teach her some lessons about coping with such problems, not pandering to a pubescent whim that will last until she decides that her bottom is too big, her stomach not flat enough or her hair the wrong colour. She says she wants to be successful. What sort of success will all this bring?
Andy, UK

We can't apply a simple standard

Nigel Simpson, UK

As always with these issues people jump on either side of the fence, those for and those against. The reality is that for some people it is right for others it isn't. We can't apply a simple standard that it is wrong at sixteen to have cosmetic surgery. In these cases we have to rely on the doctors to ensure that they only proceed when they are satisfied that the patient, at whatever age, is capable of and does understand the risks of the surgery, and that the desire for the surgery isn't an indication of other problems.
Nigel Simpson, UK

Everyone wants to be successful because success has historically lead to a better chance of procreation. Although this no longer follows, we ALL still desperately try to sound or look a certain way in pursuit of success. This evolutionary hang-on makes life in the 21st century very complicated. I don't see that giving your child plastic surgery is any different in principle to sending them to a private school. Therefore I think the family in question should be allowed to do what they like. However, I agree with Alan that this is probably a PR stunt - further proof that we are little more than jumped up apes with "issues".
Will Rossetti, UK

I just find absolutely shocking how popular breast implants have become. I thought the situation was bad in the States when there are daily MTV documentaries about people getting them, and they are generally glorified in the press now the silicone mess has been drowned out in the mass media. Now in Europe too? I think it's a shame that women are mutilating their bodies for what they think would make them look "fuller" or "more like a woman". Every individual on this earth is unique, and that's what others treasure. If we turn into a society that orders new cosmetic body features like a hamburger, then that'll certainly be the end of the world as we know it. Breast implants should be discouraged unless the need for RECONSTRUCTIVE (note, not cosmetic, but reconstructive ) surgery is necessary.
Mel, USA/Estonia

We are slowly becoming a shallow and narcissistic society

Jo, Britain

This story has reinforced my belief that we are slowly becoming a shallow and narcissistic society where people actually believe you have to have the perfect body in order to stand a chance of being a success! What hope do we have for our children growing up normally if parents actually think that filling our bodies with silicone increases our chances of success!
Jo, Britain

I had breast reduction when I was 24 (for medical reasons). My breasts were simply too large for my frame. I sincerely believed that after the operation my whole life would be wonderful but I was sadly mistaken. I hope that this 15 year old girl doesn't believe that she will be an instant success in everything she does just because she has got some large (fake) breasts.
Tina, UK

It seems that plastic surgery is used more and more to put right on someone's body what's wrong between one's ears.
Ben, Netherlands

Absolutely ridiculous

Paul, UK

Why don't we just drive on the other side of the road and paint our taxis yellow? "Only In America" doesn't seem to apply any more. Absolutely ridiculous.
Paul, UK

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson seems to have done OK for herself, and she's not exactly bursting out of her top.
Karl Peters, UK

My only concern is the risk associated with surgery. Other than that, it is just an extension of personal development for success. We accept that good qualifications are necessary for success. Attractive people are more likely to do well. There is no point in reacting to 21st century realities with a 19th century mindset.
Tom, Australia

I reckon she should wait and see how she turns out when she's grown up (as opposed to the young girl she still is). I was relatively small in the chest department at the age of 15 but by the age of 21, I had a 36C chest (and now I'm a 34E, which is a curse rather than a blessing in my opinion). I also find it ludicrous that in the 21st century there are still people who believe that breast size has anything to do with success. Surely the only industry where it has any influence is sex/ porn. Looking around my office I can see several highly successful women who don't have large breasts. Should I assume that they got to where they are because of their brains rather than their bosoms?
Louise, UK

People do have the right to choose for themselves

Andy, UK

I know she's young but people do have the right to choose for themselves. If that's what she wants then let her have it. Hopefully, it will all go well but if not she will have to pay the price later in life
Andy, UK

There's a subtext going on here. Why has this story hit the newspapers? Presumably if this lassie decided she wanted bigger boobs, her parents took her to a doctor who said "you're too young", then that wouldn't have made the news. Someone's exploiting this. Is it the girl who wants publicity, is it the parents who want publicity for their own business? Is it someone wanting to make some feminist political point?
Alan, UK

It just goes to show how few real worries our teenage population has that even good looking teenagers are suffering from teenage angst and focussing in on the smallest of details about their appearance. I'm sure that teenagers in many Third World countries would be happy to get three square meals a day and a roof over their heads. We should be thankful we're not fighting a war.
Andrew Reid, London, UK

Full bra, empty brain.
Neil, England

I would like to think that cosmetic surgery is NEVER right for anyone unless it is to correct real abnormalities that have a profound effect on people's lives. Simply wanting bigger breasts, a smaller nose, etc should not be an issue. Please let's work together to create a society in which sad little girls don't think that the answer to their problems is to change their appearance.
Catherine, UK

Of course no 16 year old should have a breast enlargement operation

Brian Binney, UK

Of course no 16 year old should have a breast enlargement operation. Their bodies have not completed the normal development cycle at that age. I am not against cosmetic surgery per se, I believe it has therapeutic value in cases of injury, disfigurement and psychological trauma. What this case shows is the pressure on young girls to conform to a media-driven agenda on what constitutes the 'ideal' female form.
Brian Binney, UK

I find it hard to believe that any self-respecting mother could agree to let her daughter have this sort of operation at 16!! Funny that her parents own a cosmetic surgery business, though, don't you think? As for the girl's self-esteem, what's wrong with boosting her confidence by telling her she is attractive? The poor thing hasn't even finished GROWING at 16, and implants are dangerous enough in fully formed adults. It's despicable!
Sarah, UK

Jemma is the spoilt child of a mother who runs a cosmetic surgery business as well as having undertaken such surgery herself so her desire for the operation is more an influence of her home life than pressure on teenagers to conform.
Gill, UK