SEPTEMBER 2010

1 in 10 parents would pay for their teen to have Cosmetic Surgery/

The UK’s fastest/ growing cosmetic treatment review website has conducted research of parents across the UK, to find out if they would pay for their 16 – 18 year old son or daughter to have a cosmetic treatment. 8% answered ‘yes’ with 19% of these prepared to pay up to £10,000 for the procedure.

With the demand for Cosmetic Surgery/ increasing, the UK’s fastest/ growing cosmetic treatment review website asked 1,132 parents if they would pay for their teenager, aged between 16 and 18 years, to have a cosmetic treatment of some kind.

The research by www.goodsurgeonguide.co.uk found that almost 1 in 10, 8%, of the respondents would pay for their teenager to have a cosmetic procedure, 18% of which would happily pay for their child to have Liposuction and a further 24% would pay for a gastric band if their teen requested it.

The most common reason for parents saying they would pay for their teenager to have Cosmetic Surgery/ is their ‘lack of confidence’, something which 49% agreed on. A further 22% would pay for the surgery with hope it would stop their teen being ‘bullied’ for their appearance.

When asked ‘How much would you be prepared to pay for your child’s cosmetic treatment?’ 19% agreed that £5,000 - £10,000 would be the limit while 4% of those who would pay for their child to have a cosmetic treatment cited the maximum they would be prepared to pay between £10,000 and £20,000.

13% of those who would buy a cosmetic treatment for their teenager admitted that they would consider ‘going abroad’ for the procedure.

Two thirds, 66%, of the parents cited that they would conduct intensive research before paying for their child to have Cosmetic Surgery/, 48% of which said they would use the internet to do so.

26% of those who wouldn’t buy their teen a cosmetic treatment agreed it was due to the ‘health risks’ involved, while 32% admitted it was the cost of the procedures that would put them off and a further 36% agreed that their teenager is simply ‘too young’ to have a procedure.

Christiana Clogg, founder of The Good Surgeon Guide, commented on the findings;

“These results certainly shocked me; as a mother myself, I couldn’t imagine paying for my child to have surgery, even at the age of 18. I can understand that it must be difficult to have your child being bullied, but I believe you should teach your children to stand up for themselves, not feel as though they need to change their appearance so drastically.”

She continued,

“I was, however, happy to discover that two thirds of the parents would conduct research before allowing their teenager to go under the knife. I am such a strong believer that research is the most important part of the process. If a parent is prepared to pay for Cosmetic Surgery/, they should do all they can to ensure that their child is in safe hands.” 

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