Porn fuels increasing demand for 'designer vaginas'

As part of Healthcare Global's 2011 review, we've revisited this story which originally made the headlines in August...

The number of women seeking genital cosmetic surgery in the quest for a ‘designer vagina’ has risen dramatically in the last decade.

In the UK alone, the number of women seeking the procedure on the NHS has increased by five times and it is believed thousands more could have had the operation privately.

Researchers found the average age of designer vagina hunters is 23, but most women only want to undergo cosmetic surgery for aesthetic reasons.

They have linked the interest in genital surgery to pornography and an increasing pressure for women to look perfect.

In a study of 33 women having vaginal surgery, 60 percent wanted to make their labia smaller to improve its appearance, despite the researchers saying they were normal in size.

Only three of the women were recommended for the procedure to address a significant asymmetry.

One of the researchers, Sarah Creighton from the UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute of Women's Health, said: “It is surprising that all of the study participants had normal sized labia minora and despite this nearly half were still keen to pursue surgery as an option.  

“A particular concern is the age of some of the referred patients, one as young as 11 years old.

She added: “Development of the external genitalia continues throughout adolescence and in particular the labia minora may develop asymmetrically initially and become more symmetrical in time."

Meanwhile, experts are warning doctors need to be issued with clear guidelines on when patients should be referred to hospitals for such surgery.

The results of the research have been published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Pierre Martin-Hirsch said: “Many women who are worried may have normal sized labia minora. Clear guidance is needed for clinicians on how best to care for women seeking surgery.”