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'I've had 100 operations and will never stop' - inside China's cosmetic surgery boom 6 hours ago Share Save Natalia Zuo BBC Eye Share Save BBC Abby Wu, who's had more than 100 operations, is one of China's first cosmetic surgery influencers Abby Wu was just 14 when she had cosmetic surgery for the first time. After receiving hormone treatment for an illness, Abby's weight increased from 42kg (6 stone 8lbs) to 62kg (9 stone 11lbs) in two months. The change hadn't gone unnoticed by her drama teacher.
"My teacher said, 'You were our star but now you're too fat. Either give up or lose weight fast,'" recalls Abby, who was preparing for her drama exams at the time. Abby's mother stepped in, taking her to get liposuction to remove fat from her belly and legs.
Abby remembers her mother's words as she waited in the clinic in a hospital gown, nervous about the impending operation. "Just be brave and walk in. You'll become pretty once you're out.
" The surgery was traumatic. Abby was only given partial anaesthesia and remained conscious throughout. "I could see how much fat was extracted from my body and how much blood I was losing," she says.
Family handout Abby pictured before she had her first surgery, aged 14 Now 35, Abby has gone on to have more than 100 procedures, costing half a million dollars. She co-owns a beauty clinic in central Beijing and has become one of the most recognisable faces of China's plastic surgery boom. But the surgeries have come at a physical cost.
Sitting in front of a mirror inside her luxury duplex apartment in Beijing, she gently dabs concealer onto bruises from a recent face-slimming injection - a procedure she undergoes monthly to help her face appear "firmer and less chubby" after three jaw reduction surgeries removed too much bone. But she insists she has no regrets about the surgeries and believes her mother made the right decision all those years ago. "The surgery worked.
I became more confident and happier, day by day. I think my..
. Natalia Zuo.
