I am not yet at goal, so this wont apply for a little while yet. But I've been considering and doing some research. With my weight loss I have had redistribution of body fat and now I am proportioned differently than I used to be. I have a lot of loose tissue on my stomach that makes well fitting clothes a very difficult find. I am not opposed to plastic surgery in the slightest. But should I wait until after I have kids? I am 24 now and not even married. Due to my career choice, kids won't happen until 30 at the earliest. I would like to have a tummy tuck and breast lift: the 2 things most affected by pregnancy. But I also want to be able to enjoy looking good in my 20s. Thoughts?

I'm not opposed to cosmetic surgery either. After all this hard ork, if I want to spend the money to really enjoy it, that's my choice!
I'm waiting until after kids, although I plan to have kids soon. I say you should weight, I totally get wanting to look good in your 20's but plastic surgery is Expensive! It would be a shame if it went to waste and you potentially have the same issue after pregnancy.

I haven't lost the weight yet, but I have a pretty large chest. Some of my relatives have had reductions, but I decided that I'm going to wait until I have all my children out of the way (probably mid-30s) before I do because I wouldn't want to have the surgery twice. I too picked a career where women have children later (I plan on having my first one by the time I'm 28 or 29 in my second or third year of residency). I would LOVE to look good in my 20s, but I'm going to wait until after children because my fiance loves me just the way I am.

If you're career is such that you are postponing marriage and children, have the cosmetic surgery. Only 24?? Yeah - you may not have to address this issue for another 10 years, at least.

Tuck it and be happy with it - it will all change again after babies...not a bad thing, necessarily, but it will change.

From a 30-Something.

if i were you i would go for it now! i don't speak from any experince but i am almost 23 and that's the whole point of my weight loss right now, besides being healthy, i want to be able to wear bikini's for a few years before the children. If you have to have a touch up after children then so be it, as long as you can afford it. Can you put a price tag on confidence?

If you're not going to have kids for a while I say go for it. If you have to get it touched up in your 30's then thats the way it goes, a small price to pay for feeling good about yourself now I think. I'm waiting until I'm done having kids, but I already have 2 girls and am wanting a few more in the next couple years. I would just recommend making sure they do the breast lift in a way that they don't cut around the nipple because that can interfere with the ability to express breast milk (not the ability to make it, but for the baby to actually get it).

I've considered surgery now. Like you I've also thought about having children and if I should wait. But as of right now I don't want children, since I'm going to law school next semester and would want to be established before having children. So in my situation, once I hit my ultimate goal I would have the surgery.

I'm having a breast reduction in a few weeks. I've been told to wait until I have kids, but I don't know when that will be. I figure if continuing weight loss and having children affects the look of my breasts more than I can handle, I'll just go back in an get a touch-up.

I say definitely wait...having kids changes your body drastically, especially after the second one. I think a lot of it is because of the hormones and stuff...and also, I don't know about all women, but myself and a couple of my friends have all had c-sections, and the lower tummy always suffers more than that of a woman who has a normal birth. We call it the "kangaroo pouch" lol.

Bottom line, it would suck to pay for plastic surgery, then have kids and wish you could do it again.

I am going to be on the other side of the fence and say go for it.. I am only 21 but my body wasn't changed AT ALL due to pregnancy so your body doesn't always change.I would say go for it now!

If you're not even considering kids for another 6 years, I'd go for it now. Especially if you can afford it!! I'm waiting until after I'm done having my kids, but if I could afford it right now, I'd probably do it before & after! Like some other people have said, you definitely can't put a price on how confident you feel about yourself.

I think it would be good to wait until after kids if you were engaged or already married and planning to have kids within a year or so.

But since you're single... I'd say do it when you reach your goal. Because if you wait, it could be 10 years before you do it.

I had the tummy tuck, breast lift, and implants a year and a half ago. My weight remained the same for a year despite eating a restrictive diet and exercising an hour a day seven days a week. I saw a plastic surgeon and we discussed kids. Since I don't plan on having any it wasn't much of a consideration but what she advised me was if I planted on having children within the next 5 years I should wait for the surgery.

Having kids would reverse the work done in the tummy tuck. They stitch the abdominal muscles together and when you have a tummy tuck because are torn obese or pregnant. If you've had a tummy tuck and gain your weight back or become pregnant you will tear out the permanent stitches that are put into place. (Since i have such a low level of stomach fat i can actually feel those stitches). Having a lift and implants results in damage to the nerves in the breast and can result in damage to the milk ducts. Some people are not able to breastfeed. It’s a hard decision. I still have significant amounts of feeling loss because of a combination of the surgery and the never damage done by the obesity. The doctor basically told me if I was going to have kids within 5 years I should wait.

You should not consider having the surgery until your weight is stable for 1 year. And most reputable plastic surgeons will not do the surgery until your weight has been stable for a year. So since you haven’t reached your goal and you have to wait until after you hit your goal it might not be worth it. However, I will say I haven’t reached my goal weight. The reason I did my surgery was my weight stabilized and would budge. My surgeon thinks all of my excessive weight is because of the skin. I have a lot of it. I had 11 pounds taken off my stomach. However I have gained significant muscle mass since the surgery so I’m back at my pre-opt weight (about 5 pounds up since when my lowest post-opt weight). I still have probable 30 pounds that will come off when I have my lower body lift.

My best advice is once your weight is stable talk to a surgeon. A lot will give free consultations and discuss your concerns.

On a side not my sister and I struck a deal that she would carry my kids for me so not to reverse the effects of my surgery if I’d pay for her to have a mommy makeover.