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Why Ellie had plastic surgery at 18

A teenager who had plastic surgery a week after her 18th birthday says it has given her the confidence that has changed her life. Ellie Baird had been dieting since she was 15 and suffered with an eating disorder that left her weighing just 7 stone 12lb.

The Oakham School border hated her body and the dieting had left her flat chested. In March she had a breast enlargement operation that she says has given her the confidence that has allowed her to get on with her life.

She says it has nothing to with vanity. "I'm literally a different person." says Ellie, she added: "You shouldn't have it done for vanity reasons. I knew it was what I needed to be confident and more myself and to stop dieting. Now I don't worry about dieting. I didn't do it to pursue a career or for attention. I did it for my self esteem and it has worked, I'm a different person, more confident."

Ellie said: "I started dieting at 15 when I was a lot fatter. I was in boarding house and everyone shares clothes but I couldn't fit into theirs. They were about a size eight and about 5ft 6in. I was 5ft 11in and a size 14, that's the reason I started dieting.

"I used to have a tuck box full of cakes and crisps and one day I gave it to my friend and said, ' I don't want to eat this any more."

Despite the support, Ellie continued to lose weight. She had long-talked about having her breasts enlarged and last November, after watching a Trinny and Suzannah programme on TV, decided to go ahead with it.

After some discussion, her father said he would speak to a surgeon and her mother remained sceptical and didn't want her to have it done.

In December 2007 her mother accompanied her to the consultation, "and that was when she saw a photo of how flat chested I was. I was a boy, I had nothing at all. Now she understood why I didn't feel feminine at all. From then on she was very supportive."

Ellie's weight reached an all time low of 7stone 12 lb just before the £7,000 operation, which her surgeon refused to do until she had turned 18.

Her ordeal was filmed for a BBC documentary Alesha, Look But Don't Touch, presented by singer Alesha Dixon about the pressure on women to conform to an ideal body type.

Cameras filmed the operation at King Edward VII Hospital in London as saline implants were inserted via her armpits.

She said: "I was a 32AA and wanted to be a 32C but my surgeon Barry Jones told me my body wouldn't be able to handle bigger than a B cup. I just kept thinking, 'are they going to be what I want them to be?' He said if I went to a C cup you would see the inplant.

"There is a very embarrassing clip in the programme of me coming round from anaesthetic which my friends have laughed at me for. I say 'Have I got boobs?' I don't have any recollection of saying it. Apparently they had to put my hands on my chest so I knew they were there."

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