Sara, who would only give her first name, is 35. She's married and recently gave birth to her first child. She is unhappy with the way her body has changed: “After I gave birth, I tried very hard to lose weight. I went to the gym and tried many different diets but nothing worked. One of my friends suggested that I do liposuction and have the extra fat removed from my body. I had seen a lot of advertisements regarding this in the satellite programs. After some consultations, however, I realized that not all doctors, or clinics, are trustworthy since many of them do not have the necessary specialties.”
This conversation might have sounded strange to Iranians a decade ago, but today such surgeries are performed regularly in Iran. Botox, lip augmentation, upper eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and eye lift procedures are among the cosmetic surgeries that Iranian women are interested in. These procedures are not cheap, however, and sometimes they cost more than a few months’ salary for someone making the minimum income as defined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Iran — minimum income of a single laborer is $270 per month, whereas a chin reduction procedure on average costs $1,500 to $2,100.
