Posted on 04/14/2011 8:49:09 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
A 7-year-old girl named Samantha Shaw got plastic surgery because her mother feared bullies. The young girl has cup ears that protruded, and one of which also exhibited the condition known as lop ear. Did the family go too far?
The little girl had been teased over her ears, and her parents finally decided that surgery to 'fix' the issue was the only solution. The procedure is called otoplasty where the ears are pinned back. This is extreme at such a young age, and going under the knife is not exactly completely safe. There are many complications that can occur, and the girl's mother reported that the anesthesia made her daughter ill.
Little Samantha Shaw took her first plane ride ever on her journey to the Big Apple where she got her new ears from Dr. Steven Pearlman. The Little Babyface Foundation helped ensure that the little girl's plastic surgery was free. This group helps provide this type of procedure for children who need it.
The 7-year-old has endured being called monkey ears in her short life, and her mom said that adults were the worst at calling out the unusual feature. She was thrilled about getting the surgery and when she had healed, Samantha Shaw also appeared to really love how her ears had turned out, which is good news for her. It does seem like not being self-conscious about her ears will help Samantha's self-confidence.
What do you think? Were big ears that stuck out a reason to get plastic surgery at such a young age? It wasn't affecting her hearing, but her mother felt it was affecting her personality. The video below is the GMA interview about the unusual procedure.
Every bully in any schoolyard will now target Samantha for being such a cosmetic surgery freak.
I had to put up with being called ‘ugly’ throughout my childhood. My face was asymmetrical; still is that way. Much later men told me I was beautiful, but that isn’t really important, at least not to me.
Back then, there was nothing that could be done. In high school my best friend, who had an enormous hooked nose, underwent plastic surgery, and it changed her life radically - and all for the better.
So this little girl had her ears done; so what?
I think she looked darling with those ears, but I’m neither her nor her mother. My opinion doesn’t count, and that should be the way it is.
Knowing that she is loved, appreciated, and valued by her parents would have made her ears a lot less relevant.
Looking at the ears I don’t think the parents went too far.. I could see doing it or not doing it...
Seriously. What a BS title. Its not like she got a boob job. Pinning back ears has been done for years on little kids. I even remember a black and white TV episode of "Leave it to Beaver" where one of the kids discussed with his parents having it done by a doctor.
Nothing wrong in loving parents working to improve things for their kids.
Bullies, though, will find any reason to attack those whom they happen to dislike.
Nowhere as extreme, but my son had a good sized strawberry birthmark on his lip. When he was 5, he had surgery to remove it. We had it done because we knew it would be a detriment to him. He is now 20 and I am so glad it was done. People can be cruel and I did not want him going to school and having it be the focal point. We did it prior to him starting school, so it was a done deal before it could be an issue. Until I read this post, I almost forgot! He has a tiny scar, but that is it. I look at his photos from when he was a toddler and know it was the right decision.
I have the same kind of ears. It doesn’t matter much at my age now, but when I was a kid, and even during my Navy years, it was a pain in the ass. Especially, since I also have bad hearing and had to suffer jokes and lame humor about that as well.
If it had been available back then, I would have walked barefoot across country to get that kind of surgery.
I seem to remember that. I think we tend to think negatively of cosmetic surgery because it's so abused by the vain but it does have it's valid uses. I say this little girl is one of those examples.
You express my feeling, exactly. Your opinion does count.
That's the sort of thing that she will appreciate twenty or thirty years down the road. Right now, it' s cold comfort to a child being picked on incessantly. Good for her parents for loving her enough to do something about it now.
Our daughter was born with a mild form of muscular dystrophy. She ran & walked tip toe until she was a sophomore in high school. Sure she had some teasing, but it never discouraged her. With the loving support of her parents reminding her that she was a gift from God, her self esteem rarely wavered and when it did, with God's guidance, we helped her retrieve it back tenfold. It's called building character that counts with values that count in the eyes of God, not man.
I disagree. Many of us were bullied and our parents didn’t resort to plastic surgery for us at the tender age of 7. My belief is that with enough emotional support from her parents, it just wouldn’t have been that important to her. I knew kids who had physical problems and the teasing just rolled right off them. Largely because they had a healthy home environment.
Yes, exactly.
Some parents “love” their daughters so much that they get them breast implants when they’re 12.
Pictures of before and after? If the ear job was done well, Samantha may look normal now. However that would not stop any cruel children who learned of Samantha’s surgery or knew her before.
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