A teenager can get a new nose, a woman a more ample cleavage or become a virgin again — virtually any operation can be supplied for this year’s holidays.
While the United States is a very religious country, it is also the one that lives up to a reputation of Christmas extravagance.
“All forms of gift with a certificate for an appointment can be put in an envelope under the Christmas tree,” said Peter Fodor, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles.
Anything is possible, according to Esmeralda Vanegas, owner of the Ridgewood Health and Beauty Centre in New York, where she has drawn attention through her “revirgination” programmes.
Reconstruction of the hymen or vagina can cost as little as $1Â 800, she boasts.
It is for “women who want to please their husband or their lover and they know that he wants to experience intercourse with a virgin. They also know it is a fantasy for their companion,” she said.
“It is always the same purpose,” according to Vanegas, a Cuban-born businesswoman. “Impress a man.”
The centre and other surgeons that offer the hymenoplasty have released exotic adverts inviting women to “develop your G-spot”.
Vanegas’s centre says it carries out five vagina operations a month.
She warns that women must think well in advance of Christmas before considering such a move, as sex is not possible for six weeks afterwards.
While many surgeons say the operation should be covered by health insurance, critics, including some women’s groups, say the operation is demeaning for women because they are only intended as a seductive tactic.
Fodor says more and more husbands are offering such operations as gifts, estimating annual growth of about 5% to 10% each year for his own business.
But he said doctors have to be aware to make sure “there is really internal motivation and whether the person would have done it without a gift”.
Some people say they are “offended” by the gift, but still come to see him.
Lawrence Reed, a New York plastic surgeon, said Christmas and the other end-of-year holidays are “the peak of activity” because “people want to be beautiful for the end of the year”.
The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery estimates that 35% of all operations its members carry out are paid for through gifts.
Americans spent $12-billion on plastic surgery in 2004, principally for liposuction, breast implants and eyelifts. Ninety percent of the 12-million operations were on women, the academy said.
While many people worry about the economy, Americans are not afraid to show at Christmas that they can afford to spend to excess on just about everything.
The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, which represents the glitzy stores of Los Angeles, has selected 10 end-of-year presents to recommend publicly to its clientele of Hollywood stars, producers and other California tycoons.
The top present this year, it says, is the special-edition Beverly Hills of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur with customised wheels equipped with glitter lights and other luxury additions to justify a price tag of $220Â 000.
It has also chosen to highlight earrings encrusted with 10,18 carats of diamonds that cost $210Â 000 and a Beverly Hilton bed set for $4Â 500.
But if there is anyone that does not want to break the bank on themselves or a loved one this Christmas, the Chamber of Commerce list recommends a cheapy holiday cup cake from Sprinkles Cupcakes made from sweet cream butter, bittersweet Callebaut chocolate, pure Madagascar bourbon vanilla and real chocolate sprinkles from France — at only $19,50 a packet. — Sapa-AFP