Women turn to plastic surgery in pursuit of the perfect vagina

Vagina envy is real.

So, instead of leaving well enough alone, some women are opting to get a so-called designer vagina and undergoing labiaplasties to contour floppy, protruding inner lips. Some also are seeking liposuction to slim fatty pubic mounds.

Although some patients request medical intervention because the way their bodies are configured makes them feel uncomfortable riding bicycles or doing other physical activities, the single biggest reason women request genital cosmetic surgery is aesthetics. According to a study recently published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 60 percent of British women and girls who requested labiaplasty did so just to improve the appearance of their genitals. For many, despite the wide range of female genitalia, the desired ideal is a neat, symmetrical, practically prepubescent look.

"It's now become in vogue," said Dr. Pamela Dyer-Goode, of Renew Medspa Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine in Society Hill (www.renewmed-spa.com). "It's fueled by the porno industry. Back in the day, women didn't look at pornography. . . . I've had women come and tell me, 'I want to look like a porno star.' "

Dr. Alyssa Dweck, co-author of the forthcoming book V is for Vagina (Ulysses Press, 2012), sees the same thing in her Westchester, N.Y., obstetrics-gynecology practice.

"The biggest complaint is, 'Get rid of this camel toe [large labia] for me,' " she said. "Especially since people are wearing yoga clothes as regular clothing throughout the day. . . . I talk some people out of it. The first thing I normally do when somebody comes in with a complaint like this is reassure them that their labia don't look abnormal.

"I have to show pictures to women, especially young women, because they will sort of sheepishly ask, 'Do I look normal down there? Is this what other people look like?' "

Dweck, who devoted a chapter in her book to the subject of labiaplasty and vaginoplasty, added, "It's not something I take lightly."