Women from the US, Europe and other rich countries with high medical costs are flocking to have their tummy tucks and liposuctions done for less in places like Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina.
The best evidence of a trend is probably the emergence of a nascent cottage industry of travel companies specialized in what is sometimes called “lipotourism” (a term registered as a trademark by an Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, doctor). At least three start-ups offer choices of physicians and maintain their own multilingual support teams in Brazil. The Pioneer: MedNetBrazil, was launched by American, Christi deMoraes in Brazil after her own surgeries and experience….
Price is the biggest incentive for prospective patients. Depending partly on the often fluctuating exchange rate, total expenditures in Brazil usually run from one-third to one-half of what the same procedure would cost in the United States, say insiders. An unscientific poll based on five dozen responses from members of PSJ found that about 40% saved $10,000-30,000 by going outside the US; another 40% saved $2,000-10,000. “It is like going abroad to buy a Mercedes and bringing it back without paying taxes,” said Marcel Bates, co-founder with his wife Lily of the PSJ website.
Brazil stands out from much of the cut-rate Third World crowd because it can keep a straight face as it offers First World quality. A Brazilian economist once dubbed the country “Belindia” – a place where the best of Belgium coexists with the worst poverty of a place like India. For those who live on the “Belgian side,” plastic surgery is common. Over 600,000 operations were performed in 2004, including over 365,000, almost 60%, for purely aesthetic reasons, according to a Gallup poll conducted in conjunction with the SBCP. Brazil has been a recognized international leader in the area for decades. Indeed it might be the only country with a procedure named after it: the Brazilian butt lift. Though cheaper than the northern hemisphere, Brazil isn’t the rock-bottom option. “Anybody who is worried only about cost can go to Argentina or Thailand,” said Peter Ryan, president of Cosmetic Vacations.
Plastic surgery tourism for regular gringas in Brazil may have started with Pitanguy. São Paulo-based physician Bernando Froes graduated from the Pitanguy Institute in 1991. He remembers small numbers of foreign commoners who had made their way to Rio for nips and tucks. “There weren’t many patients, but there were people who served as intermediaries,” recalls Froes. “And they made money that way.”
Pitanguy may be a household name in Brazil, but most foreigners only come across him when they begin to do their homework. “Not everybody knows that Brazil is one of the countries that develop techniques,” said a woman from Ashville, North Carolina, who went to Brazil to remove redundant skin following a gastric bypass operation and subsequent loss of 85 pounds. “Pitanguy has been on the national news, but none of us know that until we start getting serious.”
Christi de Moraes, MedNetBrazil, got serious in July 2002 when she moved south with her then-Brazilian husband. Suffering from morbid obesity, she had underwent weight-loss surgery in the USA and was ready for total body reconstruction. That experience led to the idea of a concierge service for foreigners that evolved into MedNetBrazil. By May 2003, the first of her now hundreds of patients had landed. She now shares her time on either side of the equator, adding more exceptional surgeons to the network as options for her clients and reminding people that Brazil is THE Internationally recognized Capital for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery through Conferences and Presentations (5 total since 2005) where you can often meet the surgeon in the USA first before you go.
Her more than 5 years of expertise in specialized Brazilian Plastic Surgery Techniques, Post-Weight-Loss Reconstruction and other “Extreme Makeovers” has widened her calling now and MedNetBrazil is extending their services through consulting not only for patients but for other Medical Tourism or Medical Concierge services.
Full service companies like Cosmetic Vacations and MedNetBrazil meet patients at the airport with bilingual guides and arrange all of the logistics, including lodging and transfers to and from the hospital. Bilingual nurses and other specialists attend to patients as they complete their recovery periods in hotel rooms or short-term rental apartments after release from the hospital. “Most people want their hands held,” noted Ryan. Length-of-stay depends on the procedure, but the average is about two weeks, he added.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has released a white paper that urges caution for patients thinking about heading abroad. The warnings essentially boil down to buyer beware. “In the United States and some other countries there is quality assurance and more regulatory control,” said Scott Spear, professor and chief of Plastic Surgery at the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C., in an interview. “When you leave home you take on an added risk, and when you go to a Third World country even more so.”
The surge in plastic surgery travel notwithstanding, such words do not fall on deaf ears. Indeed they find especially fertile ground among friends and family. “When you first tell people that you’re thinking of having plastic surgery, they think you’re crazy,” said PSJ’s Lily Bates. “Then when you tell them you’re going abroad they think you’ll be taken to a back alley and butchered.” The North Carolina woman’s partner, a retired medical professional, at first joked with her: “Make sure the price includes a cardboard box to send you back.” But after he saw the before-and-after photographs of the Brazilian surgeon’s patients and heard their testimonials, he encouraged her to go.
Even among prospective patients doing their background checks, misconceptions often persist. “Some people think they’ll be going to the Amazon,” laughed Moraes. “One asked whether we use disposable needles.”
Full-service operators try to eliminate some of the worry by helping prospective patients perform due diligence on physicians and hospitals, an often difficult task given language barriers and an unfamiliar bureaucracy. “We take the time to check on the surgeons, to see, for example, if they have any complaints registered against them,” said Ryan.
Despite names like Cosmetic Vacations and Vanity Medical Holidays, the most reputable firms are all business. “We play down the vacation aspect,” said Ryan. Most patients take a similar attitude, although they can’t be blamed for dreaming about a return trip to the tropics. “I’m not here for tourism,” said Kramp. “But I would love to come back and spend some time on this beautiful beach.”
Resources on International Cosmetic Surgery
Plastic Surgery Journeys – discussion forums and more
Brazilian Plastic Surgery Oversight Agencies
Brazilian Institute for Oversight in Sanitary Inspection
Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP)
Tags: abdominoplasty, Brazil, breast augmentation, butt implants, butt lift, capital, lifting of butt, lower body lift, massive weight loss, plastic surgery, reconstruction, rio, rio de janeiro, Sao Paulo, tummy tuck
