Afraid of being rejected by boyfriends and professional colleges, more and more short-statured Chinese girls are queueing up for a painful and expensive cosmetic leg-lengthening surgery.

"I can take the pain, I feel great. I am going to stretch my legs by 10 cm and then I will continue my studies," Yun Yun says bravely from her hospital bed while showing off her two broken legs in metal frames.

The 17-year-old girl, only 147 cm tall, decided to undergo cosmetic leg-lengthening surgery to become tall, the 'Shanghai Star' reports on the latest fad in the modern Chinese society.

She recently had surgery on her shin bones in a hospital in east China's Hangzhou city. Now the metal frames on both legs are forcing her to stay in bed for at least four months.

To grow 10 cm, she is going to turn dials on the metal frames, pulling the broken bones apart 1 mm a day. Her parents paid 20,000 yuan (2,415 US Dollars) for the operation, hoping to improve their daughter's chances for career and personal life.

"I don't want to become a model or an actress, but I want a good job later on," she says.

With her 147 cm, Yun Yun's job opportunities are very limited. She would not be tall enough to qualify for many universities.

For example, law schools accept females only over 155 cm and males should be over 165 cm saying short advocates or judges will lack authority in court, the report said.

Foreign language departments and most international oriented studies have height requirements as well.

There are many reports on girls who have been dumped by boyfriends because they were too short.

Many Chinese teenage girls are flocking to Jiangon Hospital of Zhang Wanzhong who is a known expert in this field.

Zhang has been performing this leg-lengthening surgery for more than 20 years, bringing fame and money to this hospital in Hangzhou. Most of Zhang's patients have grown by an average of 10 cm. One of his patient gained a record 22 cm.

Stating that this operation does not only improve stature but promotes psychological growth he said "after surgery, people have more confidence".

Originally this method of leg-lengthening was developed to cure dwarfism. In the initial operation the surgeon cuts the bones but leaves muscles, vessels or tissue untouched. A metal fixation device with pins pierces the skin and is screwed into the bone above and below the break.

The new bone will grow 1 mm a day. Patients turn dials on the metal frame each day, pulling the bones apart by one millimetre. "Usually the patients decide how many centimetres they want to grow. If the constitution of muscles and vessels is fine, we will do it," Zhang said.

Many doctors offer cosmetic leg lengthening surgery, which can cost over 100,000 yuan ($12,077). However, if the doctor is not qualified, the results can be devastating. Bones will not grow together, or the legs will have different lengths. There may also be deformations of knees and angles leaving the patients crippled for the rest of their lives, Zhang warned.

Published on 29^th July 2002