Unidentified Man #1: OK, stand by, here we go.
Lights, music. OPRAH WINFREY: Twenty-six surgeries and she's only 28. Ms. JENNY BURTON: He said to me, `I'm warning you, your nose will collapse,' and I said, `I'll roll the dice.' WINFREY: Nose, breasts, cheeks--you name it. You looked at Michael Jackson's nose and said, `That's the nose I want.' Addicted to plastic surgery. If his wife gets one more lipo, he's gone. Do you mean it when you say you're going to leave? And a moment that stopped our show. Mrs. CHERYL KAISER: I can't. I'm done. WINFREY: Next. Hi. Hi. Thank you. Whoa, whoa, whoa. All right then. OK. OK, have a seat. Thank you for coming. OK. Well, OK, this is going to be interesting, because they are America's newest junkies. They put their bodies through agony. They rack up thousands of dollars of debt. Some are destroying their families. Some are destroying themselves. Jenny Lee Burton is only 28 years old, and listen to this, she's already had 26 plastic surgeries. That's true. Ms. BURTON: Growing up, people would tell me that I was such a pretty little girl and that I should be a model, and they said I resembled Julia Roberts a lot. I don't think I look like Julia Roberts anymore. WINFREY: That's because Jenny Burton says she became a slave to the scalpel. It started with one critical comment. Ms. BURTON: My ex-husband told me that my nose was too big, that my boobs were too small. So eventually, I got a boob job to stop the comments. It just moved from a bad relationship with him to a bad relationship between me and my reflection. After the divorce, plastic surgery became an obsession for me. Today I look nothing like I did when I was married to my ex-husband. Plastic surgery for me is like a drug because it's all I can think about. I brought my plastic surgeon pictures of what I wanted: Michael Jackson's thin nose, Angelina Jolie's lips, Jennifer Lopez's profile, Jennifer Aniston's jaw and cheek bones. I was 25 when I had my brow-lift--25. WINFREY: She's also had Botox, cheek implants, three nose jobs, veneers on her teeth, three lip implants, two boob jobs, three breast lifts, and liposuction on her arms, stomach, hips, thighs and knees. Ms. BURTON: The total cost of everything that I've had done is about $80,000. WINFREY: But even all these surgeries have failed to stop Jenny from scrutinizing her imagined imperfections. Take a look. Ms. BURTON: I don't know what perfection is for me. I don't want this look. I'm trying to avoid looking completely unnatural. WINFREY: Jenny says the seduction of perfection is worth the pain. Ms. BURTON: Whatever the postoperative pain that I'm going through is not near as bad as the way I feel when I look at the mirror and I see something I'm very unhappy with. And I had told my doctor, I said if I could do this every day of my life, I would. Every day. WINFREY: But Jenny's addiction to plastic surgery has left her self-esteem more shattered than ever before. Ms. BURTON: People don't recognize me in some of my older family pictures, and they say, `Who's this person?' and they're in shock. And they said, `What have you done to yourself?' I wish I had never started this. I feel like I'm broken and that I need to be fixed. WINFREY: What do you see when you look in the mirror now? Ms. BURTON: I still see a lot of imperfections. I still see a lot of things that are wrong. I still want other things done. I'm unhappy with stretch marks left from pregnancy and I would like a tummy tuck. I still see imperfections in my nose and wrinkles around my eyes, and all kinds of stuff. WINFREY: And you're 28. Ms. BURTON: Twenty-eight. WINFREY: And you're 28. OK. You're 28. Now, see, I'm looking at you. You look kind of--you look like Barbie to me. Ms. BURTON: That's what my daughter says. WINFREY: Yeah, you look like Barbie. You look like eve--doesn't she look like Barbie? Audience: (In unison) Yeah. WINFREY: OK. And I think that's good if you work for the Mattel company, you know. Ms. BURTON: Yeah. WINFREY: I think that's, you know, good. But what is inside you that you think needs to be fixed that causes you to not be able to look in the mirror and like what you see? Ms. BURTON: It's been a battle that I've had with my poor self-esteem that started a long time ago. And the continuous need to feel like I should fit in somehow and I never can fit in, so I... WINFREY: And so do you think that there's something you can do to your nose? Do you think the next surgery will make your nose be whatever or your lips be whatever? Is there something you can do to your body that's going to make you fit in? Do you logically think that at this point? Ms. BURTON: I don't think anything I do to my nose or to my body will make me fit in, because I just don't think I do fit in. I'm trying to achieve some sort of acceptance and contentment with my reflection, and I know where I'd like my nose to be. I don't think it's possible that it will ever get there. WINFREY: Where do you want it to be? Like you looked at Michael Jackson's current nose- I'm asking this as a serious question- and you looked at Michael Jackson's current nose, and you said, `That's the nose I want.' Ms. BURTON: I wanted to make sure that my plastic surgeon understood that I wanted my nose drastically thinned out, so in order to give him an example, Michael Jackson was a great example. WINFREY: OK. Ms. BURTON: I like the way that Jennifer Lopez's nose looked from the side, so I wanted it- I wanted the projection to go down, and so I used those two pictures... WINFREY: So you've already had, though, how many nose jobs? Ms. BURTON: Three. WINFREY: Three nose jobs. Let's go back to look at Jenny's original picture where you said people used to tell you you looked like Julia Roberts. Tell me what was wrong with that picture? Ms. BURTON: Nothing. WINFREY: OK. Ms. BURTON: Nothing. WINFREY: Nothing was wrong with that picture. See anything wrong. When you look at the two pictures, who is the prettier to you? Is one prettier than the other? Ms. BURTON: I think that sh--that this picture is just a different person, and I think that the picture on the left is equally as beautiful as the picture on the right. WINFREY: OK. Let's look at your nose there. So you've had three nose jobs. What was wrong with your nose then that you felt that it needed to be different? Ms. BURTON: I was told by my ex-husband that it was too big and that it needed to be changed and, along with other things, and nobody had ever said that to me before. So I thought, well, surely all these people, I guess, were trying to be nice to me all of these years and tell me how cute and pretty I was, and he was the only one that was honest with me. WINFREY: Keyword here is ex. Ms. BURTON: Ex. WINFREY: Keyword here is ex. Ms. BURTON: Yeah. WINFREY: Yeah. So now you re--do you regret all the surgeries? Ms. BURTON: I regret not taking enough time to think about all of the things that I had done. I just jumped into it. I got the money to do it and I did it. And I--it--I mean, I spent more time thinking about what kind of house I was going to buy, what kind of car I was going to drive, than I did what I was going to do to myself permanently that would last me for the rest of my life. WINFREY: OK. So would you say you're an addict? You would... Ms. BURTON: I would say I'm obsessed with it. WINFREY: You're obsessed with it. Ms. BURTON: I would say--I don't know what an addict is when it comes to--like I've never been addicted to drugs. I've never been addicted to alcohol. So if this is what addiction is, then, yes, I'm addicted to it. When I think about it all the time and it... WINFREY: You think about it all the time? Ms. BURTON: All the time, every day. WINFREY: And you said on the tape that you would--if you could do it every day, you would. Ms. BURTON: Every day. WINFREY: And when you mean do it, you mean like go under the knife and be cut? Ms. BURTON: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: You would do it every day? And the feeling that you're looking for is not the going under the knife and being cut, but whatever results from that? Ms. BURTON: The end result, hoping that there will be something better that awaits me when it's all over. WINFREY: OK. And when you realistically ask yourself that question, what do you think that could be? Because you've done it, and you've done it, and you've done it, and you've done it, and you're not satisfied. So realistically when you look in the mirror or you examine yourself and you say `I'm now going to have'--what do you want to have done next? Ms. BURTON: So many things. WINFREY: So many things. OK, like what? Ms. BURTON: My number one priority right now is the Botox around the eyes for the crow's-feet. WINFREY: Are these cheek implants or what... Ms. BURTON: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: You have cheek implants. OK. So you now want Botox around the eyes because? Ms. BURTON: I'm trying to prevent wrinkles. I'm trying to prevent them from making the permanent lines in my face that then have to be--face-lift, you know, where they cut you to pull it back. WINFREY: But you've had a face-lift, right, or did you... Ms. BURTON: I've had--brow-lift. WINFREY: Brow-lift, OK. So a brow-lift is just--What?--from here to there? Ms. BURTON: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: And they cut this and then lift that? Ms. BURTON: They cut you from ear to ear. Yeah. WINFREY: They cut you from ear to ear, mm-hmm, and do that and then pull up your brow. Ms. BURTON: Mm-hmm. WINFREY: Yeah. Ms. BURTON: Cut your muscles in between your eyes and so that you can't... WINFREY: Frown. Ms. BURTON: ...make the mean face. WINFREY: OK. And then what else do you want done? Ms. BURTON: I would like a body lift which is basically circumferential. They cut you all the way around your stomach and kind of to your rear, and like pulling up a pair of pantyhose. They just pull it up, so it... WINFREY: And what would you be pulling up? I'm trying to figure... Ms. BURTON: Skin. WINFREY: You'd be pulling up your skin, so you're cut from around your waist... Ms. BURTON: Like a tummy tuck, but it extends all the way to the back, and it goes down, and it lifts your rear, the sides, the front, like a tummy tuck, and then they do it in the inside of your leg to do an inner thigh lift. You know, obviously, I would probably need a lower face-lift where, you know, when I'm 60 probably to have the skin pulled back here and then they do an arm lift where they cut from here to here, and they take the skin so, you know, if I'm 60 or 70 and I've got excess skin... WINFREY: Yeah. Yeah. Ms. BURTON: ...flapping, then I'll... WINFREY: Yeah, I know. I have that now. I call them my flags. Yeah. OK. Remember, Jenny's only 28 years old and has had 26 plastic surgeries. We'll be right back. Next, why Jenny's sister fears for her life. And later, a liposuction addict on the verge of losing everything. We'll be right back. Ms. BURTON: My daughter's almost 10. Her whole life, I've been having the plastic surgeries, so she doesn't even know what I look like as a natural person. I've always had a discussion with my daughter, `I might not make it out of surgery.' She cries and, you know, asks why I'm having the surgery. She says, `Mommy, you look like a Barbie doll. Why do you want to do something?' But I can't help it. I really can't help it. When my daughter sees pictures of me before I had any surgery, she doesn't recognize that that's me. We don't even look alike. I miss the resemblance that I had with my father. That's the worst. WINFREY: The truth is we are a nation obsessed with perfection, and Jenny Lee Burton is 28 years old and has had 26 plastic surgeries, five on her breasts, four to enlarge her lips, three nose jobs, cheek implants, and a brow-lift. She's also had liposuction on her legs, on her hips, on her stomach, on her arms, and as we were just discussing, she still wants more. We asked Jenny's younger sister, Lauren, how she feels about Jenny's obsession with her looks. Ms. LAUREN DAVIS: I'm 18, and my sister started plastic surgery when she was my age. WINFREY: Jenny's plastic surgery has made her sister, Lauren, feel insecure about her own looks. Ms. DAVIS: I feel like she's rejected my looks, as well as hers. I'm self-conscious about, you know, the way my nose looks now and how my eyebrows are too low or my breasts are too small or my hips are going to become too big. WINFREY: At the same time, Lauren sees her sister's radically changed appearance as disturbing. Ms. DAVIS: Honestly, I don't think that she would look as good as she would if she never had plastic surgery. I think that she looks plastic, I think fake almost, and materialistic. When we walk down the street, it's noticeable. It's almost kind of like a circus clown. I think she cut herself short. And she was beautiful even before she had her surgery. WINFREY: Mostly, Lauren wishes she and Jenny had something most sisters share: a family resemblance. Ms. DAVIS: It hurts to know that my sister's changed her face so much that we don't look alike. WINFREY: Do you think Jenny will ever stop? Ms. DAVIS: I don't think so. Only because once you start, she's going to have to continue on and fix little things down the road. WINFREY: Until she fixes herself. Ms. DAVIS: Right. WINFREY: Until she fixes her real self. Dr. Nancy Etcoff is a psychologist who teaches at Harvard Medical School. She's also written a book called "Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty." Isn't--this is indicative--I know everybody's like gasping and `Oh, my God' and every time she mentions something, but this is who we've become as a nation. Dr. NANCY ETCOFF: Exactly. We are a nation... WINFREY: That's the truth, people. Can we just all look at ourselves in the mirror? This is who we have become as a nation, correct? Dr. ETCOFF: Absolutely. We're a nation obsessed with beauty, pursuing it at all costs. We see images of perfect beauty everywhere. I'm also hearing something that people often don't know about called body dysmorphic disorder, BDD. WINFREY: OK. BDD. OK. Dr. ETCOFF: And what the... WINFREY: And what does that mean? Dr. ETCOFF: It's a psychiatric problem where people are preoccupied with an imagined or very slight defect. They can't stop thinking about it. They check the mirror all day. They spend hours thinking about it. They'll ask people, `How do I look?' Does this sound like something you've done? Ms. BURTON: Textbook. Dr. ETCOFF: Yeah. WINFREY: Well, this is what I thought was so interesting. You want Jennifer Aniston's chin. You want the side profile of Lopez. You want somebody else's something. And you put all of those together, they weren't meant to be... Dr. ETCOFF: Yes. WINFREY: ...you know. Dr. ETCOFF: Yes. WINFREY: That's what's odd to me. Yes, sir? Yeah. Unidentified Man #2: The question I have to ask is how many plastic surgeons have you been to? Ms. BURTON: Just two. Unidentified Man #2: Just two. And at no point did--was there any point that the plastic surgeon sat down with you and said, `You know, this is enough, I think you need to seek out psychiatric counseling?' Ms. BURTON: Many times, many times. WINFREY: Yeah. That's on my question list. Are you a plastic surgeon? Unidentified Man #2: Yes, I am. WINFREY: OK. Ms. BURTON: Many times, I've gone into the doctor and asked--even begged for something else, and he sends me away and says, `If you still feel the same way in a year, then come back and we'll talk about it.' And... WINFREY: And then you come back in a year? Ms. BURTON: I come back in a year that--I write it on my calendar and come back in a year. WINFREY: Really? What does your husband think, your current husband? Ms. BURTON: He thinks that I am the most beautiful woman in the world, and he wishes that I'd never do anything else again. WINFREY: Where are you getting--is your husband rich? Ms. BURTON: We live a comfortable life. WINFREY: OK. But, I mean, because aren't these surgeries expensive? Ms. BURTON: They are expensive. WINFREY: Yeah. Ms. BURTON: And I--but I was a single mom for a long time, and I would work extra jobs and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. WINFREY: In order to get the surgery. Ms. BURTON: I would just save every penny. I'd max out every credit card I had, whatever I could do. So, you know, if... WINFREY: So the question is have you sought psychological counseling? Ms. BURTON: Mm-hmm. The agreement I have with my psychiatrist now, he said, `I want you to stay out of the plastic surgeon's office for five years. Promise me that.' I said, `I can't promise anything. I'll try really hard.' WINFREY: This is so interesting to me. This is fascinating to me. I'm sure it is to you, too. Where is your self? Where is the self that knows who you are? Because three or four times here, you've said your ex-husband told you this and your sister's told you this, your family told you this, and your doctor told you this. What do you think? Where's your self? Ms. BURTON: I feel like my spirit was broken, and I'm trying very hard to find acceptance. But when I look at my reflection, I still don't like what I see, so I'm trying to grow, to accept what I see and like it. And if I could be just OK with it, just OK, I would be very happy just to be OK. WINFREY: Next, this woman's husband says one more surgery, he and the kids are going to be out of there. We'll be back. Interesting. WINFREY: We're talking to women who say they're hooked on plastic surgery. OK. Cheryl Kaiser is a mother of two who admits that she's addicted to liposuction, and she's willing to do anything to get it. Take a look. Mrs. KAISER: All you see is a big fat huge stomach with stretch marks. WINFREY: When Cheryl Kaiser looks at her reflection, she hates what she sees. Mrs. KAISER: I would think that you were seeing someone ugly, someone fat. WINFREY: To her, the answer is simple: plastic surgery. Mrs. KAISER: And once I started, I can't stop. WINFREY: What seemed like a quick fix rapidly grew into a full-blown obsession. Mrs. KAISER: I've had a breast reduction, liposuction of my upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles in the back, tummy tuck, tightening of my stomach muscles. It's like an alcoholic addiction, except it's with plastic surgery. WINFREY: Cheryl's obsession is taking a toll on her entire family, especially her husband, Brad. Mr. BRAD KAISER): I'm done. I've had enough with the plastic surgery. Our household can't take it anymore. It doesn't benefit me, and it doesn't benefit my children. WINFREY: The plastic surgery bills have put the family in serious debt. Brad works three jobs to pay off Cheryl's $15,000 medical tab. Mr. KAISER: It's not only a financial thing. It's hard to live in a house where somebody's always so unhappy about themselves. WINFREY: Brad and Cheryl both worry about their two children. Mr. KAISER: I have an 11-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. I don't need them growing up to be obsessive about their weight or their looks. Mrs. KAISER: My daughter, Carley, she doesn't want me to do it. She tells me every day how beautiful I am. But Carley's not a small girl, and I don't want her following in my footsteps. WINFREY: The final straw for Brad came when Cheryl told him she wanted liposuction on her legs. Mr. KAISER: I just simply said it wasn't an argument. You get it done, I'm leaving. I mean, it's over. I'm prepared to get a divorce and take our kids. Mrs. KAISER: He's tired. He's tired of it all. We can't afford it. I mean, we refinanced our house to do this, so I need to stop. WINFREY: Is it true you scoured your house looking for stuff to sell to pay for surgery? Mrs. KAISER: Yes. Yeah. WINFREY: Yeah. Mrs. KAISER: I sold lots of things. WINFREY: When did this start with you? Mrs. KAISER: After my second child is when I started the breast reduction. WINFREY: You started the breast reduction. Mrs. KAISER: And then... WINFREY: And how did you feel when she first said, `I want breast reduction'? Mr. KAISER: I was behind her because it was her self-image. She felt very self-conscious and just... WINFREY: About her breasts. Mr. KAISER: Her looks. She just felt--she wouldn't dress sexy. She would cover herself up when we would go out. A lot of times, she wouldn't want to go out. WINFREY: OK. So you were OK with the first breast reduction. Mr. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: OK. And then what happened? Mrs. KAISER: Then after the first breast reduction, I went to the liposuction on my lower abdomen and my love handles. And then after... WINFREY: What about working out and all that? What about that? Mrs. KAISER: I won't get into... WINFREY: No, I'm just asking, I'm just asking, what about that? Mrs. KAISER: I worked out, but I won't get into the workout clothes. I don't want people to see me--of what I look like in workout clothes. WINFREY: In workout clothes. Oh, so you're one of those people, you want to get thin before you go to the gym. Mrs KAISER: Correct. WINFREY: Oh, OK, All right. And so you got the love handles, OK. Mrs. KAISER: I got the lower abdomen and the love handles. WINFREY: OK. And were you satisfied? Mrs. KAISER: No, you're never satisfied. WINFREY: You're never satisfied. Mrs KAISER: No. WINFREY: No. Were you satisfied, or it didn't matter to you? Mr. KAISER: It didn't matter to me. I was satisfied before. WINFREY: You were satisfied before. But then when she had the liposuction here and then the love handles, were you then thinking, `We got a problem'? Or when did you start to think this was a problem? Mr. KAISER: No, I still was behind her, because she had had--after she--while she was pregnant, she had appendicitis with our son. And it kind of left a pouch. So once again, she was very self-conscious. Because of her self-consciousness, it also affected us in the bedroom and places... WINFREY: Brad, do you--self-consciousness would do that in the bedroom. Tell me this, do you mean it when you say you're going to leave? Do you mean that? Mr. KAISER: Yes, I do. WINFREY: You will leave. Mr. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: And it's not just about the surgery. It's about what? Mr. KAISER: It's about her needing to change herself... WINFREY: Yeah. Mr. KAISER: ...look at herself, because--I'm sorry. WINFREY: No sorry. You say you would leave, but you don't want to leave. Oh. Take a moment. You don't want to leave, but you've had enough. You've had enough and you don't know what to do. Mr. KAISER: That is correct. I wish she would just get help for herself... WINFREY: OK. Mr. KAISER: ...to realize she is a beautiful person. WINFREY: Are you willing to risk your marriage over this? Mrs. KAISER: No, I don't want to risk anything. I want my marriage to stay. WINFREY: You want your marriage to stay. Here's a man who obviously loves you. He obviously loves you and he obviously loves your thighs. He loves you and loves your thighs. But that has nothing to do with the way you feel about your thighs. Mrs. KAISER: No. WINFREY: OK. So what do you think would change if you had liposuction on your legs now? Mr. KAISER: My legs would be smaller. WINFREY: And then? Mrs. KAISER: Maybe I could get into a bathing suit. WINFREY: And then? Mrs. KAISER: Maybe I could get into clothes that I like. It will never end. It's always, OK, well, this looks good. Let's do something else. WINFREY: OK. Mrs. KAISER: If he would never say what says, I'd go back in. He... WINFREY: You would go back in. Mrs. KAISER: Oh, yes, I'd go back in tomorrow. WINFREY: He... Mrs. KAISER: If he would say that he would not leave me, I--he's 100 percent behind me, I'd be back in. WINFREY: Ok. Even though you put yourself into financial... Mrs. KAISER: We refinanced our house. WINFREY: Refinanced your house. Mrs. KAISER: He works three jobs. WINFREY: And he works three jobs. Mrs. KAISER: Yeah. WINFREY: So what kind of life is that? What kind of life is that really? This is so interesting to me because I think what you're s--you--when you say `I could get into the bathing suit,' the reason people want to get into bathing suits is because of the feeling that is created and the--ultimately you're looking for companionship and to be loved, and you seem to have that from him... Mrs. KAISER: Correct. WINFREY: ...and your children obviously love... Mrs. KAISER: Correct. WINFREY: ...and care for you. So I am just confused as to what it is you think the bathing suit or the next-- you know, an inch or two inches or whatever it is out of your thighs is going to do. Mrs. KAISER: Until the day I look in the mirror and say `I'm perfect,' that'll never happen. Dr. ETCOFF: And that, unfortunately... WINFREY: Well, who is perfect? Tell me who is. Mrs. KAISER: Well, not perfect, but until I look and say `I'm comfortable with myself.' WINFREY: And what would that have to take to make you be comfortable with yourself? Mrs. KAISER: More surgery. WINFREY: More surgery. Dr. ETCOFF: I will tell you that surgery won't do it, that you can look at Jenny's experience, your own, and you'll just go back for more and more, and it will not change. You know, you cannot change. There's not a myth of transformation where you wave a wand and suddenly you're a different person. Good feelings come from inside. WINFREY: Yeah. Dr. ETCOFF: Come from inside. And... WINFREY: But you can relate, obviously. Right? You can obviously relate. Ms. BURTON: Very much so. My husband loves me exactly the way I am, and the parts about me that are his favorite are the ones that I want to change. So I'm trying to convince myself to leave them alone because he loves them so much, so it's a battle. It's like a war within myself. WINFREY: Cheryl, when you look at Jenny, do you see yourself? Mrs. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: You do. You see yourself. Mrs. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: You know what that feels like. Mrs. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: To think about it all the time. Mrs. KAISER: I think ev--I can't look into a mirror. If I have to stand there and look into a mirror, do my hair in the morning, I will stand far back away because I don't have my glasses on. I can do my hair, that's it. I don't need to see anything else. WINFREY: We'll be right back. Next, she was a beautiful society girl who stole money and posed nude to feed her addiction to the knife. We'll be right back. WINFREY: Hope Donahue's life reads like the profile of a junkie and her drug of choice was plastic surgery. WINFREY: Once upon a time, in Los Angeles, below the sun-kissed palm trees of one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, there lived a pretty little girl named Hope. Ms. HOPE DONAHUE: I seemed to have everything. I was beautiful. I had money. I went to debutante balls. WINFREY: Hope was obsessed with being pretty. She spent hours a day primping, but strangely she feared the very attention she craved. Ms. DONAHUE: I felt people were staring at me. I had anxiety attacks, couldn't breathe. It was a huge irony, because on the one hand, I was completely focused on my looks, and my life depended on being on beautiful. And on the other hand, I felt under such scrutiny. WINFREY: Though she had no job, Hope had great credit, more than enough to correct the facial flaw she felt came between her and perfection. Ms. DONAHUE: I thought, I'm going to fix my nose and I'll live happily ever after. I was 22 years old when I had my first surgery. I had a nose job. WINFREY: But the quick fix she had longed for was an illusion. Ms. DONAHUE: When the bandages came off, I regretted that it wasn't a bigger change. I basically wanted a new personality but, you know, I didn't get that. I just got a new nose. WINFREY: The next surgeries were more drastic: Gortex inserts to widen her lips and implants to plump her cheeks; again, all paid on credit. The procedures took hours and left Hope bruised and emotionally distraught. Ms. DONAHUE: My whole face was distorted. I didn't recognize myself. That was definitely a low point. I thought, what have you done to yourself? WINFREY: Hope's parents were so horrified by what she was doing to herself, they cut off her allowance. Hope began stealing to pay for her plastic surgery. Ms. DONAHUE: I was afraid that I couldn't stop. I didn't know what was going to stop me. I was maxing out all the credit cards and I actually started to steal from my roommates. WINFREY: By now, she'd had five surgeries all before her 24th birthday. But like a drug addict, Hope was looking for her next fix and spiraling towards rock bottom. Ms. DONAHUE: I really felt like my life was a tra--like a slow-motion train wreck, and I was watching it and I couldn't stop it. WINFREY: Convinced that happiness was one suture away, Hope found new a plastic surgeon in the classified ads. Ms. DONAHUE: And he started out by complimenting me and telling me how beautiful I was. And then he'd say something like, `Well, if you just did something more to your nose, you would look 70 percent more beautiful,' and I would be devastated. I would think, 70 percent. WINFREY: A year after her first surgery, at just 23, Hope had a face-lift. Ms. DONAHUE: And I would stop by his office a couple of times a week even if I didn't have an appointment. WINFREY: In the weeks that followed, she had more lip surgery. Then collagen injections. When her own credit finally ran out, Hope used her parents' credit cards and charged her surgeries to them. Ms. DONAHUE: There got to be a point where I had done everything on my face. There wasn't a feature that I hadn't messed with. So it occurred to me, breasts. How about bigger breasts? WINFREY: This was the longest, most painful surgery yet. The agony of recovery persisted for weeks. Ms. DONAHUE: It was like somebody was burning me with a lighter inside my breasts. It was the most agonizing pain that I'd ever experienced. I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't see anybody. It was a very lonely existence. WINFREY: Desperate, this former debutante began posing nude to support her addiction. Ms. DONAHUE: I came in, and I took off my clothes. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and it looked like it was a harness or something hanging--it was hanging from the ceiling. And I said, `Well, what are those?' and he said, `Oh, that's for my bondage work,' and then he proceeded to show me some photographs that he had taken and it was just absolutely horrifying, but that was really a moment where I realized what I was doing. I did hit bottom that day. WINFREY: We'll talk to Hope when we come back. WINFREY: Hope Donahue is the author of a new memoir called "Beautiful Stranger," which chronicles her addiction to plastic surgery. And so the bottom for you was... Ms. DONAHUE: In the pornographer's office. WINFREY: ...in the pornographer's office. Ms. DONAHUE: Yeah, yes. WINFREY: Yeah. Ms. DONAHUE: I was so broke and so desperate for money and attention that I ended up in a bondage photographer's studio. WINFREY: So you realized that you needed help, that it was--you were sick. Ms. DONAHUE: Absolutely. I knew I was sick at that point. Yes. In the beginning, I didn't see it like that. It was, I'm just going to do my nose, and that's it, and then I'll be fine. WINFREY: Do you realize you're sick, Cheryl? Mrs. KAISER: No. WINFREY: You don't think you're sick? WINFREY: You think you're sick? You know you're sick? WINFREY: OK. So you can see them, and you can hear them... Mrs. KAISER: After hearing them... WINFREY: And they're sick, and they were sick and they know it. She's sick and she's--know it. Do you still feel that you're sick or did you feel like you healed yourself, Hope? Ms. DONAHUE: I'm a recovering addict. WINFREY: You're a recovering addict. Ms. DONAHUE: Absolutely. WINFREY: Recovering... Ms. DONAHUE: Absolutely. Mrs. KAISER: That's where I want to be. WINFREY: That's where you want to be. OK. Help me understand this. I mean, I was saying to the audience, I think I've had almost every ailment all my guests have had. This I haven't had. Ms. DONAHUE: Right. WINFREY: I've had, you know, eating issues. Ms. DONAHUE: Right. WINFREY: I can relate eating issues to alcoholism and other things. I can't figure out what this is. Ms. DONAHUE: Right, right. WINFREY: I can't... Ms. DONAHUE: Well, for me, it was--put it this way. If I had not had access to plastic surgery and plastic surgeons, I'm sure I would have had another addiction, and i--whether it would have been anorexia, bulimia, cutting myself, it's the same pain. WINFREY: When you have plastic surgery, is it painful? Ms. DONAHUE: The recovery is very painful. WINFREY: Recovery is painful. Ms. DONAHUE: Oh, absolutely, yes. WINFREY: But it's not painful while you're doing it? Like you're under, you're out or something. Ms. DONAHUE: You're out, under. WINFREY: OK. And then... Ms. DONAHUE: Right. WINFREY: ...does it depend on what you do as to whether it's painful? Ms. DONAHUE: Pretty much I think everything is painful, because it's--you are cutting into your body. WINFREY: You're being cut. Yeah. Ms. DONAHUE: You're being cut. WINFREY: OK. And the bottom for you came when you looked at the photograph of yourself in the porn place. Ms. DONAHUE: Well, it was more than that. It--I had gone severely into debt. I was stealing. WINFREY: And that's why you were in the porn place, to make money so you could have more plastic surgery. Ms. DONAHUE: Well, I told myself I was in the porn place to make money, but I was really there because, all along, what I always wanted was attention. I wanted it from the doctors. I wanted who--somebody to pay attention to me and somebody to love me and see me. So bottoming out for me was a combination. WINFREY: Your eyes teared up when you said, `I wanted somebody to love me and see me.' Is this what this is all about for you? Ms. DONAHUE: For me, yes, it was. WINFREY: And when was the last time you had a face fix or a body fix or... Ms. DONAHUE: The last surgery I had was about 10 years ago... WINFREY: Oh, 10... Ms. DONAHUE: ...and I had the implants taken out. WINFREY: So you--how did you help yourself? Because this feels like--if you're addicted to drugs... Ms. DONAHUE: Absolutely. WINFREY: Yeah. How did you then help yourself? Ms. DONAHUE: Well, I was in therapy. I went to therapy. And actually, it wasn't until about three years ago that I saw a psychiatrist for the first time, and I started describing my whole history, and he said, `Oh, you have OCD.' And it just clicked. WINFREY: OCD. Ms. DONAHUE: Obsessive-compulsive disorder. WINFREY: OK. Now tell me this. I've been watching your forehead, and it hasn't moved. Ms. DONAHUE: I had Botox in it. WINFREY: OK. So--and that's how I know whether people do it, because--yeah, OK. So I'm talking to you, so I don't know if you had a brow-lift or whatever. But your forehead hasn't moved this whole time. So you've had Botox. Ms. DONAHUE: I did. I have fallen off the wagon, which is how I equate it. WINFREY: Yeah, because you just told me you hadn't had it in 10 years and then I look... Ms. DONAHUE: Well, that--right. I haven't a surgery since... WINFREY: OK. Ms. DONAHUE: Yeah. I've had a few procedures. WINFREY: OK. Ms. DONAHUE: But I haven't had a surgery since having the breast implants out. WINFREY: OK! Ms. DONAHUE: I know. WINFREY: What does that mean? What does that really mean? I mean, does that mean that you fell off the wagon? Would that be like an alcoholic having not, you know, 10 shots of tequila but a glass of wine? Ms. DONAHUE: Yes. WINFREY: OK. Ms. DONAHUE: Yes. WINFREY: OK. Ms. DONAHUE: If--yeah, because--well, what happened was recently I had to go on a business trip, and I was very anxious, and I didn't know how to control that anxiety, and so I went back in and got the Botox, and... WINFREY: What did that feel like to you? Ms. DONAHUE: Like I had failed. WINFREY: Like you had failed. Ms. DONAHUE: Like I had failed. I... WINFREY: Wha--you mentioned a couple of other procedures. Ms. DONAHUE: I've had collagen... WINFREY: Collagen. Ms. DONAHUE: ...in my lips and then Botox... WINFREY: Botox. Ms. DONAHUE: ...a few times. WINFREY: So you've done injections--collagen injections, Botox injections. Ms. DONAHUE: Right. WINFREY: Anything else you want to confess to me today? Yeah. Ms. DONAHUE: I have actually--can I take a drink of water? I'm... WINFREY: Yes, have as much as you want. Have as much as you want. Here. Ms. DONAHUE: Thank you. WINFREY: Yep. Ms. DONAHUE: I have over--the past about seven years, I've booked and then canceled prior to surgery four nose jobs. WINFREY: What would happen that you would cancel? Ms. DONAHUE: You know what? I can't fool myself into thinking--I can't fool myself anymore. I cannot fool myself into thinking that a smaller nose is going to equal a happier me. WINFREY: Yeah. Ms. DONAHUE: I know that doesn't work anymore because I tried that. WINFREY: You know that. Ms. DONAHUE: I know that. WINFREY: We'll be right back. WINFREY: We're talking to women who say they're hooked on plastic surgery. OK, Cheryl, you think a smaller thigh is going to make a happier you? Mrs. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: You think a smaller--you do. You think that if your thighs are smaller- and how much smaller do you want them? Mrs. KAISER: Not much, just a little. WINFREY: Ju--you think--OK, you don't even want much. You just want a little. Mrs. KAISER: No, I don't want much. WINFREY: OK. So you think if your thighs are a little... Mrs. KAISER: Just so they don't touch. WINFREY: That would make what difference in your life? Would it make your children happier, you happier? Mrs. KAISER: No, it'll make me happier. WINFREY: It will make you happier. Yeah. OK. Jenny, this--as we were sitting here- as I was sitting here with you earlier, I heard you breathing (makes sniffing noise) and you were doing that a lot. Can you breathe through your nose well? Ms. BURTON: Not well. WINFREY: Not well. Yeah. My producers tell me you need a Q-Tip sometimes to open up your nostrils to breathe. Is that true? Ms. BURTON: I can't blow my nose like normal people can, so if I want to breathe really good, I have to get a Q-Tip out. And if I don't have Q-Tips, I might have an anxiety attack. WINFREY: Oh, really? Ms. BURTON: Yeah. WINFREY: So if you got another surgery, you would likely--if you get--if it gets any narrower, I don't know how you're going to get any air up there. You know what I'm saying? Ms. BURTON: It is a problem. And a lot of people, you know, they go into a plastic surgeon's office and they bring a picture of a celebrity or whoever and they say... WINFREY: And you took Michael Jackson's nose. Ms. BURTON: I took Michael Jackson and I said, `This is what want.' WINFREY: Yeah. Ms. BURTON: And my doctor said, `Genetically, I can't give you that.' And I said, `Well, get as close as you can.' And there's no way that you could possibly do that with what you're given and expect those kind of results, so then... WINFREY: No. Ms. BURTON: ...you end up coming back and back and back, trying to whittle it down. And the last time I went in there, he said to me, `I'm warning you, if I do this, there's a very good possibility your nose will completely collapse and it will be flat on your face and we will have to start all over again,' and I said, `I'll roll the dice.' Unidentified Woman: Oh, my God. Mrs. KAISER: I can't. I'm done. I can't. I don't want to roll the dice. WINFREY: You don't want to roll the dice. Mrs. KAISER: Just--the light bulb went off. WINFREY: A light bulb went off. Mrs. KAISER: Yes. WINFREY: Tell me. Mrs. KAISER: No way. I have two children and my husband. WINFREY: Tell me what just happened. What part of the light bulb and can she bring it back and turn it on again? What happened? Mrs. KAISER: The--to roll the dice with my life, to lose my kids, lose my husband, I'll stick with the legs. WINFREY: Yes! Yes! We'll be right back. WINFREY: I live for a light bulb moment. Yee-ha! Yee-ha! That's great. That's great. Mrs. KAISER: Now the next step is three jobs down to one. WINFREY: Three jobs down to one. Yes. This is a really good show. Mrs. KAISER: Plus, today's our anniversary. WINFREY: What? Mrs. KAISER: Today's our anniversary. WINFREY: And today's your anniversary. Mrs. KAISER: Fourteen years. WINFREY: What a gift. We'll be right back. WINFREY: Hope Donahue's memoir is "Beautiful Stranger." Dr. Etcoff's book is "Survival of the Prettiest." That's worth the hour, isn't it, people? My friends, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Mrs. KAISER: Thank you.
