New bill seeks to up age limit on breast surgery

A new bill aims to raise the minimum age for undergoing cosmetic breast surgery from 16.5 to 22. The bill, sponsored by Kadima MK Yulia Shamalov Berkovich, addresses health risks and body-image issues.

“Plastic surgery to correct body defects is clearly legitimate… [but] the ideal female body has come to be large breasted,” said Berkovich.

She added that “young women live in that reality” and are targeted by advertising for the procedure, but often don’t learn about the potential dangers.

Currently one must be 18 years of age — or 16.5 with parental permission — to get a breast implant. About a third of breast augmentations done in Israel are on women aged 18-21. The proposed law would raise the minimum age to 22, except when necessary at an earlier age for medical reasons.

The law also would require a 30-day waiting period (currently there is none) and a meeting with counselors who can explain potential dangers.

A Yedioth Ahronoth story in February revealed that 20 percent of women who removed breast implants found that they had been leaking. Leaking implants were also responsible for the death of a woman in France earlier this year from a rare form of cancer, leading many women around the world to have their implants removed.

The proposed bill comes a month after the Knesset passed the “Model Law,” which restricts advertisers from using underweight models and requires photoshopped images to be labeled as such.