Body for Free
by Alexa Jones
CBS 42 News
2007-11-05 20:00:00.0
|
|
| |
|
We’ve heard it before, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But how far will some people go to get a body for free?
Bargain hunting, freebies, getting something for nothing... It seems like we're always looking for a deal or a quick fix. But a look for less doesn't always come cheap. Is there really such thing as a body for free?
|
|
| Click play above to watch the story. |
The pursuit for physical perfection; it seems to be the modern American way. Celebrity-fueled and surgery-induced, anyone can go under the knife to change what they don't like about their bodies. Anyone, that is, that can pay for it.
But what if you can't fork over the bucks for plastic surgery? Now you can, thanks in part to the World Wide Web. myfreeimplants.com is just the place to make a woman's busty dreams a reality. The site is the Vegas-stripper inspired creation of Jason Rrunstra, an MBA holding "entrepreneur." He claims more than 2,500 women have solicited funds from the site, raising more than a quarter of a million dollars to pay for their breast implants.
Dr. Peter Van Hoy, a Birmingham plastic surgeon, said, "There's an old saying in marketing 'Sex Sells,' and I guess that's what's being sold on the website."
Area plastic surgeons we talked with were stunned this is actually happening.
"Surprise and disbelief was my general reaction; and sadness and a little bit of disgust followed after that," said Van Hoy.
Van Hoy has been practicing for decades. He had never heard of the site until now, and strongly recommends you be very careful.
"I've done this operation many times for many years, and there are several widely-held misconceptions about the operation that this website supports or promotes and they're not true," said Van Hoy.
This is how the site works. Women post their pictures to the site. "Benefactors," as they're called, pay for on-line chat, messaging, and one-on-one phone calls. The women also send customized photos and personal items for money. All of this adds up to their goal amount for surgery.
"It seems to me that this is an agreement to engage in some sort of, what's the word, prurient sexual behavior. There are other ways it can be done, and there are better ways it can be done," said Van Hoy.
Women aren't paying a dollar amount for surgery, but you may ask, when women sign up for the site aren't they welcoming more than just an "endowment?" Or is this operation really just prostitution masked in philanthropy?
"I don't know how people participating in this can look themselves in the mirror. I mean, it's really demeaning... I think they may not feel that way, and if they don't feel that way, fine," said Van Hoy.
Is this a philanthropic prospect for you?
"Are you involved with, what is it, myfreeimplants.com, no," said Van Hoy.
myfreeimplants.com claims that it's providing "plastic surgery at no cost." The site, for women wanting surgery, is a means to an end. However, among the men contributing funds, you have to ask if they're really getting what they're paying for.
|
