'I wish I had done it sooner': Behind the surge in breast reductions

'I wish I had done it sooner': Behind the surge in breast reductions2 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleRachel FlynnRanvia​Ranvia - pictured before and after her breast surgery - says the size of her breasts began to impact how she was perceivedRanvia is still haunted by the memory of being wolf-whistled at by an ice-cream man when she was just 11 years old.She'd hit puberty a few years earlier, and it was at that point she says the size of her breasts began to impact how she was perceived - and how she saw herself.At school, boys would give her nicknames about her boobs, and touch and squeeze them without consent."I was still a child," Ranvia says, "but suddenly I had these two body parts that brought attention I was not emotionally ready for." RanviaRanvia, pictured here pre-surgery, says boys at school would touch and squeeze her boobs without consentGrowing up in a south Asian family in Leicester, Ranvia remembers the embarrassment she felt at not being able to dress the same way as her high school friends."I couldn't wear [certain clothes] because my boobs would stick out," she says, "and my mum would gasp and say, 'You cannot wear that.'"There was a physical impact, too. Ranvia had back pain, her bra straps would dig into her, and exercise was difficult. Her ADHD also meant the "sensory and emotional intensity of constantly being aware of my body was unbearable".By the age of 25, weighing 50kg with a 32JJ cup chest, Ranvia reached breaking point. Her lifeline, she says, was discovering a breast reduction Facebook group with nearly 6,000 members. It was through this group she did the majority of her research into the procedure, while waiting to hear back from her GP about having surgery on the NHS. "Again and again, I saw women saying the same thing: 'I wish I had done it sooner'," says Ranvia. Six months after the doctor's appointment, and with no...