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Cosmetic Surgery's New Frontier

Christopher A. Warner, with his wife and office manager, Sharon, is the first Washington area physician to offer laser vaginal rejuvenation surgery.
Christopher A. Warner, with his wife and office manager, Sharon, is the first Washington area physician to offer laser vaginal rejuvenation surgery. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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The surgery, Barragan said, has "definitely given me more confidence. . . . I haven't had any regrets."

Warner's wife, Sharon, who is also his office manager, said that after delivering three children, she wants rejuvenation surgery, which she likens to other age-defying procedures like coloring her hair.

Ready for Marriage?

There is little dispute that one procedure, known as hymenoplasty, is performed primarily for the impression it will make on men.

The surgery, which takes about 30 minutes, restores the hymen, the membrane that typically covers the vagina prior to first intercourse. Surgeons say there is a growing demand for the surgery, particularly among women of Middle Eastern and Hispanic descent -- cultures where female chastity can be a prerequisite for marriage.

Warner, who charges $3,000 for the procedure performed in his office under local anesthetic, has done several, he said. In one recent case, a college student was scheduled to return to Egypt to be examined by a gynecologist as a condition of her arranged marriage.

She has recommended Warner to several friends who have scheduled this surgery, he said.

Sometimes the surgery is done for other reasons. "I've been performing this on and off for years," said Marco Pelosi II, a Bayonne, N.J., gynecologist who says the "revirginization" operation has become increasingly popular as a gift for men. Pelosi estimates he has done about 150 hymenoplasties in the past two years.

Some of his patients, Pelosi said, are celebrating a new relationship or second honeymoon.

Tennessee's Stovall said he thinks the procedure is ridiculous. "Sex is more in your head and in your relationships. And for most women, losing their virginity was not the most pleasant experience."

Berman said that hymenoplasty thrives on credulousness and that patients "fall prey to these surgeons who say, 'I can make you look perfect.' "

"It's one more thing we can feel insecure about," she observed. "We women are just suckers for that." ยท

Comments:boodmans@washpost.com.


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