Please do not leave mean or abusive responses.

I have waited 8 years for my breasts to grow naturally and they haven't, I am now 20 years old and an AA cup, I do not think they are going to get any bigger of their own accord. I am not a skinny woman, I am average to curvy with an abnormally flat chest. They don't even have the curve of 'small breasts', they aren't two little attractive tear drops - I just have a chest with a slightly thicker layer of flesh behind each nipple. Even my GP agrees I am out of proportion. I thought perhaps my lack of breasts was due to being slimmish and so intentionally gained 45 lbs and went up to a size 16 - but my bust never fully filled a B cup. Deciding weight gain wasn't the answer I have since lost the excess weight and am a size 10 and don't fill an A cup. I detest the way my chest looks, I avoid my naked reflection at all opportunities and haven't allowed a partner to see me topless in 3 years. I have even resorted to wearing false breasts I bought off a website intended for transvestites. I refuse to go into underwear shops as I feel humiliated by buying medium size knickers and tiny childlike bras, I order extra padded bras off the internet. I am frightened to try and look feminine myself as whenever I have tried to dress nicely without padding out my chest I have received many cruel comments including the accusation that I'm a transsexual or that I look prepubescent. I have stopped buying new clothes because I think "What's the point?" I just wear second hand things that cover me up. I come from a very busty family so I don't know why I never developed, my mother kept saying I was just a 'late bloomer' but it seems I am stuck with this odd pear shaped body forever unless I have breast implants. Sometimes I feel it would be easier to just pretend to be a man because my body seems determined to be masculine and then I get extremely depressed and have had suicidal thoughts. I have been diagnosed as clinically depressed and a psychiatrist has said my depression seems to be directly linked to low self esteem and poor body image, due to my lack of breasts. It is a constant misery and anxiety to me that my body is 'wrong'. I have considered the possibility that I simply have very poor self esteem for some other reason and so am obsessing over my breast size, but I can honestly say I am satisfied with the rest of my body and appearance - I am not an ugly person, but the fact I have such small breasts leaves me feeling cheated and like I can't make the most of other parts of me that are attractive. I am not under the belief that large breasts have some magically ability to make my life wonderful, I am aware that surgery isn't the answer to all my problems - but I do feel it is the answer to this one. To be able to go into a clothes shop and try on a dress without breaking down into tears in the changing room, to be able to have a boyfriend and actually let him see me naked without fear of impending criticism, to go out with female friends and not be terrified that the subject of bras or bust size will come up and I'll have to excuse myself from the conversation utterly humiliated - that's all I want. I want to feel like a woman, not a little girl or a man dressed up as a woman. I just don't see how it makes sense for the NHS to waste anti depressants and therapist's time treating me for depression when it is quite clear my problem is physical, not mental.

As it is causing me serious emotional distress and psychiatric problems, can I get breast enlargement surgery on the UK NHS?

I doubt if the NHS will pay for this surgery regardless of how you are effected emotionally by the appearance. You should start saving up your money for the operation.

In the meantime, ask yourself what does a woman do when she has breast cancer and then has them removed? She copes. She goes on living her life regardless if she has breasts or not. You need to remember that you are a wonderful woman with or without breasts. So please try to raise yourself esteem and don't obsess over this portion of your anatomy and waste your time pursuing something until you have the money to get the operation.

A man will love you for you - with or without big boobs - if he is a real man. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone has big boobs and is happy. Please don't feel that because you don't have them you are anything less than a real woman. This could change if you were pregnant. Sometimes late bloomers do just that - bloom when they are pregnant - and sometimes they stay the same.

As Twinkie said, it's unlikely that your gov't agency will pay for a surgery. We are all given different bodies and have to deal with what life hands us.

Focus on building up your self-esteem. Work on being the best person you can possibly be. Breasts are not what make you a woman. If you are concerned about what your partners think; there are plenty of men that love small breasts.

The thing is we as women tend to focus on our flaws but our partners often don't see the same things.

Save up your money if you wish to have the surgery. It's really a personal decision and you have to do what will ultimately make you happy.

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Check with your gp again and find out what funding is available in your area... like many other procedures, it can depend on where you live as to how much money is available for this sort of procedure.

Since this appears to be an extreme case of underdevelopment, and your psychiatrist seems to feel this has caused you severe distress, you actually may be able to have it funded through the NHS. They have funding for certain circumstances including some situations such as yours. With your doctors' backing, it might be possible... certainly worth looking into.

I can c where you are coming from and I feel that you are very brave being able to talk about it. I have the same problem but I'm quite a shy person and don't no how to bring the subject up with my doctor.
I have been searching on the net to c how much the procedure will cost as I have a little girl and yet it seems far too expensive. I understand fully how you feel

I have a similar problem. I've always hated my body. Suffering from depression since I was 13 for poor body image, diagnosed at 16 as having chronic depression. I was big through my childhood and teens and subsequently lost a lot of weight. Unfortunately it all went from my breasts and stayed on my bum and hips. Im a size 10 ontop with size 14 below. I look completely out of proportion. That I could cope with but... losing weight from my breasts has left them empty, just skin - like small rocks in a sock. Its disgusting. I feel disgusting. I'm only 23. I don't let myself see me naked let alone anyone else. Tried 6 anti depressents. Nothing works because I feel as thought I will never be happy when I disgust myself so much.

Daisy xxx