My Free Implants? Assessing a Controversial Breast Enhancement Site

by Edie Pastis

Financing cosmetic surgery procedures like breast augmentation can be difficult for some patients, often due to budget limitations or a lack of insurance coverage. As a result, many prospective breast surgery patients are looking for low cost breast augmentation, discounted or budget breast augmentation…even free breast augmentation!

But how can a woman attain free breast augmentation surgery today? Who pays for these free breast implants? What are the consequences or possible risks of free breast implants? Are there any? To help answer these questions, we will look at one of today’s most popular, and most controversial, resources for free breast implants: MyFreeImplants.com.

What is MyFreeImplants.com?

If you google "free implants," MyFreeImplants.com will likely be one of the top search results. A concept reportedly hatched in 2005 at a Las Vegas bachelor party, My Free Implants is a website devoted to funding breast implants for women across the globe, by accepting donations from various men or "benefactors".

My Free Implants (MFI) calls itself an "online community" that brings together two groups of people:

"Women that have a strong desire to enhance their physical appearance through cosmetic surgery"
"Benefactors who wish to help these women improve their self esteem and confidence through cosmetic surgery"

How Does My Free Implants Work?

Essentially, women seeking free breast implants sign up on MyFreeImplants.com, create an online profile complete with pictures and personal details, then interact virtually with benefactors and try to earn credits or donations towards their breast augmentation surgery.

Once a female site member has earned enough money to pay for her breast implants, she can schedule her breast augmentation with the plastic surgeon of her choosing. MFI will transfer the donated funds directly to the surgeon prior to surgery, either through certified check or a credit card payment.

The process itself seems pretty easy and straightforward, but prospective site members should be sure to read all the rules and fine print first so there are no surprises later.

My Free Implants Rules and Fees

Women should be aware that the money they earn through My Free Implants isn’t theirs for keeps. MFI holds all benefactor donations and message credit amounts until a woman has met her pre-set surgery goal.

If a woman deactivates her account or has her membership terminated before her breast implant goal is reached, all her MFI accumulated funds will be forfeited back to benefactors’ "boob bank" in the form of site credit. If a woman surpasses her breast surgery goal amount, remaining funds will be kept by My Free Implants to use at their discretion.

Female members should also be certain of the breast surgeon they’re using before completing their goal. Changing surgeons after My Free Implants has sent a payment will result in a $200 fee being taken from the woman’s site earnings.

Furthermore, MFI reportedly takes a percentage (+/- 4%) of every donation female members earn, making it harder for women to hit their goals faster. And of course, interactive participation is required to receive benefactors’ contributions.

It’s possible that women can receive direct donations from benefactors. Otherwise, women must earn credits towards their surgery through interactions with benefactors (i.e. online chat, messaging, photos, video chats, etc.).

My Free Implants: Benefits vs. Risks

Benefits.

Obviously the greatest benefit of going through My Free Implants is built right into the title: you can receive enhanced breasts for "free". If you will not be able to afford breast implant surgery in the foreseeable future; if you have not been able to save money for breast augmentation; and if you are comfortable with how the site operates, you may be satisfied working with My Free Implants.

Another benefit of My Free Implants may be the level of privacy that is available for site members’ identity protection. Women are allowed to use an alias and may keep all personal contact info and bio details confidential. In fact, members are prohibited from including telephone numbers, street or email addresses, last names, or personal website urls in their bio or message information.

However, at the same time, My Free Implants encourages female members to open up to benefactors if they want to reach their goal faster, stating that "getting to know people on a more intimate level and forming more personal relationships is what MyFreeImplants is all about and the fastest way to reach your goals". If a woman doesn’t want to interact with a specific benefactor, she has the prerogative to reject a benefactor’s message request.

Risks.

There are general risks associated with breast augmentation surgery on its own, but separate risks or concerns may arise with breast augmentation that’s acquired for free, or through other unorthodox channels.

Another potential risk could be the circulation or viewership of personal content females submit on MFI. Women will be able to keep their identities private, but what about the revealing photos, videos etc. they’ve submitted as site members? It’s in the rules and terms that any materials submitted on My Free Implants will become the property of the site to use at its own discretion. In other words, don’t expect to get those bikini shots and/or suggestive videos back once you’ve left the site!

Other questions or risks that come to mind are related to the site’s possible impact on a woman’s surgery choices, not to mention her self-respect. Women who are eager to earn donations for their breast implant surgery may be easier to manipulate by benefactors who promise hefty donations in exchange for certain materials or interactions. For example, benefactors may claim that they’ll donate a large chunk of money in exchange for nude photos or lewd chat conversations.

It’s even fair to assume that benefactors might try to influence a women’s ultimate surgery decisions. Since benefactors are funding the breast augmentation, some may feel they have a small stake in the results or outcome of the surgery. With that mindset, a benefactor might attempt to convince a woman to go larger or smaller than she’d originally intended, or choose an implant type that differs from her originally selection.

Every woman on My Free Implants is responsible for her own actions and choices. But under pressure to receive funding or donations, it’s very possible that some MFI women could let their breast implant goals and decisions be changed or influenced for the wrong reasons. And since it’s the woman who will be living with this serious change to her body, it’s important that she choose the breast implants that are best for her.

For women who do receive free breast augmentation surgery but are personally dissatisfied with the results afterward, they must wait a period of nine months before creating a new My Free Implants account and earning money towards another surgery. If women have subsequent revision surgeries after that, they must wait one year before starting a new account. If surgery results were poor due to complications or asymmetry, women must provide documentation from a surgeon stating revision surgery is required to open a new MFI account.

Is My Free Implants Right for Me?

Bottom line: Only go the route of My Free Implants if you’re entirely comfortable with how the process works and you understand and accept what’s involved. Ask yourself if using My Free Implants will be worth the potential costs to your self-respect or your dignity.

There are many methods of plastic surgery financing available today, offered by professional board-certified surgeons, to help manage breast implant costs. Additionally, professional plastic surgeons are not there to objectify you or to request intimate interactions in exchange for their assistance. They are there to help you attain the look you want, in the safest way possible.

It’s recommended to visit with a board-certified plastic surgeon for a breast implant consultation before you commit to surgery. They can discuss all of your breast enhancement options and help you choose the best implant type, size and insertion method for you personally.

For women who do pursue MFI for breast implant financing, don’t submit to pressure from benefactors or other site members to alter the surgical plan you and your surgeon have decided is best for you. Don’t humiliate, degrade or expose yourself in ways that you might regret later. Don’t let strangers control the choices you make with your own body. Most importantly, make sure you select a plastic surgeon with the proper accreditation and lots of experience to perform your breast implant surgery, no matter what payment method you’re using. Your safety should always come first.