Marilyn Monroe plastic surgery notes, X-rays up for auction

LOS ANGELES | A physician’s notes on Marilyn Monroe that indicate that the Hollywood sex symbol had undergone cosmetic surgery will be up for sale next month along with a set of her X-rays, an auction house said on Tuesday.

The set of six X-rays and a file of doctors’ notes that offer a partial medical history of the “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” actress from 1950 to 1962, are expected to fetch between $15,000 and $30,000 at auction on November 9-10, said Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California.





The notes written by Hollywood plastic surgeon Michael Gurdin appear to confirm speculation that Monroe, who epitomized glamour and set a standard of movie star beauty during the latter part of Hollywood’s golden era, went under the knife for cosmetic reasons.

The seller, who is so far unnamed, received the items as a gift from Gurdin.

“Nobody really thought about Marilyn Monroe having plastic surgery. It was always speculation — did she or didn’t she?” said Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions. “They thought she was such a natural beauty, they didn’t want to believe.”

Gurdin’s notes include references to a 1950 cartilage implant in Monroe’s chin, which he observed to have slowly begun to dissolve.

Monroe’s biggest films, such as 1953′s “How to Marry a Millionaire,” 1955′s “The Seven Year Itch” and 1959′s “Some Like It Hot,” were all shot after 1950.

“Also at that time, going back to the 1950s, people didn’t go for plastic surgery procedures,” Nolan added. “This is very, very new.”

THE BROKEN NOSE MYSTERY

The X-rays are dated June 7, 1962, after Monroe saw Gurdin following a late night fall and two months before the actress would die at age 36 from an overdose of barbiturates. The death was ruled a probable suicide.

Monroe would also be fired by studio 20th Century Fox from the unfinished film “Something’s Got to Give” the following day for her constant absences.

The X-rays include Monroe’s frontal facial bones, a composite right and left X-ray of the sides of her nasal bones and dental X-rays of the roof of her mouth.

A set of three chest X-rays of Monroe from 1954 sold for $45,000 at a 2010 auction.

A self-published memoir by Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Norman Leaf in 2010 claimed that Monroe underwent cosmetic surgery on her chin in 1950, citing the same notes made by Gurdin, Leaf’s medical partner.

Leaf also states in his memoir that Monroe underwent a slight rhinoplasty procedure on the tip of her nose.

A radiologist’s notes included in the lot determined that there was no damage to Monroe’s nose from the fall, but a recent evaluation of the X-rays found a minute fracture, the auction house said.

Doctors used the name “Joan Newman” as Monroe’s alias on the X-rays which list her height as 5 feet, 6 inches and her weight as 115 lb (52 kg).

Gurdin’s notes were first drawn up in 1958 when the actress complained about a “chin deformity” and the note listed her married name, Marilyn Miller. She was married to playwright Arthur Miller from 1956 to 1961.

The notes also indicate that Monroe suffered from neutropenia, a low level of a white blood cell type, in 1956 while in England and had an ectopic pregnancy in 1957.

source: interaksyon.com

Trend in genital cosmetic surgery alarms US gynecologists

LOS ANGELES -- Trained as a gynecologist and reconstructive surgeon, Dr. John Miklos calls himself a "medical tailor," specializing in surgery to reshape a woman's private parts.

The Atlanta surgeon, who has performed gynecological surgery for nearly 20 years, cites cases of patients who say their sexual response improved after vaginoplasty, a procedure to surgically tighten a vagina stretched by childbirth or aging.

"Women come to me and say they don't have the urge to have sex anymore because they don't feel anything," Miklos said. "I guarantee that if a man didn't feel anything, he wouldn't have sex either."

Female genital cosmetic surgery is a small segment of the US plastic surgery market, but it is growing, with thousands of women estimated to undergo such procedures every year. That growth comes despite a warning from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a 2007 notice to member physicians that strongly questioned the medical validity and safety of female genital cosmetic surgery. Earlier this year the group debated the trend at its annual meeting in San Diego.

"None of these procedures have proven effectiveness, and there is potential for harm," Dr. Cheryl Iglesia, a Washington, D.C., gynecologist and former ACOG committee member, wrote in an editorial published in the June issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "Women are being misled or are confused about what is normal," she wrote -- and about what constitutes a condition that can actually be helped through treatment.

Critics say the trend is the latest service aimed at women pursuing an impossible ideal of physical perfection, hyped by Internet pornography and advertising by surgeons who may not explain all the risks, such as infections, scarring, pain and the loss of the very sensations some patients seek to enhance.

"Even when women are told of potential complications, like insensitivity of the clitoris ... they still may be unstoppable if they have the notion that they need a younger-looking or more perfect or more desirable vulva," said Harriet Lerner, a psychologist specializing in women's issues.

More than 2,140 U.S. women underwent "vaginal rejuvenation" last year, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons put the U.S. total at nearly 5,200 in 2010. Experts note such figures do not include the many procedures done by gynecologists.

ACOG not only points to the risks of genital surgery but also emphasizes that female sexual response is driven by psychological factors rather than genital appearance. The group has asked its members to be aware of how they might unwittingly influence a patient to consider surgery.

In practices across the country, doctors say more women, from teenagers to those in their late 70s, want to discuss the procedures, which can cost between $2,500 and $12,000 and are usually not covered by insurance.

"I tell every patient you are normal the way you are," said Miklos, who each year performs as many as 180 labiaplasties to cut back the skin flaps surrounding the vaginal opening. "I would never suggest that they get one. What is the right size of a nose, or a chin? That's up to the individual. It's her right to decide."

From repair to aesthetics

Corrective gynecological surgery has been available for decades, including procedures to alleviate incontinence or sagging of the vaginal canal after childbirth. In the 1990s surgeons began offering procedures that promised the improved aesthetics, self-esteem and confidence associated with nose jobs or other plastic surgeries.

"One side was longer than the other side. ... It was something that bothered me," said Kari, a 36-year-old labiaplasty patient of Beverly Hills, California, plastic surgeon Fardad Forouzanpour. (She did not want to give her last name.) "It makes me more comfortable. I like the way that it looks."

She said her boyfriend was not involved in her decision, but she did "look at a few Playboys here and there."

One patient, who did not want to use her name, said she had surgery because she hated the look of her labia, even though her husband had no problem with her appearance.

Other procedures include creating a new hymen for "revirgination" and "G-spot amplification," which involves injecting the area in the front wall of the vagina with collagen or another filler to enhance sexual gratification. In some cases, patients may not leave satisfied. One way Miklos seeks clients is by running a website called botchedlabia.com, where women who have already experienced complications can get advice on revisions.

Undue influence

Surgeons say many patients have been influenced by images of the waxed, buffed or surgically altered genitals of porn actresses.

"They see these porn stars who have things done, and they look so nice and clean-cut," said Forouzanpour, who does 15 to 25 labiaplasties a month. "It is normal to have some extra skin, or some discoloration."

While studies have shown some social advantages to plastic surgery that improves a person's overall appearance in public, like a nose job or face-lift, there is no data showing the benefits of altering one's genitals.

"The ethical question is: How much are you playing on women's insecurities?" Dr. Iglesia said. "Women are getting very much duped into thinking there is a standard look for the vulva."

By all measures, Miklos has thrived on his expertise. Along with partner Dr. Robert Moore, he now has practices in Atlanta, Georgia and Beverly Hills. He says he tries to stay away from procedures with more dubious outcomes.

For example, surgery claiming to enhance the "G-spot," which may play a role in sexual arousal, raises red flags as no controlled studies have been done, or are likely to be done, to show whether it has any effect.

"I don't routinely do them. People ask for them, but I don't want someone to pay $1,000 and have high hopes," Miklos said. "People get upset when there is no response."

source: interaksyon.com