If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to my Breast Can I Use Fat from Someone Else?

Question

i want to augment my breast size i have a 32C and i want 2 cups more. the problem is that i dont want to have implants, (they look and feel too fake) i have fat on my legs but i dont have enough fat to do it, because i know that from all this fat not everything is usable. so my question is if i can augment my breast wth another kind of fat , mine and from someone else, or theres another solution.

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS · Answer

Fat is unique tissue (just like other organs that may be transplanted) that cannot be transferred from one patient to another without the use of lifelong anti-rejection medications. Even if you were willing and financially able to take these medications for the rest of your life, the foreign fat would certainly die much more readily than your own fat grafts, which is a procedure that is neither mainstream nor recommended!

	There IS another solution: properly-performed breast implant surgery. Click on the link below if you think they look and feel too fake. It's funny that a few women actually ask for the "fake, stripper" look; I have to tell them that I try to give them soft, natural breasts and that they only get the high, tight, round look if they have capsular contracture!

	Really, you don't want BA via fat grafting even if you had enough fat of your own! You need to find ABPS-certified plastic surgeons who do lots of breast surgery and do it well! Let me expand on fat grafting for breast enlargement, if you will. It's becoming a too-commonly asked question, and that should NOT convey respectability in and of itself.

	Fat grafting has been performed for many years and in many different areas of the body. Its popularity really "took off" in the mid 1980's when liposuction began, providing lots of "available" fat that otherwise was discarded. Of course, the most ethical and scientific-minded plastic surgeons realized that the high-vacuum "standard" liposuction aspirate consisted of mostly dead fat cells that had been "boiled" at room temperature because of the extremely high vacuum. Freezing the fat "for later use" further damaged any possibly-intact cells because of ice crystal destruction of the fragile adipocyte cell membrane. So the expensive "grafted" fat was really a slurry of your own dead cells, intracelleular lipid (akin to Mazola oil), and fluids. Little or none of this actually survived, but it took a patient's body months to years to fully removed the dead debris.

	By then, the "surgeon" was on vacation with your absconded funds! Pretty sad, actually.

	Fat grafting can indeed work, but only if harvested carefully under controlled (low-vacuum) atraumatic conditions, and implanted in droplet-by-droplet amounts that allow proper oxygen and nutrition to the transplanted fat cells so they survive. Simply shooting in blobs of mostly-dead fat won't work. And even when done properly, it takes lots of tiny grafts and lots of time (and money) to actually build up volume that can be seen or felt. Some of the fat dies, even under the best and most stringent grafting conditions. Meaning: multiple sessions are virtually always necessary.

	In the breasts, any fat that dies can cause scar tissue and microcalcifications that can interfere with the detection of breast cancer via mammogram or other technique. This is the precise reason that fat grafting for breast augmentation is bad at worst, and controversial and potentially bad at best.

	There is a reason that the vast majority of ABPS-certified plastic surgeons utilize saline or silicone breast implants for breast augmentation. (And it's not because we're outdated, out-of-touch, or not embracing the "latest and greatest and up-to-datest" developments)! It's because we truly care for the entire well-being of our patients and do not wish to cause them harm that may come to haunt them in years to come. Regardless of your age, I certainly hope you have many years to come! Fat grafting is something every ABPS-certified plastic surgeon is not only aware of, but likely performing in our own practices. But not for breast augmentation.

	The main reason it is becoming "more popular" is because a very small minority of people raise awareness of this, making otherwise scholarly and cautious surgeons who usually rely on scientific proof rather than internet hype, fall prey to their own insecurities that they may "miss out" on the "next best thing." For supposedly smart human beings, doctors in general, and plastic surgeons in particular can sometimes be really stupid "herd animals"--always trying to keep up with their colleagues who are driving the latest bandwagon. You should NOT be there with them, IMHO.

	BTW, "stem cell" augmentation is a new "twist" on BA via fat grafting. It's even more "latest and greatest!" Except in a few rare research instances, "stem cell grafting" is mostly hype by a few practitioners trying to steer more patients like yourself towards their practices.

	But, don't take my word for all of this--see several ABPS-certified plastic surgeons and see what they say. Perhaps you will begin to see a consensus emerging! Best wishes!

Larry S. Nichter, MD, MS, FACS · Answer

Can someone else be my fat donor ? - only if that person is also your identical twin. If not the process of immunologic rejection would cause all the fat to die, along with a host of other potential complications that would occur.

Ronald J. Edelson, MD · Answer

Simple answer. Absolutely not! I don't even think you would be able to find a reputable surgeon willing to perform such a procedure.  If you have decided you do not want implants, there is truly no other option available for you.

Gregory T. Lynam, MD · Answer

You can only use your own fat which is why this is not a popular treatment for thin females. The fat grafting procedure is one done more in breast reconstruction in my practice then for cosmetic purposes. I prefer saline implants placed under the muscle and I use a one inch incision in the arm pit so my patients have no breast scars. I use a camera called an endoscope to make this a truly advanced and minimally invasive procedure. I hope this helps!

John J. Corey, MD · Answer

Breast Augmentation barely works with your own fat let alone someone elses!!! Breast Augmentation using fat is very unpredictable and I have done implants in many women that had the fat done first...It just seems to fade away with time. And as most of the surgeons on this site will tell you, it is very possible to get implants that neither look or feel fake!...Really!

If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to my Breast Can I Use Fat from Someone Else?

Answers (10)

Answer: Breast Augmentation question

Answer: Breast Augmentation question

Answer: If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to Breast Can I Use Fat frm Someone Else?

Answer: If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to Breast Can I Use Fat frm Someone Else?

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Breast Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.

If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to my Breast Can I Use Fat from Someone Else?

Answers (10)

Answer: Breast Augmentation question

Answer: Breast Augmentation question

Answer: If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to Breast Can I Use Fat frm Someone Else?

Answer: If I Dont Have Enough Fat for Transfer to Breast Can I Use Fat frm Someone Else?

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Breast Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.