I love my lopsided A and D cup boobs but people think I’m mad for turning down an NHS boob job
DESPITE 50% of the population having boobs, shockingly three in four of us are unhappy with how they look.
But for real estate receptionist and social media marketer Rebecca Butcher, 23, the journey to finding true body confidence when it comes to her chest hasn’t been easy.
Rebecca from Barnsley, South Yorkshire suffers a rare growth disorder which means one breast is significantly smaller than the other and in her case one is a D cup while the other is an A cup.
But amazingly, Rebecca - who is dating retail assistant Kyle Officer, 22 - even refused a free NHS boob job because she wants to show women to love the body they're are in.
Here, as part of our 10-part Going Bust series - which is helping to raise awareness for boob confidence and the importance of getting checked - she tells Fabulous her story….
“When I turned 13 and hit puberty, I couldn’t wait for my boobs to start growing.
“Me and my mates would all go out shopping and try on bras from push-up to training bras - it was just part of growing up.
“While some of my friends developed quickly, my boobs were a bit slower but it wasn’t until a friend mentioned she thought I was a bit lopsided did I start worrying about my breasts.
“I remember when I was 15, looking in the mirror after we’d been swimming and realised she was right. My left boob was smaller than my right one but despite my concerns my GP told me not to worry because breasts can develop at different rates.
One side of me was like a mountain, the other a small hill and being a teenager, of course it gave me a complex
Rebecca Butcher
“However, as I watched my mates and their even chests blossoming I couldn’t help but worry. By the time I was 16 I had a D cup right and a A cup left boob.
“One side of me was like a mountain, the other a small hill and being a teenager, of course it gave me a complex.
“I couldn’t buy bras that fitted, people would tease and bully me and changing for PE became a nightmare.
“I’d make up any excuse I could to get out of swimming lessons too, just because it felt as though everyone was staring at me and I hated it,” she says.
By 17, Rebecca said she’d discussed her boobs with more than five doctors, breast specialists and frustratingly was continually told she was just a ‘late developer’.
But to help her feel ‘normal’ she was referred to a prosthetic specialist and to make up for her smaller left breast.
After numerous consultations she was given a prosthetic breast fillet to put in her left bra to make her smaller A cup breast bigger and equal her 34D right boob.
“Every six months I’d have to have my breasts measured and get a new one made. I hated being different. I knew I wasn’t just a ‘slow developer’ and so decided to turn into a medical detective myself,” she says.
Rebecca then says she spent hours researching breast size, and Googling one breast smaller online when she stumbled across a report on Poland Syndrome.
“It’s a congenital growth disorder which affects men twice as much as women and people have a one in 100,000 chance of getting it, which is pretty rare,” she explains.
“One symptom is an asymmetrical body frame which means in both men and women one breast can be significantly smaller than the other.
Guys, including Kyle, have always been supportive and I’ve never felt odd being intimate with anyone.
Rebecca Butcher
“As soon as I read the research and saw the pictures online I knew this is what I had. It was the moment that changed my life.
“I then went back to my GP with all my research and because the condition is so rare it took a while for their research to tally with mine but by the time I was 18, the GP had finally agreed with me and diagnosed that was, in fact, the condition I’d been struggling to understand for years.”
Rebecca says this was then the turning point for her in finally feeling confident to show off her body.
“Rather than hide my condition I decided to do start a YouTube channel in case other women or men had been through what I had,” she says.
“Instead of being laughed at, I was inundated with support and people telling me they had Poland Syndrome too.
“Before I got together with Kyle I gradually became happy to tell guys I dated about my condition when we meet. Kyle and I have known each other since college so he has been aware of my condition since then. Guys, including Kyle, have always been supportive and I’ve never felt odd being intimate with anyone.
"Kyle often says he loves me for who I am. He's proud of my campaign to raise awareness about Poland syndrome and says I am brave - he's amazed at how many emails I get from people following me on Instagram on YouTube.
“I’d refuse to date anyone who thinks someone with perfect breasts is their idea of beauty, it’s just so superficial."
“Every week I still get dozens of emails from people around the world wanting help and advice.
“Finding out what I had and sharing my breast story online filled me self-confidence, self-love and courage.
“I stopped looking at models with perfect boobs and started looking at mine and realising I was lucky because I was different and finally proud of who I was.
“In 2014 I was offered a free NHS breast enlargement after seeing my consultant for an annual check-up.
How to check for breast cancer: The 5 step self exam you can do at home
There is a five-step self exam you can do at home to check for any changes.
1. Begin by looking in a mirror, facing it with your arms on your hips and your shoulders straight.
You should be looking for any dimpling, puckering, bulging skin, redness, soreness, a rash or changes in the nipple.
2. Still looking in the mirror, raise both arms above your head and check for the same changes.
3. With your arms still above your head, check for any fluid coming from the nipples.
This can include milky, yellow or watery fluid, or blood.
4. While lying down use your opposite hand to check each breast.
Using a few fingers, keeping them flat and together, go in a small circular motion around your breasts.
Make sure you feel the entire breast by going top to bottom in these small circles.
It helps to develop a system or pattern to make sure every inch is covered.
Use light pressure for the skin and tissue just beneath, medium pressure for the tissue in the middle of your breasts, and firm pressure to feel the tissue at the back, feeling down to your ribcage.
5. Feel your breasts while either standing or sitting, using the same small circular motions.
“The specialist told me it would give both my breasts ‘symmetry’ but it felt wrong and they were shocked when I refused.
“Having realised how my openness had helped so many people and now loving my body I felt I’d be a hypocrite to change it using plastic surgery.
“I know people will think I’m bonkers turning down a free boob job but I don't need to as I truly love my boobs the way they are.
“I now no longer use the chicken fillet prosthetic to make my smaller boob bigger and tend to wear sports bras as they provide support and given me a better shape
“My boobs have taught me size doesn't matter. I want to show other women with different size breasts you are beautiful too and to stand up to the bullies who say they aren't.”
*Check out Rebecca's YouTube channel here and follow her on Instagram here.
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