Jane Fonda Regrets Her Plastic Surgery and So Do These 11 Other Women

Jane Fonda is the subject of a forthcoming HBO documentary titled Jane Fonda in Five Acts set to premiere on September 24. The Oscar-winning actress and at-home-workout powerhouse has achieved much in the way of acting and activism in her 80 years of life.

But Jane recently made headlines for a segment of her upcoming program where she addresses a part of her appearance that's hard to overlook, namely all of the plastic surgeries and cosmetic procedures she's undergone over the years. According to People, Jane admits to regretting some of the work she got done in the documentary, saying, "On one level, I hate the fact that I’ve had the need to alter myself physically to feel that I’m OK. I wish I wasn’t like that."

And she's not the only one to take a look in the mirror after plastic surgery and realize it might have done more harm than good. In fact, a lot of people face internal struggles with themselves and their new appearance once they've been under the knife. A recent AskWomen thread on reddit had ladies from all the corners of the internet sharing reasons they regret their procedures, and it might be a good list to read before getting yours.

"I had a bi-lateral breast reduction nine years ago. My left nipple became necrotic and I lost it. There is a weird crater there now. I have also lost my husband because of it. My self-esteem was blown and I fell apart. I am severely depressed and am not looking forward to the future alone."

- CircleKjerk

"I got Lasik and have had a horrible experience since day one. My eyes are always dry and I've spent more money on eye drops than I have on food.

My complaints have always been met with, 'use more eye drops' or 'give it time.' It's been almost a year and I use eye drops ALL THE TIME.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing in 20/20, but even my optometrist has told me that the dryness is keeping my eyes from reaching their full potential. It sucks, but all I can do is continue to drown my eyes in eye drops and wait for things to improve."

- Ovaryeacting

"One of my breasts never fully developed. By the time I was 16, my left was a full D, and my right an A. My doctor considered it a birth defect, as tissue never developed on the under side of the right one, but the top half grew somewhat normally. I was incredibly self conscious because it was pretty noticeable in clothes if I didn’t wear something in my bra to fill it out, and I could never be in bathing suits around people.

At 17 I had a saline implant put in and it drastically changed my self-esteem for the better. I could wear clothes that fit normally and comfortably, and i recovered just in time to fill out my dream prom dress.

The only things I regret:

1- I had it put in really early. While it helped high school me, adult me continued to grow chest wise. My left is a DD and my right is a small D. It’s noticeable with my shirt off but not much else, and it doesn’t bother me at all, but given a second chance I might’ve waited until I had grown more

2- I did absolutely no long-term research. At the time my health insurance covered a significant portion of the procedure because it was considered a birth defect, and my dad covered the rest. But implants need to replaced eventually, and I’m nearing 10 years post-surgery with no health insurance and no 4K to spare on an emergency boob job

With that being said, I can’t imagine not having it done. It’s done wonders for my confidence! It came to light later that my sister had the same defect. The doctors think it’s either genetic (although we have no known history), or a side effect of my moms prolonged drug use either during or before pregnancy. We’re so lucky to have a great father, and I feel lucky I’m able to guide my sister through her process, something I wish I had myself."

- oopsie-poopsie

"Had excess skin removed after a major weight loss. Not having the chaffing during exercise is nice, but the large scars do make their own problems."

- ratsntats

"I live in a city where plastic surgery is so frequent it's almost the norm. My mom actually pushed me to have a nose job when I was 16.

I had broken my nose when I was 9 and I admit the bump always bothered me and I was self-conscious and extremely shy. I asked for the bump to be the only thing they would touch, but my mom must have asked them to 'fix' the tip as well because my nose turned out to be noticeably shorter and thinner.

I'm 16 now and super happy with my nose, I feel prettier and a lot less insecure. But I can't help but feel like a fraud sometimes when people call me pretty. Maybe because it wasn't really my choice? I don't know. I'm always scared someone is going to find some old photos and ask about it. I know I would not have felt as pretty with my real nose but I would have liked a chance to try to accept myself the way I am."

- babaorom

"I had plastic and micro surgery followed by cosmetic surgery before I turned 2.

The family dog attacked me and tore up half my face. Literally a quarter of the skin and muscles on my face just hanging there. Emergency surgery to return blood flow (micro/plastic), then cosmetic to neaten it up.

Not what most people think of when asking about cosmetic surgery!

I'm certainly grateful for it, but wish I could tweak a couple of things. My eyebrows and eyelids are distinctly uneven to me. Others don't notice it, but I do. Minor thing I know. Other than that, it's some muscle differences that are showing up now in my forehead, where pulling the skin and muscle tight to cover the damage means I'm getting a wrinkle on one side and not the other. Neither issue is a 'big deal' to me, just things that sometimes bug me very minorly. I'm super happy to actually have a face at all, you know, so I'm not complaining!"

- MrsBox

"I had breast augmentation surgery last year in December, followed by an explant (breast implant removal) in May. My breast implant experience was absolutely horrible. I had small breasts (not even a full A cup) and always thought I would benefit from a bit more curve to my figure. 

I was always afraid of the aesthetic outcome, but felt the push to do so when I started dating a new partner who was excited and supportive of the idea. After surgery I was about a 30D and they looked godawful. I was devastated by my body, but hoped in time they would soften and become natural-looking. 

They never did settle in, and in fact came to cause me immense amounts of pain, working out became a source of pain instead of pride, I struggled to cook because carrying heavy shopping hurt my chest, and chopping was painful too. They were honestly a nightmare. 

I cried almost every day I had them and finally found the courage to get them explanted. My breasts are now back to their former glory (albeit with some new scars) and I have a new found appreciation for my small natural boobs. Sure I'm pretty flat, but I'm finally pain free, and would never consider implants ever again!"

- hkyogi

"Not me but a family friend. She got it because she thought it would help her get a job to look younger. A few months later she had a sort of identity crisis. 'Is this really me?! Who am I?! What did I do?!'"

- RhythmicNebula

"I had lipo/contouring and breast lift with augmentation.

I had lost close to 100 lbs and my lower body was a bit disproportionate. I had a visible 4-6 pack on top, but on the bottom, I had a lot of lumps and cellulite. I wore about a size 4, occasionally 6 on top, but a size 8 on the bottom, and it was very hard to find pants that fit around my thighs without seriously gaping at the waist. With my boobs, they were still a decent cup size — 34D — but mostly all skin and didn't look particularly appealing. I talked to a plastic surgeon about just a lift, but that would probably leave me with a B cup, and as someone who always had a big chest and generally has a large frame, I knew I wouldn't be happy with that. Implants only would just give me huge saggy boobs instead of flat saggy boobs, think "tennis ball in a knee sock" look.

So we ended up doing contouring and the breast lift/augmentation in one procedure. The surgeon only took a total of 3 lbs of my fat from my lower body, but it made me way more proportional and I can now easily buy pants off the rack and not even try them on. It also helped me push myself at the gym way harder because now I can actually see the results of my lower body workouts, there's a lot more shape and definition in my legs.

My boobs came out a bit bigger than both my surgeon and I expected, I guess I had more natural breast tissue than we thought. He expected to keep me a D cup, but I ended up a DDD/G, and a large one at that. Some DDD bras fit, but not all. I was torn between 275 and 325 cc implants and I heard from pretty much everyone that women generally regret not going bigger, so I opted for the bigger size. But in retrospect, 275s would've made my life easier in terms of clothes shopping even though the look probably wouldn't be too different.

All in all, 90 percent happy, the only change if I were to redo this would be slightly smaller implants."

- jochi1543

"I had a weird mole right on my butt cheek. I wasn't really self-conscious about it but I lied to the doc and said that I hate it and I'm scared I'll never be confident to show my butt to a potential sex partner blah blah. They bought it. And my insurance paid for it. Also it was blue/grey-ish and occasionally changing color (it was green at some point) and as big as a 1€ coin so the doctors thought they're gonna remove it and check what it actually is.

I got the surgery 6 months ago and the scar it left is even worse than the mole itself. I wasn't self-conscious about the mole but I am about the scar. It is roughly 5cm long and you can still see the little dots of where the stitches were. I was told those dots would disappear after two months. I know I got a s--t immune system and wounds usually take forever to heal but honestly? I expected a better result. It's a big long scar with little dots around it and I hate it."

- cynzoid