HealthPop
By

Monica DyBuncio /

CBS News/ January 9, 2012, 2:41 PM

Mom Sarah Burge gives 7-year-old daughter Poppy gift certificate for liposuction

poppy burge, sarah burge

"Human Barbie" Sarah Burge set up a website for her 7-year-old daughter, Poppy.

/ www.poppyburge.com

(CBS) Some parents are criticized for spoiling their kids with overly expensive Christmas presents. But one mom who spent roughly $10,800 on a single present for her 7-year-old daughter is under fire for a different reason. The hefty price tag came with a voucher for liposuction, the Daily Mail reported.

PICTURES - 13 bizarre but popular plastic surgery procedures

Sarah Burge, the UK's self-proclaimed "Human Barbie," is notorious for her plastic surgery fixation. For her daughter's recent birthday, the 51-year-old woman of Cambridgeshire, England, gifted Poppy with a 6,000-pound voucher (roughly $9,252) for breast augmentation. It's no surprise then that for Christmas, Burge stuffed Poppy's stocking with a gift certificate valued at nearly $11,000 for liposuction.

"She asks for surgery all the time. She wants to look good and lipo is one of those procedures that will always come in handy," Burge told the Daily Mail.

Where did young Poppy get the idea for surgery in the first place? The apple may not have fallen too far from the tree. Burge has allegedly spent close to $1 million on her own plastic surgeries, ABC News reports.

"Some people think it's controversial and I get angry when strangers say I'm a bad mother because I don't think there's any harm in giving her this gift," Burge told the Daily Mail. "I see these vouchers as investing in her future - like saving money for her education."

Plastic surgery isn't the only "adult" activity Burge has passed along to her daughter. Burge made headlines in 2010 when she admitted she had taught her then six-year-old daughter to pole dance. For Poppy's seventh birthday, Burge threw her an elaborate party involving not just manicures and pedicures, but also temporary tattoos and fake champagne.

What does Poppy have to say about the lavish presents? "I wanted a new computer, a holiday and a voucher for surgery. When I got it all, it was a dream come true. All my friends were jealous. I can't wait to be like Mummy with big boobs. They're pretty."

Poppy's words spotlight some experts' concerns about young girls' ideas of beauty and sexuality.

"Childhood is a time to learn about the world, explore, pretend, imagine and create in a safe vacuum of innocence," Shari Miles-Cohen, senior director of women's programs for the American Psychological Association, told ABC News in September. "Bypassing those critical life experiences and developmental stages by trying to dress, act and be treated like an adult leaves these children lacking important life skills that help them be confident and successful adults."

Other experts agree, saying Poppy could face problems as an adult from her upbringing.

"Plastic surgery addiction is a reality - and one Burge could feasibly pass on to her own daughter," medical contributor Dr. Manny Alvarez wrote on Fox News. "I don't know if Burge is looking for publicity, but she needs to understand that what she is doing could permanently damage her child. One day, as an adult, she might go online and see exactly what her mother was doing to her at the age of seven and realize that her life and her future were not being protected."

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17 Comments Add a Comment
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TrueRose says:
Barbie doesn't have any children. If Barbie were real she would not have enough body fat to have a menstrual cycle. Thus she can't have children. This self proclaimed human Barbie has at least had two things not in common with the doll. A period and a child. How does she even know the girl won't grow up to have big breast or even have a need for liposuction? She's 7. This will screw up her child for life. The Mom is pushing her own insecurities onto her child.
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Bojax39 says:
"Some people think it's controversial and I get angry when strangers say I'm a bad mother because I don't think there's any harm in giving her this gift," Burge told the Daily Mail.

Don't believe you should be angry so much as flat out ashamed of yourself seeing how you're a walking advertisement for birth control and all......
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ricktrick says:
Future bimbo in the making. Did you see the pic of the girl on a Pole Dancing? Geeze, put the mom in jail for child sex abuse already.
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Bojax39 replies:
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Don't know about the future but sounds like mom is a "bimbo" already. Not to mention a self mutilating moron.
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22qnf1 says:
This sucks theres a lot more things out there that mother could have done with her money don't want her complaining about anything regarding finaces
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cynandwyn says:
I say stop stuffing your child with junk and she won't need the surgery. I agree with- you should buy her stocks, cloths, collage education and then let her decide if she wants such a surgery when she can pay for it and is old enough to make that choice. With an education she will be able to make an informed choice not one you have pushed on her. This is just going too far way too far.
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byrdh5n1 replies:
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"Stuffing your child with junk...." COME ON! Didja read the article and then use that phrase? She gave breast augmentation certificate to her daughter. Stuffing with junk? COME ON!!! Next I'll see "***-for-tat"..... I hope I nipped that in the bud.....
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netjunkie1 says:
She could have easily have gotten her some stocks and bonds and fun bras instead at her age.
Next thing you know, she'll be having sex like mommy, obviously.
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FormerUSMCSergeant says:
One trivial broad raising another to be just the same.
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byrdh5n1 replies:
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Ya gotta admit: seeing a 7-year-old with Dolly Partons would be as hilarious as the proverbial drunken bulldog trying to walk across the yard..... No safety concerns there: them puppies could act as air bags in case of a fall......
Bojax39 replies:
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by byrdh5n1: "Ya gotta admit: seeing a 7-year-old with Dolly Partons would be as hilarious..... No safety concerns there: them puppies could act as air bags in case of a fall......"

Sort of like your obviously empty head does? This is no joking matter and nothing funny about it.
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mullenplyr says:
JUST PLAIN STUPID.....
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MIO42 says:
Words fail
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myoleman says:
Hopefully this lady will gain some maturity before long, before she causes more psychological damage to her daughter. Some people take an inordinately long time to grow up. Unfortunately, some of them never do. May the Lord have mercy on them both and grant the mother the spirit of a mature perspective on life.
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