A BASINGSTOKE mother has written a book about her decision to go under the knife in a bid to boost her cup size.

Not What Nature Intended, written by Karen Coomber, tells her true story of travelling to Belgium to have her breasts increased from a size A to D.

The 43-year-old mother of one, from Moorhams Avenue, Hatch Warren, said she grew up feeling uncomfortable with her breast size.

She added: “My mum was a large breasted woman and so was my sister and I became aware of that. I remember asking if I was going to be like them and they said ‘yes’, but it didn’t happen.

“I didn’t have the mickey taken out of me but I didn’t feel right in my own skin. I didn’t feel like I was a woman.”

The business consultant eventually decided to have surgery, and in 2006 spent nearly £3,000 on the operation.

She added: “The book doesn’t glamorise cosmetic surgery. It goes through the tears and pain and all the cleaning I had to do afterwards. It took six weeks to recover.”

With the risks involved with major surgery, Mrs Coomber’s family were unhappy about her decision. But she said she was determined to have the operation, and added: “My sister and brother were devastated that I felt that I needed to be cut about to make myself right. They said ‘don’t do it’ but there was nothing that was going to stop me.”

Asked if she would have had the surgery had she been a mother at the time, she said: “I couldn’t bear anyone anywhere near me. The pain was indescribable – I was black and bruised.

“There’s no way I could have done that if I had a child.”

Mrs Coomber said she will be honest with her daughter about the operation, but said she hoped she won’t grow up believing appearance is all-important.

She added: “In a way it’s a sad story that I felt I had to do this to be right and a real woman.

“But if my daughter felt that was what she wanted, I wouldn’t have a problem.”

Mrs Coomber said the point of writing the book, which has been published by AuthorHouse, was to share her experience.

She added: “Cosmetic surgery has become more accessible. That’s why I wanted to write the book to say it’s out there, but it can go wrong.

“It’s not to say that cosmetic surgery is good or bad. It’s just to say this is what I did and for me personally, it was right. It’s not an easy option. It won’t cure depression or make someone love you.”