Bernard H. Stern, M.D.

Dr. Stern has over 25 years of private practice experience and is one of the select few with advanced training and expertise in the fine art of cosmetic surgery of the female genitalia and now limits his practice exclusively to these procedures.

Credentials

Dr. Stern in the News

Designer Vaginas

(Excerpt from REAL Magazine, September 2005)

In this day and age when it's easier to suck your fat out than exercise it off, and women use their lunch breaks to top up on Botox, where will our quest for perfection end? Now virtually every inch of our bodies can be remodeled and improved—both inside and out—even our vaginas. REAL talks to women who had their nethers nipped and never looked back.

It might make you cringe thinking of a scalpel anywhere near your sensitive nether regions, but more and more women are opting for designer vaginas — one of the newest and fastest growing areas of plastic surgery. It may seem like the ultimate in vanity, but beauty aside, genital cosmetic surgery is often used to correct physical problems. In fact, it's not uncommon for women who have given birth to suffer from slackness in the pelvic floor and vaginal muscles. Some may even develop stress incontinence, which can be embarrassing and severely damage self-confidence. Taking the surgical route has not only boosted sexual pleasure, it has prevented further genital discomfort. Here's what you can expect when having the nip.

VAGINAL VARIATIONS

The two most commonly performed procedures are the labiaplasty, where the labia or "lips" of the genitals are reduced, and vaginoplasty, or vaginal rejuvenation, where the vagina is tightened. Often these two procedures are carried out together. The surgery can be performed with a scalpel, or with a laser.

As people come in all shapes and sizes, so do the female sexual organs. The vulva is the outside part of a woman's genitals, which includes the urethra and the vagina. Over these two openings lie two folds of tissue. The fleshy outer folds are called the labia majora and the more delicate inner folds are called the labia minora. The outer labia are usually larger, but with many women the inner lips protrude. Not only do some women find this looks unattractive, but it can cause pain and irritation as the sensitive skin rubs on clothing.

Labiaplasty trims the protruding flesh of the inner lips, giving the vagina a "neater" appearance.

Dr. Bernard Stern is an obstetrician and gynecologist, and an expert (at) female genital cosmetic surgery. He has performed vaginal surgery for 34 years, and genital cosmetic surgery for five years.

His Florida practice is booming. Last year business nearly quadrupled from the year before—helped along by a number of UK women who flew across the Atlantic for his specialist care. This year the numbers look set to increase by another 50%. At the moment Dr. Stern carries out three or four surgeries every day. And that's without even advertising, Dr. Stern says.

" My only marketing is on the Internet," he explains."Women who are bothered by their genitals, either emotionally or physically, find me."

His workload is pretty evenly divided between labiaplasty and vaginoplasty procedures. One in three patients opt for both at the same time.

Surprisingly, the operations are fairly simple procedures. Most take about an hour, some are even performed under a local anesthetic, and most women are back to their regular routine within a week. Sex, however, is off the cards for at least six weeks.

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Over the top?
Experts say cosmetic surgery on women's genitalia redefines the concept of 'extreme makeover'
By LIZ DOUP

So, it has come to this. In our world of extreme makeovers, face-lifts and fat suctioning are no longer enough.

The latest thing in cosmetic surgery is centering on something more intimate: women's genitals. The marketing pitch, delivered mainly via the Internet, tells women they can look younger, feel prettier and have better sex if they'll just fix the most private part of their body.

"They all want to be young and feel good about how they look and be more self-confident," says Dr. Bernard Stern, a board-certified Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ob-gyn who does the procedures. "Some say they're tired of not feeling anything."
The hope of a better sex life brought Jean Johnson, a 38-year-old mother of two, to Stern's office last June. "I wanted to feel more sensation," says Johnson,who had a vaginoplasty, in which the vaginal tissue is stitched tighter. "I wanted to feel more confident, like it was worth it for my husband and for me."

It was her idea, she says. But after consulting with Stern, she had another procedure done at the same time: a labiaplasty, in which the labia are reduced and reshaped. During the three-month healing Johnson had moments when she thought, "Oh, my gosh. I shouldn't have done it." But she reports that her sex life is better.

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The Most Private of Makeovers

CONFIDENTIAL Dr. Bernard H. Stern consults with a client on genital cosmetic surgery in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Cindy Karp for The New York Times

By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: November 28, 2004

THE 39-year-old yoga instructor was like a lot of women these days: she was unhappy with her body and thought that a little sculpturing by a plastic surgeon would help. But her goal was not the usual smoothing out of facial wrinkles or expanding her bust. Instead she wanted to achieve her beauty ideal in the most private part of her anatomy — her genitals.

"I was very, very self-conscious about the way I looked," said the woman, who lives in Boston and spoke on the condition that her name not be used, to protect her privacy. "Now I feel free. I just feel normal."

As millions of women inject Botox, reshape noses, augment breasts, lift buttocks and suck away unwanted fat, a growing number are now exploring a new frontier, genital plastic surgery. They are tightening vaginal muscles, plumping up or shortening labia, liposuctioning the pubic area and even restoring the hymen, sometimes despite their doctors' skepticism about the need for such cosmetic measures. Procedures that once were reserved for problems like incontinence, congenital malformations or injuries related to childbirth are now being marketed by some gynecologists and plastic surgeons as "vaginal rejuvenation," surgical techniques to enhance sexual satisfaction and improve the looks of the genitals. Even doctors who do not advertise say they get inquiries from patients every month.

The most popular of those are tightening of the vaginal muscles, or vaginoplasty, and reduction of the labia minora, called labiaplasty. Doctors who perform the surgeries, which are usually done on an outpatient basis in less than two hours and can cost from $3,500 to $8,000, say that the reasons for the procedures are not always purely cosmetic; some women with large labia, the surgeons said, suffer discomfort wearing tight pants or during activities like bicycle riding.

But primarily, doctors say, aggressive marketing and fashion influences like flimsier swimsuits, the Brazilian bikini wax and more exposure to nudity in magazines, movies and on the Internet are driving attention to a physical zone still so private that some women do not dare, or care, to look at themselves closely.

Dr. Bernard H. Stern, a gynecologist in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., began to focus exclusively on genital cosmetic surgery four years ago and said he had seen his business quadruple this year, to four to five surgeries a day on patients who come from all over the United States and abroad. "It is lucrative and it has patient appreciation," said Dr. Stern, who has a Web site (more) . . .

Other doctors who perform genital surgeries as part of broader medical practices say they are seeing at least a handful of patients a month concerned with the aesthetics of the vagina. Some procedures, like hymen reconstruction, are relatively rare and confined to a minority of women who need to conform to religious or ethnic rules on virginity, doctors said. A greater number of patients complain of stretched vaginal muscles because of childbirth and aging, or inner labia that are too big, too uneven or unsightly. "The women feel undesirable or un pretty," Dr. Stern said. "Even if nobody sees it, they see it."

A 34-year-old housewife from Long Island said a similar problem nagged her through adolescence, marriage and three children. Like other women interviewed for this article, she would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the subject and fear of ridicule. "It never bothered my husband," she said, "but it was always like `Yuck!' All I know is that what I had I didn't like." Just two years ago, she said, she could not find a doctor in her area with experience in labiaplasty or who would not play down the problem and try to keep her from seeking a surgical solution.

A 41-year-old police officer in Fort Lauderdale who saw Dr. Stern for vaginal surgery last June said that after having four children she thought her vaginal muscles needed improvement, both for her and for her partner. Like many other genital surgery patients, the officer has had other plastic surgeries, including breast augmentation and liposuction. "I just felt that I keep myself in shape everywhere else, and this would make me feel better," she said, adding that the surgery has given her more intense sexual enjoyment.

One patient, a 22-year-old college student from Toronto, said she had never had intercourse until after her labiaplasty because she felt "insecure and ugly" about excess labia tissue. "It's just that when you feel bad about your body, especially this part of your body, it's kind of impossible to let your true feelings and passions show," she said. Now, after the surgery last May, she said, "I have nothing to hide."

MEDIA

The following Newspapers, Television, Radio, & Magazines have featured Dr. Stern.

New York Daily News: CITY LIFE HEALTH • Over the Top • Tuesday, June 28, 2005:
http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/health/story/323464p-276497c.html

Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel: HEALTH & FAMILY • The Beauty Frontier • Sunday, May 29, 2005

New York Times: SUNDAY STYLES • The Most Private of Makeovers • Sunday, November 28, 2004: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/fashion/28PLAS.html?ex=1259384400&en=0d49428121489fb0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt

Chicago Tribune: WN WOMAN NEWS • Surgery • Next Frontier: Genital Makeovers • Wednesday, December 15, 2004.

R REAL: 2-16 SEPTEMBER 2005 • Designer Vaginas • Essential Publishing Ltd,
Colchester, Essex CO49HU (UK)

New York Times: SUNDAY MAGAZINE • Behind Closed Doors • December 17, 2006, Sunday By TARYN SIMON (NYT); Magazine
Late Edition - Final, Section 6, Page 64, Column 1, 229 words. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2006/12/13/magazine/20061217_AMERICA_SLIDESHOW_7.html

Hustler: The Vagina Dialogues, pgs. 60 – 62, January 2007.

Clear Channel 700 WLW, Scott Sloan Show • Live • June 15, 2006 (XM channel 173. • Female Genital Aesthetic Surgery

Michael Baisden Show, Nationally Syndicated, 50 station listening audience • Live • in June and November 2006 • primetime • Labiaplasty & Vaginoplasty.

Dr Stern was featured in the prime time documentary • Drastic Plastics • which aired to critical acclaim on Yorkshire Television in England (UK) January 2004.

Dr Stern was featured prime time on ABC Action News • Like a Virgin • Nov.6, 2006
http://cosmeticsurgery2.com/cs2-stern.htm

Dr Stern was featured prime time En Telemundo TV • Vagina Plastico Cirugia • February 8, 2007.

Dr Stern is featured in Taryn Simon²s most recent book, a series of photographs, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art, traveling to the Museum Modern Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany.