Woman with boobs so big she can’t play with son or get surgery on NHS shares upsetting reality
A young mum says her 'whole experience' of motherhood has been 'ripped away' after years of agony caused by her extremely large breasts.
Charlotte Innes' 32HH chest, which weighs around 5kg, has left her struggling to play with her young son on a daily basis.
The 24-year-old from Bristol suffers from chronic back pain as a result of kyphosis, which has caused bulging discs and nerve compression issues.
According to the NHS, kyphosis is a 'hunched or rounded upper back. Sometimes your shoulders may also look rounded'.
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"You may not have any other symptoms if the top part of your spine is only slightly curved. If the curve is more noticeable or gets worse, it can cause back pain and stiffness," the health service explains.
"If you have a severe curve in your spine, it can cause more serious problems, such as very bad back pain and difficulty breathing."
Refused breast reduction surgery
After an MRI scan in November 2025 revealed that she had developed the condition, Charlotte says she's been refused her breast reduction surgery five times.
She said the NHS told her that her appeal has been refused due to providing 'insufficient evidence', while going private would cost around £8,500 for an op.
A spokesperson for the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board said: "The ICB has a robust and evidence-based process for considering exceptional funding requests, which aims to promote consistency, fairness and equity in funding for specialised, non-standard treatments.
"Our approach is detailed in the policies available on our website.
"Requests are carefully considered by the ICB's exceptional funding team through a screening process, with some cases also going to a panel which meets monthly and is made up of GPs, public health and patient representatives."
Upsetting reality
Charlotte, who now has to wear a brace while at home to help support her spine, wrote on her GoFundMe: "Going anywhere male dominated I’m extremely nervous about going to and avoid if possible.
"I have been heckled and shouted at made to feel humiliated at a car garage before after months of finally trying to push myself to do things like that on my own which resulted to a formal complaint.
"I was wearing a large oversized hoodie at the time so they weren’t even on show.
"This has still affected me and no longer can push myself to put myself into these situations anymore."
The mum-of-one said she can't go to the gym because of the 'excruciating pain during and after workouts'.
"Being extremely nervous to train when other people are in the gym so now seeing my PT for back pain exercises and stretches," she added.
'No bras fit me'
"In regards to wearing a bra, I have tried them all. No normal, nice bras fit me. I have tried high street bras, high end bras, sports bras, surgery bras, non wired bras and I did once get a custom fit bra made which was so expensive," Charlotte admitted.
"They have to have a large shoulder strap for support but they dig in and cause red and purple marks across my shoulders if worn for too long.
"When at home or even in my pyjamas I still have to wear some supportive bras or bralettes as if I don’t get sores and rashes under my boobs across my belly. (Sadly they do hang that low)."
What's the criteria for having a breast reduction on the NHS?
The health body explains that you may be able to have a breast reduction on the NHS if other options have been exhausted, and you have health problems caused by having very large breasts.
These include:
- back, shoulder or neck pain
- skin irritation under the breasts
- grooves on the shoulders from bra straps
- low self-esteem or depression
- not being able to take part in sport or exercise
The NHS adds that 'the size of your breasts, your weight, your general health and if you smoke may also be considered', but the exact criteria for having the op can differ depending on where you live.
Anish Vij