‘I got a new face and body on a family holiday’

Mum-of-four Jonica Bray got a complete body and face overhaul on a family holiday – and saved herself thousands of dollars. WARNING: Graphic content.

“I was kind of groggy when I woke up from surgery, and I could see out of the corner of my eye this big bucket, all wrapped up in cellophane with a bow,” recalls Central Coast mum-of-four Jonica Bray.

“I assumed it was flowers, or a fruit basket or something, because I couldn’t really see it properly, but then I looked inside … it was a bucket of my own fat. It had kind of separated … it was absolutely disgusting.”

As it turns out, the bucket of fat was part of a Malaysian hospital protocol which requires a patient be shown proof of the results of their procedure – in this case, liposuction – before the medical waste is disposed of.

“Once they showed it to me and I told them I was OK with it being chucked out, it was gone,” she laughs, “but it was certainly a new experience in a foreign country.”

Jonica Bray has been overseas to get plastic surgery. Picture: Instagram.

For Jonica, going under the knife in a foreign country is something she’s familiar with, having travelled abroad a number of times for various cosmetic procedures. And (surprise bucket of fat notwithstanding) she’s never been anything less than thrilled with the results.

“The first time I had a procedure overseas was when I was 27,” she explains, “And I was working in media so I’d been offered the opportunity to trial it out. At this point, it was quite unusual to travel overseas for surgery, and Australians certainly weren’t getting it done in their droves like they are now.”

For her first procedure, Jonica travelled to Malaysia to have liposuction on her hips and abdomen. “I’d always had this tummy – I never had a flat stomach, despite doing all the ‘right’ things and eating well, exercising,” Jonica reveals.

“It had always bothered me, so I jumped at the chance.”

The operation went well. Overjoyed at the results and buoyed by the prices – which were a fraction of what people pay in Australia for the same procedures – Jonica had only good things to say about her first brush with surgery abroad. A few years later, after giving birth to her daughter, she began planning her next visit.

“Genetically, I suffer from very soft skin,” the small business-owner explains, “which means it doesn’t have very high levels of elastin. That leads to premature ageing, and after having had a baby, the boobs are the first to go. They were just very saggy and shapeless, so I made the decision to have a breast reduction, lift and implants.”

Booking in with the same Malaysian doctor who had done her lipo a few years earlier, Jonica was able to pay for flights, accommodation and the surgeries for about half the cost of what she would have paid for the surgery alone in Australia.

The budget-friendly prices are a clear driver for medical tourism’s booming popularity in this country. Australians – at least pre-pandemic – spent about $300 million a year on medical tourism alone, with that number expected to rise significantly as borders and countries re-open.

It’s a practice Dr Naveen Somia, Immediate Past President of the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) has some reservations about.

“Cosmetic surgery overseas is a part of the burgeoning global medical tourism industry,” he explains, “medical tourism that was heavily restricted during the pandemic will get a boost with the borders opening and restrictions on travel easing.

“All surgery carries risk whether it is performed at a state-of-the-art centre here in Australia or overseas. However, there are additional risks that you need to be aware of when you choose to have cosmetic surgery, or any surgical procedure, overseas.”

Dr Somia cites differences in accreditation standards, the fact that post-surgical complications such as blood-clots can be exacerbated by air travel, and the potential for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in tropical countries as just some of the concerns to be aware of.

Jonica Bray had a facelift abroad. Picture: Supplied.

In addition, he warns of the practice of ‘ghost-surgery’ – whereby the surgeon a patient has enlisted to perform their procedure is replaced by a different doctor while they’re under anaesthesia.

“There are a number of reasons why a practitioner may choose to do this,” explains Dr Somia, “for example, one surgery may be overbooked, or they may wish to use a less experienced (and less expensive) surgeon to perform the procedure.

“This betrayal and violation of trust is not just unethical, it is illegal and undermines the relationship of trust between the doctor and patient.”

For her part, Jonica says the level of care she received during her overseas surgeries exceeded any experience she’d had at home.

Jonica Bray says she’s had nothing but good experiences overseas. Picture: Supplied.

“As well as the financial benefits, I feel like the care that I’ve received every single time has been amazing,” she says.

“I have been in and out of hospital in Australia to have babies and other things. And my experience hasn’t been awful here. But my experience in both Malaysia and the Philippines was five-star. It was next-level, the amount of care and attention that I was given.

“For example, after my breast augmentation, the hospital sent a nurse back to my hotel with me. She stayed with me, did regular observations, changed my dressings and was on hand to help with whatever I needed, all included in the price. Literally, if you wake up at 2am and feel like porridge – she’ll organise it for you. It was heaven.”

Mum-of-four Jonica Bray booked in for more overseas surgery. Picture: Instagram.

Five years and two more babies later, Jonica booked in for an additional series of surgical procedures – this time, in the Philippines.

“After giving birth again at 39, things just didn’t go back to the way they were before, despite trying all the right things,” explains Jonica. “I had abdominal separation and so I still looked about five months pregnant. I went for a consultation here in Australia and was told that really the only way to fix it was surgery.”

Jonica Bray

Jonica booked in for what’s known as a ‘Mummy Makeover’ – a series of surgeries designed to reverse some of the issues that leave women feeling self conscious after childbirth.

This includes a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty, where excess skin and fat is removed and the fascia tightened by sutures to create a taut-looking abdomen, as well as a mons lift, where the area above a woman’s pubic bone is pulled up and stitched along the bikini line, creating a smooth area instead of a bulge.

Included in the price of Jonica’s Mummy Makeover was whichever breast augmentation she chose – whether it was a lift, implants, a reduction or all three.

“In Australia, to have all that done I was looking at around $50,000 or $60,000,” she reveals, “But in the Philippines, for the surgeries, including return flights, airport transfers, 10 nights accommodation and all my medications, I paid just $12,000.”

Just before the pandemic hit, Jonica returned to the Philippines for a facelift, lipo and fat transfer – and this time, took her family along for the holiday.

“We got a two-bedroom apartment that we stayed in together,” she recalls.

“The hospital sent a private driver to pick me up – I went in to have the operation and my husband stayed with the kids.

“I had a lower facelift and eyelid lift, liposuction to the neck and a neck-lift, and then I had fat taken from my thighs and injected into my cheeks, lips and under my eyes.”

This time, the price-tag was $6000 – less than a quarter of the cost of having the procedure done at home.

Jonica had fat from her thighs injected into her cheeks. Picture: Supplied.

Jonica was mindful not to have the kids see her directly after her surgery.

“I was really swollen that first day, and we didn’t want the kids to see me and freak out – it would have been quite frightening, so my husband kept the kids busy the first few days and then the nurse came she just slept on the sofa in the in the apartment and looked after me incredibly well,” she says.

“By day 3, the swelling had gone down considerably and we were able to move to a resort where we spent the rest of my recovery. Apart from the odd curious onlooker, and one person who asked my husband if I’d been in a car crash because of the state of my swollen face, it was a relaxing holiday after that.

“Now that borders are open, I wouldn’t mind a top-up on the fat-transfer fillers,” Jonica laughs. “So I think I’ll definitely be going back for more!”

Jonica shares about her surgery, and about life as a mum of four on Instagram.