Convinced that women have more job opportunities than men, a 30-year-old Chinese man decided to get breast implants to increase his odds of finding employment.
The man, surnamed Ho, had been struggling to find a job for months, when he became convinced that looking more like a woman would make things a lot easier for him. News reports kept mentioning that women had better career opportunities than men, so he somehow got it in his head that getting breast implants that would make him appear more feminine would convince employers to give him a chance, despite his limited work experience.
Unable to afford the breast enlargement surgery, Ho borrowed over 39,000 Yuan ($5,850) in August and traveled from his home city of Zhuzhou to the Ruilan Medical Cosmetic Hospital, in Changsha, for the operation. Everything went according to plan until he came back home with his new pair of perky breasts. He hadn't told his family about his intentions, and when they laid eyes on his chest for the first time, they got the shock of their lives.
"I was so scared, how can it be like that? How can a man with such big boobs face others?" Ho's mother said in a video interview. "I can't tell you how many times I have cried in my room."
Failing to come to terms with Ho's new appearance, the family kept pressuring him to have the implants removed, which he eventually did, without even getting the chance to use his new assets for a job interview. But that was not the end of the story.
It turns out that while inquiring about the surgery, Ho was convinced by employees of Ruilan Medical Cosmetic Hospital to have the surgery and take out a loan, if he couldn't afford to pay for it.
"They told me I could pay for the surgery with a loan. They asked me to hand in my mobile phone and ID card," he recently told reporters.
Even after having the silicone implants removed, Ho kept receiving phone calls about the loan almost every day, which nearly caused him to have a nervous breakdown. His mother insists that he was taken advantage of, as he suffers from a hearing problem, after getting a concussion at the age of three, and often has difficulties communicating with people.
Contacted by the media, officials at Ruilan Medical Cosmetic Hospital said that Ho had signed an agreement and has to pay back the loan.
"He is over 18 years old. He has signed the documents," a spokesperson said. "He should be responsible for his actions."
Ho reportedly visited the Changsha hospital on October 2, for negotiations. Facing increasing pressure from the press and the general public, Ruilan offered to waive the fees and even offer the man 3000 Yuan ($450) as compensation. It remains unclear if the two parties have come to an agreement.
