Woman has bone-breaking growth surgery
Wanted to be taken seriously in her career
Outs herself after previous use of false name
ONE of Queensland's youngest pollies has told how she spent nine months in Russia for bone-breaking growth surgery because of insecurities about her size.
Logan councillor Hajnal Ban, 31, had each of her legs broken in four places for the leg-lengthening procedure, remaining in hospital as she grew about 1mm a day to increase her 154cm frame to 162cm.
She previously detailed her experience in a book, God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall, but used a false name and wore a wig and glasses to hide her identity.
Now she has spoken exclusively to The Courier-Mail about the $40,000 procedure and why she used the pseudonym Sara Vornamen to tell her tale.
"It's not an operation everyone will agree with – there are some people who are just totally against cosmetic surgery, full stop, so I know it's not everyone's cup of tea," she said.
"I guess that's the other reason I chose to go under a pseudonym because it's a private decision and I didn't want to be ostracised and talked about as a person and why I chose to do it. It was more about the operation, not about me."
Cr Ban, who was elected to Beaudesert Shire Council in 2006 and then Logan City when they were amalgamated last year, said she had been taunted at school and called names such as "midget".
When she got older, it became an issue of credibility and people not taking her seriously, particularly in her chosen profession of law and now politics.
"I get tired of people focusing on the physical side of me because I feel like I have a lot to offer and I'm a qualified lawyer," she said.
"I'm educated and I think people don't tend to focus on that."
