Two women just told us what they spent on breast reductions. We weren't expecting the price difference.

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For years, Sarah McGregor lived with a part of her body that felt like it belonged to someone else.

In her twenties, she'd quietly stitch her work shirts closed so they wouldn't gape on camera while reporting regional news. In her thirties, she navigated pregnancy, breastfeeding, and the physical toll of a bust that only became heavier.

By her late thirties, with two young children, a short torso and a size double-F chest, she felt— by her own description — frumpy, uncomfortable, and in constant pain.

"I always hated them," she told Mamamia. "I'm 5'4 with a short torso. My body just carried so much weight in one place. I used to get headaches, backaches, everything."

But a breast reduction felt like a distant fantasy; something that sat too far down the financial priority list to ever become reality.

"I assumed (it would cost) $15,000 to $20,000. With a mortgage, kids, working part-time, it just wasn't an option," Sarah said.

Sarah always thought a breast reduction was out of her price range. Image: Supplied.

Then a friend told her about a surgeon in regional NSW who performed reductions through Medicare for privately-insured patients — leaving women to pay only their hospital excess.

"Suddenly it became possible," Sarah said.

Today, Sarah is evangelical about her reduction and has referred more than 10 women to the same surgeon — many of whom have gone on to refer more.

Sarah's story is not an isolated case. According to the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the number of Medicare claims for breast reduction surgery in both public and private hospitals has more than tripled over three reporting periods.

However, the path to surgery looks very different depending on where a woman lives, her financial circumstances, and which surgeon she sees.

For some, such as Sarah, the cost is a manageable hospital excess. For others, the bill stretches to $10,000, $15,000, or more out of pocket.

Watch: How a breast reduction works. Post continues below.

A line of women 'paralysed by big boobs.'

Anna* comes from a long line of women with large chests.

Her grandmother and great-aunt both underwent reductions in the late 60s, when the procedure was still being refined.

And her mother, now 79, is physically limited by her breasts.

"She's literally paralysed by her big boobs," Anna told Mamamia. "She's called an ambulance a couple of times, because she thought she was having a heart attack, but in actual fact her boobs were just squashing her aorta.

"My sisters and I all watched our mum struggle and thought 'That can't be our future'," she said.

Anna's younger sister had the surgery first. 18 months later, Anna then followed. Their other sister has since had the procedure too.

Unlike Sarah, who worked for years to manage pain with osteopathy and medication, Anna's relationship with her body was shaped just as much by embarrassment as discomfort.

"I was always embarrassed by them. I used to hunch forward and try and hide them as a teenager, and kept on doing that," Anna explained.

"I've got dents in my shoulders still, they haven't gone away. They were just uncomfortable, and quite painful too, and heavy."

At her largest, she was wearing a bra size 12F — even though, she admits, "they were too small for me," meaning her true size was likely well beyond that. '

Perimenopause and hormone replacement therapy brought another surprise: her breasts grew again.

Guided by her sister's journey, Anna felt incentivised to start researching.

The cost chasm.

While both women's experiences getting a breast reduction were overwhelmingly positive, the biggest difference between their stories is cost.

"I've always wanted to do it, but obviously cost is a factor," Anna said.

Anna chose a specialist who had previously removed a melanoma from her forehead. She paid around $10,000 out of pocket with private health insurance covering the remainder.

"Private health insurance helped a little bit, but it was about $10,000 out of pocket," Anna said.

Sarah, meanwhile, paid only her private health excess thanks to a regional surgeon who bulk-billed the procedure under Medicare.

"Women in my community could actually afford it," she said. "For us, $20,000 wasn't remotely possible.

"It shouldn't cost $20,000 depending on where you live.

"Women shouldn't have to choose between financial stress and living without pain."

The postcode lottery of affordability is something she feels strongly about.

"It's a medical condition," Sarah said. "I was spending a fortune on chiropractors, osteopaths, pain meds. As soon as I had the surgery, the tension headaches disappeared. I could stand straighter. It was like a weight had literally been lifted."

The price can range dramatically based on location. Another Sydney-based woman, Lexi Dodd, previously told Mamamia she was out of pocket about $20,000 for the procedure. This was despite the fact she had private health insurance coverage due to documented neck issues.

The recovery.

Both Sarah and Anna described recovery as far less intimidating than expected. Each stayed one night in the hospital. Both were given strong painkillers. Neither needed them.

"I took Panadol because I felt like I should," Sarah said. "After two days, nothing."

Anna said the same.

"I took a Panadol occasionally and that was it," she said.

Sleeping upright or on their backs during recovery was the biggest adjustment.

Scarring, for both, faded dramatically within six to 12 months.

The biggest emotional shift came after the bandages were off.

"You have this body dysmorphia," Anna explained. "You still feel really big, but you're not, and then you catch sight of yourself in a shop window or something, you think, 'Oh, that's not me.'"

Both women now sit around a C cup.

Life after surgery.

For Sarah, the timing of the surgery took on unexpected significance. Six weeks after her reduction, her marriage ended. It was a life upheaval she didn't see coming.

What could have been a period of self-consciousness turned into the opposite.

"It gave me confidence to date again," she said. "I'm wearing outfits I never would have before. I'm 44 and wearing dresses with no bra. I could never have imagined that."

She's back playing hockey without headaches. She can exercise without fear of "knocking herself out."

"It sounds ridiculous, but it changed my life," Sarah said.

Sarah hasn't looked back after getting the surgery. Image: Supplied.

Anna, too, describes a physical and lifestyle transformation. Running is now possible. Golf is easier. Daily pain has vanished. And her posture — something she spent decades collapsing into — has improved.

"It feels like the first time in my adult life I'm not working around my body," she said.

As demand grows, and more women talk openly about their experiences, it's clear that Australia's quiet breast-reduction boom shows no signs of slowing.

*Anna's name has been changed to protect privacy.

Feature image: Canva.