A young mother-of-one who contracted sepsis because the weight of her bust tore her skin has shared her frustration at being denied an NHS breast reduction.
Lily Porter, 21, a care assistant from Retford, Nottinghamshire, is in constant pain due to her 36 NN breasts and was left battling a potentially deadly blood infection last September.
She said: ‘The weight of my boobs has caused my skin to tear and this lead to an infection that gave me sepsis.
‘It was horrendous, and the infection hasn’t cleared up, I’m at risk of getting sepsis again.
‘I’m constantly depressed and crying. I’m in pain all the time.’
The reason why the NHS has refused to operate is because Ms Porter’s BMI places her in the obese category – and frustratingly, she says that this is because of nearly a third of her bodyweight is carried in her breasts.
She said: ‘The NHS say my BMI is too high for a reduction, but most of my weight is in my boobs.
‘I weigh 17 stone, and my boobs weigh five stone between them.
Lily Porter has been told she is too obese for a breast reduction
She claims that the weight of her bust left her battling sepsis last year
‘They’re not listening to me at all, I don’t know what to do.’
Ms Porter has struggled with her breasts since childhood, and says that strangers’ reactions to her chest stopped her from enjoying her teenage years.
She was bullied in the school playground, with other kids making cruel jokes about her ‘shoving pillows’ down her bra, and couldn’t go swimming with friends during the summer, as she was worried about people seeing her breasts.
As a child, Ms Porter loved to play football, but she had to stop at age 13, as her breasts were so large, they got in the way.
She is unable to wear nice tops or bikinis, and says that people stare at her breasts when she is walking down the street.
And when she wears a bra, the weight of her breasts cause the straps to dig in to her shoulders, meaning she is ‘in pain all of the time.’
She said: ‘My boobs have always been absolutely massive, at 14 I was a double D, and I’m a double N now.
‘I couldn’t enjoy being a teenager, people were constantly taking the mickey and saying I must shove pillows down my bra.
Ms Porter is thankful to have a supportive partner by her side
‘People stare at me in a gross way, and if I wear anything tight, they say that I’m flashing.’
Ms Porter said that her breasts are so heavy, they tore her skin and led to infection and sepsis in September 2025.
‘Doctors said it was lucky I went into hospital when I did, because if I’d left it any longer, I could have died’, she said.
Thankfully, after a five day hospital trip, Ms Porter’s sepsis was treated, but despite being on antibiotics, the infection still won’t go away, leaving her at high risk of getting sepsis again.
Due to the infection, Ms Porter is not currently able to wear a bra, but when she does, she has to get them specially made, costing her £55 per bra.
Ms Porter has been to the doctors many times about the struggles her breasts are causing her but was always told she would have to wait until she was 21 before they could do anything.
However, now that she is old enough, the NHS have said her BMI is too high for them to give her a breast reduction, despite Ms Porter stating that most of her weight is in her boobs.
She weighs 17 stone, but she has weighed her boobs, and says they weigh 2.5 stone each, meaning that around 30 per cent of her body weight is in her boobs.
The mother-of-one says having a fuller chest ruined her teenage years
She has to have her bras made to order from a specialist company at a price of £55 each
She added that she meets all of the other criteria for a breast reduction, so believes that due to the health struggles they have caused, the NHS should let her weight ‘slide’.
Doctors have pushed for Ms Porter to get the surgery, and she has even got her local Bassetlaw MP, Jo White, to write a letter to the NHS, pleading them to help her.
However, she said her local NHS ICB (integrated care board) are blocking the surgery.
The size of Ms Porter’s breasts also made her struggle with confidence in relationships, as she thought men would judge her due their size.
However, she is now engaged to a man she said is ‘really supportive’ of her struggles.
A spokesperson from NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire said: ‘We are sorry to hear about Lily’s situation.
‘Unfortunately, we have strict guidelines about which procedures are funded on the NHS. This is to ensure we can be consistent when making decisions about how to spend and prioritise limited NHS funding.
‘For breast reduction surgery, there are a number of criteria which must all be met, including having a BMI of between 18 and 25 for one year. We do have a process for considering exceptional cases, so this could be an option for Lily’s GP to explore.’
