Question:
Has anyone tried getting approved for WLS at age of 17?

   — Amber S. (posted on January 23, 2003)

January 23, 2003
I haven't had experience with that...at my surgeons office, they said I was the 2nd youngest person(24) with the youngest being 23...I think as long as you provide proof that you have been overweight a number of years and listing your attempts at weight loss, it shouldnt matter how old you are. Let me know how it goes.
   — Melissa L.

January 23, 2003
I went to support groups at a couple different facilities before I decided on a surgeon. One of the locations had several younger/teenage patients. They had to go through the same approval process as anyone else. I just saw a note on the Message Board regarding "20/20" tomorrow night. I've pasted it below. It sounds like the show will be focusing on wsl and young people. "01/23 10:29 PM EST Just found out that the ABCT television show "20-20" is airing a show about weight loss surgery at 10:00 PM Eastern on Friday, January 24th (tomorrow). Just caught a part of the promo, but it looked like the patients were younger, either teenaged or young adults. May be of interest to some of you. -- Carolyn Navratil" Good luck with your search. :-)
   — Angela D.

January 23, 2003
Amber, you might call some children's hospitals in your area to see if they have a bariatric surgery program. I live in Cincinnati, and Children's Hospital here has a bariatric surgery program for kids and adolescents. Barring that, a bariatric surgeon in your area might be willing to do surgery, but if you are 17 years old, a parent or guardian would have to sign a consent for you to have surgery, and you might have to jump through some extra hoops (probably in the area of psychology) to make sure you are mentally prepared for the permanent, lifelong changes having WLS entails. Good luck and I hope you find the answers you are looking for!
   — koogy

January 24, 2003
You MIGHT have a problem finding a surgeon to give you surgery because you are under 18. I know that there are surgeons out there that WILL do it, so keep trying! I am 21 and had surgery in Aug 02 and I have lost 102 pounds. It is really worth it :o)
   — fropunka

January 29, 2003
My surgeon did the surgery on a 17 year old, her parents consented, and insurance covered it. She was over 400 pounds, and had been supervised diets all her life. Insurance said that she had to have a 5 year supervised diet history, co-morbs, letters from her regular physicians, and be over 45 BMI for them to approve. Basically, they are afraid of taking a chance on someone so young, so you may have to go through alot more than someone older.
   — Karen E.