Mum with 34JJ breasts couldn't breastfeed her daughter 'for fear she'd suffocate her'
A mum with size 34JJ breasts has revealed that she couldn't breastfeed her daughter for fear her breasts might suffocate her baby.
Elizabeth Catlin, 32, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, says that since the age of 10 her breasts "haven't stopped growing."
But, their size has had a huge impact on her life, including stopping her from breastfeeding her daughter Willow, now two, because of fears they might have suffocated her.
The stay at home mother is now a 34JJ in cup size and desperate for breast reduction surgery because she hates her chest so much.
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"Obviously my boobs grew even bigger during my pregnancy," she explains.
"I really wanted to breastfeed my daughter because I thought it would be an amazing way to bond, but they were just too big.
"My breasts covered Willow's whole face and she would have just suffocated underneath them.
"It was really upsetting because it was something I'd really wanted to try."
Catlin says her breasts also impact other aspects of parenting her daughter.
"I have to carry her [Willow] above my boobs as I can't carry her on my hips because my boobs are in the way," she explains.
"I can't even hug her properly, she has to be above my boobs in order to hug me back."
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The constant and severe back pain Catlin experiences because of her breast size also make it hard for her to run around after and play with her daughter.
When Catlin reached her twenties and realised her breasts were "still growing", she started to resent them.
She struggled to find bras that would fit her and had to double up on sports bras if she was going to exercise.
And because of the pains she continues to experience in her boobs, Catlin believes they're still growing.
"I am still going up in cup sizes," she explains. "I am now bursting out of bras that fit me a couple of months ago."
She says her breasts have also got heavier over the years.
"They hurt more and they are blotchy purple where the strain of the weight has stretched the skin so thin," she continues.
As well as causing her back pain, Catlin says her breasts physically hurt to touch, which impacts her relationship with her husband, Richard.
"It feels like shooting electricity," she says of the feeling when they're touched.
"I have to be very careful when I am cooking over the stove so that I don't burn them which I have done a few times previously. They just get in the way of everything."
They also impact the style choices Catlin makes.
"I only buy baggy clothes now to hide away because if I wore anything where you can slightly see my boobs I get attention from men and people just stare at them," she says.
Watch: 18-year-old had life-changing breast reduction surgery removing 15lbs of fat.
Catlin also can't buy bras from high street brands, and instead has to search online for specialised underwear that will fit her breasts, at a cost of between £30 and £50 per bra.
Though she has applied to have breast reduction surgery on the NHS, Catlin has so far been turned down by doctors who have instead told her to lose weight.
But she claims that no matter her weight, it makes no difference.
"I have always had large boobs, even when I was 10 stone," she says.
"My weight fluctuates, as many women's does, but my boobs have just kept growing," she adds.
"I went from 13 stone with 34G breasts to 10 stone with 34H breasts, they just kept growing despite my weight loss."
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Now Catlin is trying to raise money to have the surgery privately.
"It would completely change my life," she says.
"I even struggle to sleep. I can't lie on my back as they're too heavy, I can't lie on my front as it's too painful.
"I have to lie on my sides and even then I have to physically position my breasts with my hands.
"I'd love to just do simple things like chase my daughter around.
"People seem to think it's a good thing to have big boobs but it is not at all."
Additional reporting Caters.
