I Gave My Girls Botox

While most mums worry about letting their little girls wear make-up, Jennifer Barnes is more concerned about their next Botox shots.

She’s given daughters Chloe, 12, and Charlotte, 11, injections of the toxin since February 2010 in the naive belief they will be wrinkle-free for life.

‘I don’t want my girls looking like I do when they’re 40. My babies asked for it and whatever they want, they get,’ says single mum Jennifer, 41, who insists she’s researched the procedure thoroughly – by phone, internet and chats with other Botox mums.

Chloe and Charlotte’s fascination with Botox began at a beauty pageant seminar in December 2009, where ‘tween tox’ was the latest hot topic of conversation. They came home demanding Botox for ‘wrinkles’ and Restalyne for fuller lips.

‘Everyone’s doing it,’ says Chloe, whose face has the telltale signs of cosmetic surgery – a frozen forehead and a trout pout.

‘At least three of my friends have had Botox and I know some 14 and 15-year-olds who buy Botox off the net and inject themselves.’

Jennifer phoned several cosmetic-surgery practices but all refused to inject girls under 16. One surgery said that administering unsupervised Botox injections too early could lead to permanent disfigurement.
‘I thought that was just rubbish,’ Jennifer declares.

An insulin-dependent diabetic, she’s confident in her injection skills and used it on herself first. For the girls, she used a quarter of the adult doses.

Cosmetic surgeons often limit Botox to three a year but the Texan mum has had three sessions with her daughters in six months, spending $1650 on the DIY kits.

Chloe and Charlotte insist that their beauty treatments made them more popular at school, and are looking forward to their next surgery – boob jobs. Jennifer has already looked into having the cosmetic surgery done in Brazil when her two daughters turn 15.‘Judge me all you like, but this is for my daughters’ futures.

My girls will definitely thank me when they’re 40, beautiful and wrinkle-free,’ she says.