Wendy Williams is known for shocking guests, but nothing quite prepared her for the moment her own son left her speechless.

Her 9-year-old son Kevin recently asked her, “Mom, are your boobs real?” And her response? “I gagged when my son came and asked me about the implants. It was ‘Where did you hear that?’ But it was on my own show.” During an episode of her talk show, the host admitted to having a breast augmentation 14 years ago.

“Our son did not know I had breast implants. So I sat down and went through plastic surgery with him. And it was great, because I was able to let him know that when his dad met me, I was completely natural. The beauty of my story is that ‘Your dad met me as a frog and I have transformed myself, because I wanted to, into a swan.’

Do YOU think she should have shared this information with him earlier, in private? And if so, is he at the appropriate age?

While some parents believe communication is essential to the relationship they share with their children, I can’t help but think that talking to a child at the age of 9 about achieving self-esteem through plastic surgery is anything but detrimental. Granted, with the media constantly portraying buff-bodied men and Barbie-shaped women as “ideal,” an adolescent is likely to have already compared themselves to what they’ve see on televisions, in magazines, and online. However, a parents admission, at least before the child’s of adult age, may be more influential than they would have hoped for…and not in a good way.

What happens when the child hits puberty? Their skin breaks out, their body seems disproportionate (either underdeveloped or overdeveloped), name-calling is at an all-time high, and they’re super sensitive. The last thing a parent should want is for the child to request to take the easy (and much more expensive/dangerous) way out by forgoing building confidence naturally (i.e. standing up for oneself, participating in activities they excel in, smiling more often and improving posture, etc.) and indulging in surgery instead. And with a parent, a role model, a mentor, confessing that they themselves handled their insecurities through nips and tucks, they’re only giving their child a grander opportunity to hold it against them and use it as ammo and an alibi.

Now, once the child is an adult…it’s fair to say that all bets are off. If they’re still struggling with the same self-esteem issues they carried as a child and feel they’ve exhausted every option in trying to improve it, than the least the parent can do is offer advice on plastic surgery preparation and recovery, and be there at their bedside post-operation. But until then, I say long talks, a “Chicken Soup for The Preteen Soul” book, and events to keep them active are the way to go about it.

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