The Bachelorette star Rachel Recchia has decided to go through with a breast reduction, and now she's explaining why she wants to have the surgery so badly.
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Last week, Rachel uploaded a series of videos via TikTok confirming she has decided to get the surgery and also how she arrived at that conclusion.
While doing a makeup tutorial for fans, Rachel said she started thinking about going under the knife to decrease the size of her "really large" breasts since she was 17-years-old.
"I was a competitive cheerleader in high school, and I knew I really wanted to cheer in college. So it was something that was really affecting my exercise," Rachel said.
"I'm 5'3", so I wouldn't say I have a small frame, but I'm a more petite person. So having really large boobs when you're 17-years-old, especially when you're a cheerleader, it wasn't the vibe for me. I was having really bad back problems and I was having to go to a chiropractor at age 17."
Rachel recalled wearing "three sports bras at once" to try to alter her appearance and chest size.
"I even recall this memory of when I was looking online for chest-compression bras... so I could hide [my breasts] not only when I was working out, but just in school as well," Rachel admitted.
Rachel said that once she entered college, she was still cheering but didn't look "super far into" a procedure to reduce the size of her breasts "because of school."
"It would take a lot of time to recover. For a month, I wouldn't be able to cheer, and I really wasn't going to be able to fly," Rachel said.
"And anyone who's in aviation knows that flying is just a whole different beast when it comes to time. My senior year, I started really looking into actually getting the surgery done."
Rachel told her followers how she visited her primary care physician, who "didn't take any convincing at all."
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Rachel claimed her doctor had taken one look at her body type and agreed a breast reduction was worth pursuing.
"But then she told me that I'd have to go on pain medication to 'prove it wasn't manageable with medication.' Who wants to be on medication like that when you can just get surgery?" Rachel admitted.
"I also had to go to a physical therapist. So at this point, I'm already paying to go to the doctor, paying to go to the physical therapist, and I'm basically calling up my insurance to try to even see how to start beginning this entire process."
Rachel said she had to do everything herself, including sending her insurance company files and filing a claim.
"I'm pretty sure I had to send in a topless photo of me. The fact that it takes all these steps just to get this surgery is insane to me," Rachel noted.
"Eventually, all this to be said, I did not get approved. All I wanted in my 20s was to just enjoy my body and to be able to be proud of it and like it. And I feel like I spent all of my teenage years and my early twenties just really trying to hide my body."
Rachel explained that's why The Bachelorette viewers often saw her "covered up" on the show.
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"I didn't know when it was, but all I knew was one day, I was going to get it and I was going to be wearing little tops."
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Rachel confessed that she was "really nervous" to say anything to Bachelor Nation because there's "a stigma behind getting work done," even though she considers this procedure to be about her physical health as well.
Rachel concluded her videos by saying she's been "overwhelmed" by the support she has received on social media and she intends to reply to many of the comments, once she has some downtime from the surgery.
"I just have heard nothing but extremely positive things and women saying they wished they [did] it sooner," Rachel noted.
Rachel recently moved from Florida to California, and her roommate, Bachelor in Paradise alum Genevieve Parisi, intends to take care of Rachel post-surgery, spoon-feeding the flight instructor and washing her hair.
"So I am really excited. She's going to care of me," Rachel said.
Rachel previously said she's planning to undergo surgery in March. She thinks it would be worthwhile to have the surgery now, before she gets pregnant and has children.
Her biggest fear, however, is that her breasts will grow back once they are reduced.
Rachel said earlier this month that she ultimately supports a person doing whatever "makes them happy or improves their quality of life."
Rachel told Us Weekly in December that she's "grown so much" since competing for Clayton Echard's heart on The Bachelor's 26th season and then starring on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season.
"I had to watch myself make so many mistakes on the show, which I'm glad and I did learn from. I'm taking all those lessons into my new dating life and figuring out what I really want," she shared.
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Rachel said she was about to go on a second date with a man, a "random person" and musician who had slid into her DMs on Instagram, but the romance apparently never became serious.
"I don't know how to date not on a camera," Rachel joked of navigating the dating world outside of The Bachelor bubble.
"How do you date outside of sitting down and being like, 'Tell me everything about your life right now in this next five minutes -- go!'... Do I give him a Date Card? Do I say, 'Meet me at the coffee shop, XO, Rach?' Like, what do I do?"
When Rachel spoke to Becca Kufrin about her love life, she said she'd only be interested in a stint on Bachelor in Paradise if her bestie Michelle Young would join her on the beach in Mexico.
"I will not go without her," Rachel said.
But Rachel said she'd "absolutely" star on The Bachelorette again if she'll be guaranteed to find her person.
"I mean, the thought of doing it again in any capacity is so scary," Rachel said on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast in October.
Rachel explained how she just wants a commitment from a man and to be done with dating.
"The fact that I find myself now in the same position [as I was in before The Bachelor], I'm like, 'I don't want to do this.' I wanted to find my person," Rachel lamented.
"I want to get married, I want to start a family. That's where I'm at in my life. I don't want to go back to the streets, and now I'm forced to! Literally!"
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
