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Melissa Gilbert: Why I Took Out My Breast Implants

Melissa Gilbert - CHARLES SYKES/GETTY

You may have guessed from Melissa Gilbert’s red wedding dress (and her desire to one day wear it again) that the Little House on the Prairie star doesn’t often follow the crowd. And one more way she’s setting herself apart from Hollywood trends: She’s made the decision to remove her breast implants.

Melissa Gilbert – CHARLES SYKES/GETTY

In a Dec. 31 blog post entitled A Tale of Two Titties, the star writes that she scheduled surgery this week to reverse surgery she got in her 20s. I am concerned for my health and I don’t like the way they look or feel, she writes. Frankly, I’d like to be able to take a Zumba class without the fear that I’ll end up with two black eyes.

Gilbert says she got the implants after divorcing her first husband, who made her self-conscious about her post-breastfeeding chest. Dating posed the terrifying prospect of the guy I chose to make love with next, undoing my bra and running away in abject terror, she writes. She loved the results until she had a second child, and then went for another lift, which she proudly showed off in a low-cut gown at the 2011 SAG Awards. The irony of the fact that I was president of SAG when my breasts were doing the opposite of sagging is not lost on me, she jokes.

I had spent most of my life pressured to look a certain way and I believed the hype, she goes on, adding that her Dancing With the Stars appearance fed her insecurity. But she says that now, she’s feeling good about herself and is looking forward to embracing her new, old chest. Most of the time, I’m really happy with the way I look. I’m enjoying aging. It’s not going badly either. My sweet husband [Timothy Busfield] … is perfectly supportive of my decision to do this. He only wants me to be healthy.

And the result? Gilbert seems happy with her decision (which was confirmed by her personal rep) — check out her Tweet from Tuesday:

What do you think of her blog? Is she brave for sharing?

–Alex Apatoff

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