This article appeared in spellrock.com and has been published here with permission.
The Beginning
Prior to her transition, Jessica Alves was born as a male in São Paulo, Brazil, in the early 1980s. Her childhood was completely dominated by severe insecurities and body dysmorphia, with her peers constantly bullying her and making her life hell.
As a male, Jessica wasn’t going through puberty at the same rate as her male peers were. This became something that people would bully her for, relentlessly teasing Jessica for how her body looked. That’s enough to traumatize any child.
Hormone Troubles
In 1999, Jessica turned 16 years old. Teenage years are hard enough, but for Jessica, those years were even worse. She was diagnosed with a hormonal dysfunction, explaining why puberty was such a struggle for her. As a biological man, she was growing significant breast tissue.
Jessica was mocked for how she looked and always dreaded going to school. With a low male voice and facial hair, her peers would make fun of her ‘boobs.’ They also picked on her for her bigger nose and relentlessly bullied her over her weight.
More and More Bullying
No matter what she did, Jessica couldn’t control what puberty was doing to her body. Her frame seemed to be wider than a lot of her peers, and there was nothing she could do to hide it. Jessica recalled having her face pushed into urinals.
Bullies would also push her down flights of stairs, intentionally trying to cause physical harm to her. But, of course, this torture affected her psychologically, too. Jessica felt so alone, and there wasn’t anywhere she could hide from the bullying.
Fast Forward to 2016
Let’s fast-forward to 2016 — our human doll is 33 years old at this point. Still going by her birth name and presenting as male, Jessica has completely transformed herself into an uncanny resemblance to a Ken doll through countless surgeries and procedures.
Making the most of this new look and all the money spent on procedures, she turned it into a career. Selling products, appearing on TV, and utilizing social media, Jessica thrived in the spotlight. She was literally everywhere; you couldn’t miss her.
The Start
So, how did this transformation start? The horrendous bullying at school had really taken a toll on her mental health and body image. At 17, Jessica had saved up $3,500 to have her breasts reduced to an average size to stop the bullying.
Unfortunately, the scars never healed, and this led to a spiral of more and more surgeries to ‘fix’ herself. Not only were these surgeries turning out to be really expensive, but they were also incredibly dangerous and posed some health risks.
Cosmetic Procedures
Let’s take a look at the cosmetic procedures Jessica has gone through to achieve this doll-like appearance. It started simple — with botox, nose jobs, and liposuction. However, soon she was getting pectoral implants, fillers in her arms, hair transplants, and even a fake six-pack.
She also got four ribs removed in 2018 for a skinnier look. Now, hardly any part of her body has gone untouched by surgeons. It’s a total 180 from how Jessica looked in her teenage years, completely reshaping everything about her body to look just like Ken.
How Expensive Was it?
Jessica claims she’s had around 57 procedures since she began. The initial cosmetic procedures she had — such as botox and liposuction, to name a few — set her back $27,000. Now, it’s estimated that she’s spent $880,000 on her complete transformation, including her $24,000 rib removal surgery.
How can she afford it? Well, Jessica earns money from endorsements, magazines, interviews, and more in order to get the look she’s after. She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother (UK), but she was soon evicted for using a racial slur, and the episode was never aired.
Social Media
As the saying goes, all publicity is good publicity. As you can imagine, social media has been all over Jessica’s story, in both good and bad ways. Jessica has amassed over seven million followers on Instagram, with many people now supporting her.
However, as is the case with all celebrities, there’s always going to be haters and people who don’t like you. Many think it’s okay to bully someone just because it’s online. Just like in her childhood, it seems that Jessica can’t escape the bullies.
Any Regrets?
We’re sure you’re wondering if Jessica regrets any of the surgeries she has gone through. In an interview with MailOnline, she said that the rib removal was her biggest regret. She has huge scars on her back and is often in pain.
Jessica says that she doesn’t feel or look any more petite than she did before the procedure and has to wear a corset to achieve the slim waistline look. But, this isn’t the only risky and painful procedure she went through.
The Nose Job
If you remember, Jessica was bullied heavily for her nose. In 2016, she got her first nose job, and things went severely wrong. After the swelling had gone down, Jessica noticed that something didn’t seem quite right. The surgeon had used fillers to reshape her nose and put them in the wrong place.
In a desperate attempt to fix it, she immediately went for another nose job. It was far too soon to be doing another procedure, but the surgeon did it anyway. Jessica says she was aware of the risks but glossed over them in an attempt to get her dream nose.
Nose Reconstruction
Doctors told Jessica that they would need to remove the work they’d done on her nose to stop necrosis from spreading. If they couldn’t stop it, it would literally consume her whole face. Jessica agreed, and the doctors removed the reconstruction.
Jessica had to go through months of painful surgeries to fix what the necrosis had done to her nose, with another four nose jobs carried out. Now, Jessica can’t breathe through her nose anymore and can only breathe through her mouth.
Mental Health
Jessica had become so obsessed with striving for perfection — so much so that she was constantly in pain and, deep down, still felt unhappy. In an attempt to help herself, she visited a psychologist who diagnosed her with body dysmorphia.
In a nutshell, body dysmorphia is the over-obsession with how your body looks and seeing flaws that aren’t really there. No matter how hard you work to ‘fix’ these flaws, there’s always something that someone with body dysmorphia will hate about their body.
More Infections
Now, let’s talk about another dangerous procedure Jessica went through. She injected gel into her arms to give her a more muscular look, but this soon took a life-threatening turn. Jessica had contracted a deadly infection and paralyzed both of her arms.
Jessica and her doctors were worried that they may have had to amputate her arms due to the quick-spreading infection. However, strong antibiotics and a great medical team were able to help her regain feeling in her arms — what a relief.
Her Incredible Transition
In early 2020, Jessica officially came out to the world as transgender. She legally changed her name to Jessica, and now, her mission was to become a human Barbie. On top of the almost a million dollars she’d spent to look like Ken, she initially spent over $100,000 on surgeries to support her transition.
Since 2020, it’s estimated that Jessica has spent over $1.4 million on surgeries and cosmetic procedures, waving goodbye to Ken and saying hello to Barbie. Some of the procedures included a facelift, forehead reduction, and a voice pitch change.
Getting Serious
Now that Jessica felt confident in her body and was finally her true self, she was ready to find love and lose her virginity. Jessica had never had an intimate relationship when she was a man… knowing that, deep down, she was a woman.
Jessica has said she’s going to wait and find the right person to experience intimacy with for the first time to make sure it’s done right. In addition, she says that she has never met another transgender woman and that the experience has been rather lonely.
Is It Ever Enough?
Unfortunately, it seems that Jessica still struggles with body dysmorphia to this day. She has said that when she looks in the mirror, she still sees flaws and is constantly pointing out things that she would like to change about herself.
Apparently, it takes her ages to leave the house because she spends hours making herself look ‘perfect.’ Jessica said that, despite everything, people still hate her and call her ugly. Regardless, she knows she’s done the right thing for herself.
Back in 1983 in São Paulo, Brazil, a child was born who would go on to become human Ken and then human Barbie. Jessica Alves spent upwards of a million dollars on her transformation. Let’s talk about her incredible story, from humble beginnings in South America to a completely transformed life. Jessica’s story is certainly anything but boring. Let’s take a look at the journey that brought her to the point where she is today.