At the age of 20, Melissa decided to have a breast reduction – but said she was told by her GP she should wait until she’d had children and breastfed.

After having her two children, Melissa was told earlier this year that her BMI of 35 is too high and she needs to be at a BMI of 27 to qualify for surgery on the NHS.

But because of her constant pain, Melissa says she is unable to properly exercise and is now crowdfunding £8,000 for private treatment to reduce the size of her two and a half stone boobs.

Melissa, a stay-at-home mum from Blairgowrie, Scotland, said: “My back feels like I’m 70 years old.

“I don’t want to have rely on the drugs they’ve given me for the pain as they make me dizzy.

“I can’t pick up my daughter and that’s heartbreaking.

“I want to be able to play with her and pick her up.

“If I’m cleaning, I have to take a break until I’m out of pain.

“In the morning, I can’t do anything until I’ve done my back stretches.

“I’ve got a picture of me when I’m 18 when I was a size 6 or an 8 and it looks like I paid to have these fake boobs.”

Melissa believes she has some of the biggest breasts in Britain.

She added: “Last year I asked my husband to hold up my breasts whilst I stood on the scale and two and a half stone came off the weight.

“I think I’ve got some of the biggest boobs in Britain. I’m a size 36M.”

Melissa was bullied at school for being flat-chested before she suddenly hit puberty.

She said: “My mum’s got quite big breasts and my nan did have so I think it’s just a hereditary thing.

“One minute I was getting bullied for having a flat chest, then I’d get bullied saying I had tea towels down my bra.

“It wasn’t nice at school – it was everyday

“Physically, it was causing pain immediately.

“I was only a size 8 at school so it was bad on my back, but I thought maybe it was normal.

“I never had many friends, and I didn’t have a girl mate to speak to or compare with.”

Melissa tried a number of things to reduce the pain – including physiotherapy – but nothing seemed to work, so she decided she wanted a reduction.

She said: “I remember going to my mum and she suggested I try and get a breast reduction.

“I tried fighting with the NHS and they told me I’d need to have my children first for breastfeeding.

“After that, they said they would reassess.

“I thought that would be it – they sounded so sure that I could have it done.

“I had my son at 23 and my daughter is eight months old, and they’ve now said my BMI is too high.

“I was told to get down to 11st.

“The anaesthetic won’t work as well and I’m more at risk of blood clots and infections.

“The doctors told me that because I’ve just had my baby my hormones are all over the place and my weight will gradually start coming back down.

“It has come done a bit, but how am I supposed to do it?

“I can’t go to the gym, it’s too embarrassing and I can’t go for a run because of the pain.

“They did say I could try the weight loss jabs, but two people in my family were on them. One had to have her gallstones out and one was left feeling sick after eating anything. I just don’t want to feel like that.

“The bras in my size are £82 – which I can’t afford – so I have to get a smaller size and it’s still £20 a bra.

“And I’ve had to come off the naproxen they gave me as it was making me quite spacey.”

She has now turned her attention to private treatment to try and relieve her pain.

Melissa said: “I’ve been for a consultation in 2022 and they wrote a letter for me to give to the NHS saying something needs to be done.

“If it’s private they can do it without the BMI restriction.

“They said if I can bring my weight down as much as possible but there’s no real limit.

“It would mean the absolutely world to me.

“It would be all my Christmases in one day.

“I think I’m going to throw a party when it happens – I have no words for it.

“It would be a complete life changer – I’d be able to play with my kids at the park and pick up my daughter.”