The object of the study is to examine the consumption of cosmetic tourism from the consumer's and the producer’s viewpoint and to examine what factors help individuals choose to travel overseas to consume cosmetic surgeries. The method used in the study was a qualitative examination, where we interviewed seven individuals. Five of the individuals have gone through the process of surgery overseas, one is a Swedish surgeon that’s working on Akademikliniken and lastly we interviewed one person who runs a company in Sweden that arranges trips overseas with the purpose of going through a surgery. The collected data was analyzed with support of the consumer society and Gidden's theory about modernity and self-identity. The final discussion shows that cosmetic tourism is a growing phenomenon and the extent of it is growing in today's society and that the main factors that have shown to affect the choice is trust and competence within the clinic and the surgeon, and women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka konsumtionen av kosmetisk turism utifrån ett konsument- och producentperspektiv samt att se vilka faktorer det är som styr individen utomlands för att konsumera kosmetiska ingrepp. Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ undersökning, varav vi intervjua sju personer. Fem av dem har utfört kosmetiska ingrepp utomlands, en av dem är en svensk kirurg som arbetar på Akademikliniken och slutligen intervjuade vi en kvinna som driver ett bolag i Sverige som arrangerar resor utomlands med syftet att genomgå kosmetiska ingrepp. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med bland annat stöd av utgångspunkten från konsumtionssamhället och Giddens teori om modernitet och självidentitet. Den slutliga diskussionen visar att kosmetisk turism är ett växande fenomen och vad fenomenet innebär samt att de utmärkande faktorerna som visat sig påverka valet av resan är tilliten, kompetensen hos kliniken och kvinnors missnöje med kroppen.

Modifications, alterations, and enhancements to the body have been a practice forvarious ethnic, religious, and cultural groups across the globe for centuries. Over recent years, augmentations to the buttocks have become increasingly popular amongst women in Black and Brown communities. It is necessary to examine the health concerns, medical neglect, and societal influences that have contributed to the alarming increase of health complications and fatalities within these communities as a result of the procedures. Specifically, the administration of illegal injectable substances to the buttocks and the “Brazilian Butt Lift” procedure are in need of serious ethical focus and concern. In addition to the harmful health effects that result from these procedures, it is also important to recognize relevant societal and structural factors that intersect this rising issue. To fully comprehend the magnitude of the ongoing concerns, the history of buttock augmenting will be thoroughly discussed, other serious contributing factors, accessibility to adequate healthcare, and health knowledge. Cosmetic enhancements should come from a place of both empowerment and wellbeing, however the current conditions in the industry as it pertains to marginalized communities reflect otherwise. There are several contextual aspects as to why the ramifications of these procedures are so detrimental and it is my intention to highlight these issues, discuss the ethical implications, implore further research efforts, and then provide possible solutions to help address this growing issue. / Urban Bioethics

This thesis concerns Swedes’ medical tourism to Poland with an indication of  travelling for beauty treatments. Its goal is to study Swedes travelling to Poland because of aesthetic medicine purposes. Trips with medical background, e.g. surgeries, dental treatments or spa/wellness tourism were not taken into account in this assignment. However, in many aspects, some of this data were also included because of the unavailability of more precise sources. The aim has also been to try to reach an insight in what kind of factors and motivations cause that more and more Swedes choose to seek medical help in Poland. The goal has been also to show how the future of this kind of tourism could look like. The study is based on qualitative interviews with clinics and medical centres performing those treatments and patients/customers with such an experience. The theoretical framework concerns laws and regulations, also personal motivations and needs. I came to the conclusion that there are several reasons for people to travel to Poland for medical services: relative low costs of treatment, high quality of service and technology, short waiting periods, insignificant cultural differences and geographical proximity of both of the countries.