I'm a 22 year old American guy. I'm 5'10 (a bit over in the morning, a bit under at night) and a lean 160 lbs. I hit the gym and would say I'm an average athlete with an above-average physique. My desire for limb lengthening has started in the few months as I've become obsessed with my less than ideal height. Growing up I was short; I was consistently the shortest guy in my K-8 grade of 50 guys through 8th grade. However, my father is 6'2 (with his two brothers and a father all 6'3) and my pediatrician told me at my annual checkups that I, like my father, was going to grow exceptionally late and end up 6'-6'3".
Naturally, I was very excited about this prospect. I was frequently picked on due to my height. My sophomore year I even got in a fight with a much larger football player. You can only imagine how much the 4'10 13 year old version of me looked forward to being the same height as James Bond and Derek Jeter and Han Solo and my father. Up until about a year ago, I believed this story as I didn't have my first real growth spurt until my junior year of high school and was still growing, albeit slowly throughout college. I graduated high school at 5'8 and grew to 5'10 by age 21. However, I now believe I have stopped growing and will be stuck at 5'10. On a side note, I blame my inability to meet my height on gastrointestinal /asthma issues I had in my early childhood. I remember reading a study that children who had inhalers were 2 inches shorter than their peers and my inability to keep down meals certainly didn't help.
While 5'10 may not sound too bad (it isn't, its a fine height) I am upper middle class and white. For my socioeconomic group, I believe the average height is around 5'11, thus at 5'10 I am often towered over. What's more, the women and girls in my socioeconomic group tend to favor guys in the 6'+ range and I know taller guys have an advantage in business and employment. In fact, it is that knowledge that rationalizes this decision in my mind. If at some point in my career I am in line for an executive position that could confer hundreds of thousands of dollars more in income, I would hate for my relative shortness to be the reason I don't get the position.
My younger brother is 16 and already 5'9. His doctor says he should be in the 6' to 6'2 range. It is already humiliating at my family reunions with my father and his brothers and their sons all in the 6'1 to 6'4 range. It won't be any better when my younger brother joins them in a few years.
I think I have a few advantages to making this happen. First of all, having a tall father and family will make my increased height more believable. Secondly, at 5'10, adding 5-7 centimeters should be less of a burden on my body than say adding that amount to someone 5'5. Thirdly, I think I can brush off my growth rather easily by wearing half inch, then inch lifts for the 6 months prior to surgery, and then transitioning from Nike Air Max's and Oxford to Vans and Loafers for the first year or so after my surgery. It is worth mentioning, if I get this surgery I'd like to take this secret with me to the grave and confide in no one. My largest advantage is my financial liquidity. I work in a career that allows me to save up money rather quickly. If I wanted to get to $50,000 and a 3 month leave, all it would take is a good bonus season, and a job change.
I want this badly. I do not have low self-esteem; on the contrary I think I'm a bit of a narcissist. I hate thinking that I could be with a girl who desires, on any level, to be with someone else. With a high-powered, prestigious career, bodybuilder physique (working towards it at least), and handsome face, the only thing I'm missing is that 6' to 6'3 ideal height. Please, someone talk me out of this or otherwise tell me my logic is sound. As you can see, I've thought about this an absurd amount and need to either turn my vision into reality or cut bait and think about something else.