Drew Barrymore, Queen Latifah and Sharon Osbourne are among the more high-profile women who elected to have reduction mammaplasty (or breast reduction surgery). But here’s something you may not know: the procedure is growing increasingly common for men! A new report in the UK’s Female First (citing the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) reveals some even more shocking statistics:

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On today’s True Life, we met some youngish men who were down in the dumps about losing their hair. And while we ladies totally understand what it’s like to feel insecure about our physical appearance, we don’t really think there’s a reason to be ashamed of going bald. There are plenty of hot people without a full head of hair! Here are our top six:

Clockwise from top left: Chris Daughtry, Vin Diesel, Taye Diggs, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Natalie Portman, Jason Statham (Seriously, who wants to look at this guy’s head?).

+ What’s your opinion? Do you think bald is beautiful, or is it only cool on celebrities with slammin’ bodies? You tell us: Does the hair make the man?

“C” might be average in academics, but when it comes to bra size, there are plenty of ladies who’d do anything NOT to get straight A’s. Still, for every friend we have who thinks she’s too flatchested we’ve got another two or three convinced their cups runneth over.

Today’s True Life showed us it’s not always easy to love the skin you’re in. But we think beauty has less to do with whether you’re a Bosomy Betty (or a Teeny Tina!) than it does with self-confidence.

Think everyone’s over-obsessing about cleavage? Or are mammary glands truly the must-have accessory for this (and every) season? Take the poll and help us settle this once and for all!

After working on several True Life documentaries, there was something especially unique (and challenging) during the production on this one: it was almost impossible to anticipate how things would end.

While filming with Amanda, the struggle between the father of the baby, Rob, and her was a deeply emotional experience, and I found my own personal opinions being challenged quite frequently. It really is impossible to explain how hard of a decision Amanda and Rob had to make. Up until the last few months of filming, we assumed that the fate of the adoption would hinge on Rob’s decision and couldn’t believe our ears when Amanda told us that she had changed her mind to parent the baby due to her own doubts. It was really hard to keep our emotions to ourselves and stay neutral (as to not influence or change Amanda’s story in any way). We were, of course, happy for Amanda and Rob, but also deeply heartbroken for the prospective adoptive parents, Cliff and Conio.

It was an incredibly humbling experience filming with Amanda, Rob, Cliff and Conio. The amount of pressure and emotional stress they have all had to go through (and continue to go through still) is unfathomable. I learned so much and am so grateful to them for letting us into their lives and allowing us to share their experiences.
– Hagan, True Life Producer

Check out updates from Amanda, Rob, Cliff and Conio and watch a deleted scene from the episode after the jump!

Amanda
Making the decision to not give my baby up for adoption was very difficult. The struggle I had with Rob, and the struggle I had with myself in the end was just too much to handle. Also, in the end my girlfriend was having second thoughts about the whole thing and that was completely a deal breaker for me.
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Working on True Life: I’m Placing My Baby For Adoption was an experience I will never forget. Kayla, Dale and Michaela allowed us to be present during the most personal moments of their lives. We were able to film very emotional and revealing conversations that truly represent the process Kayla went through. It was amazing how honest she was with us about the feelings she experienced during this time.

The highly emotional aspect of this episode was the biggest challenge. After Bella was born, I was surprised when Kayla started to doubt whether she could do the adoption or not. I quickly learned that choosing adoption is a decision that some birth mothers have to make twice — before and after the baby is born. Of course, we did not tell Kayla what we thought was the right thing for her to do.

I spent over 30 days with Kayla on location and filmed just over 100 hours of her story. It was one of true inspiration and I’m very grateful she let us capture it.
Petra, True Life Producer

Check out updates from Kayla, Dale and Michaela and watch a deleted scene from the episode after the jump!


Kayla
My life has been going well since filming ended. I’ve been going to school to get my GED so that I can attend college. I’ve also been making friends and getting lots of tattoos. Bella is doing good — she is so big now. I feel bad cause I’m not the person who gets to watch her grow. Still, I’ve been sober for over a year and I’m hoping to one day meet a good guy and have more babies.
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A note from Craig D’Entrone, the producer of True Life: I Can’t Sleep:

I’m telling everyone to remind me never to work on another documentary about sleep deprivation. It’s not that it wasn’t fun, or that I didn’t totally enjoy spending time with Krystal, Kelsey and Newell. It’s just that there was no way for me and my fellow producers and camera people (Bill Badgley, Morgan Robinson and Hagan Hinshaw) to film this without becoming sleep deprived ourselves.

We had to film people who didn’t go to sleep until 3, 4, 5 in the morning and then got up for school/work just a few hours later. That meant we had to stay up a bit later than them and get up a bit earlier than them. We tried setting up a camera with night vision or switching off camera people, but nothing seemed to work as well as just following around our subjects like we always do for True Life — one on one, in real time.

After just a couple days of filming, we were barely able to function. Luckily for Bill, Hagan, Morgan and I, we were only sleep deprived for a few nights at a time. Krystal, Kelsey and Newell had to live their lives like that every day for years. Below, get an update on how all three are doing with their disorder.

KELSEY:
The first day my family and I were being filmed, we were all super nervous! It was strange to feel so on display, and we were all really conscious of every thing we said and did. After a few days though, we started to chill out and be ourselves. The one thing I couldn’t seem to shake the whole time was trying not to look at the camera! It was so much harder than I thought…

Even though it was weird being filmed during the day, it was so much weirder when I was trying to fall asleep. The camera definitely added pressure to get to bed. Waking up to a black box in my face was also tough. Once I was completely awake, the first thought through my head was always, “Oh no! What do I look like?!?!”
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The three vets followed in True Life: I Have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are making great strides, but every day is still a struggle. The show’s producer, Craig D’Entrone, recently reached out to the guys for an update on their lives — below, read what they’ve been doing since the show stopped taping, find resources for help with PTSD and get their contact info …

A note from Arthur:

It’s funny how I got to be on True Life: I Have PTSD. I had already been thinking that there should be a show about this topic (and my crazy life in general). One day I was looking at casting calls on MTV.com, and there it was … a call for real people with PTSD. I emailed the producers and they called me right away.

I hadn’t wanted to be around many new people at the time, but getting followed around by a camera crew felt pretty natural. It really helped that the main producer was really down to earth and seemed trustworthy. That’s a lot to say coming from somebody who doesn’t trust anyone.

I was a little insecure because I didn’t want people to think that I thought I was special or extra cool because of this thing. And since I want to make movies and music, I didn’t want people to think I was using the show as a way to break into the entertainment business or become famous.

This is such a huge topic for Americans and I felt privileged to have gotten picked to enlighten people about it. When I was in the trauma center, some of the counselors told me that I was part of the first generation of Iraqi vets coming home with this problem and that people are just learning about it now since no one took it seriously when it happened with Vietnam vets.
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As True Life: I have PTSD showed, many U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq currently suffer from symptoms of the disorder. But Post Traumatic Stress Disorder doesn’t only affect war veterans — anyone who has experienced major trauma can be afflicted. Below, MTV.com production assistant Melissa Vonderhaar tells her emotional story and echoes Arthur, Adam and Kenny’s sentiments that help is indeed out there.

Working as an online production assistant on the True Life series, rarely has any topic hit as close to home as True Life: I Have PTSD. Although I’ve never served in combat, I too suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder like the men in this episode. While PTSD is a growing issue amongst our veterans, the disorder affects people who have suffered any kind of major trauma: domestic violence, surviving natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, or in my case, sexual abuse as a child.
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A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER OF TRUE LIFE: I’M IN A LOVE TRIANGLE
As a producer of MTV’s True Life, there’s rarely a dull moment on a shoot. Especially when dealing with a topic like Love Triangles, where so many deep emotions come into play. Needless to say, we’re always prepared for anything.

Because this episode dealt with imperfect relationships, there were numerous times in both stories that people weren’t talking to one another. Not only did this make production difficult, but we commonly became intermediaries, passing messages back and forth between them all. It felt a bit like high school! However, at the end of the day, it’s comforting to know that everyone’s now in a better place relationship-wise than when the show first started taping. Just read single and fabulous Lazar’s update below…

EMAIL UPDATE FROM LAZAR 11/26/08 …
Hey, what’s good everyone, it’s ya boi’, LAZAR ! Since the show, I have been doing well. Me and Jordan are still on good terms (as friends) — and me and Alyssa are also back on good terms (as friends). I decided and learned to not get into a LOVE TRIANGLE because it’s too much drama and krazy-ness … LoL. It’s enough work trying to hold it down and keep one girl satisfied in every way, but TWO girls … geeshhhh. So as of now, I am a SINGLE young guy.

I feel like a relationship at this point in my life would be a distraction — being single allows me to focus on school and making music for the ladies with my R&B group, 2 Official. I am super young, so I have the rest of my life to truly find that right girl for me … and when she does come into my life, and I decide to start a relationship, I will then know how to make her feel good MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY *and* EMOTIONALLY.

If any of you out there want to reach me … hit me up here. I appreciate the love, so holla at me!

So we’ve got a little bone to pick with, um, ourselves. MTV’s Best of ‘08 just launched and somehow we neglected to award any honors to MADE OR True Life – the bestest of the best MTV shows E-V-E-R!

To be fair, it wasn’t completely our fault. With categories such as “Best (Almost) Nude Moments,” it was hard for these two smart doc series to compete with the filthy (but equally fascinating) likes of A Shot At Love 2 and Real World: Hollywood. Still, we just couldn’t let MADE or True Life go unnoticed — and that’s why we asked Christine Rochelle, MTV.com Production Assistant-slash-Remote Control Contributor-slash-uber obsessed fan to make a list of her personal fave moments from this year’s episodes. Check it yo:

First up I have to pay homage to a MADE staple: fighting tooth and nail with your coach. Lucky enough for aspiring skateboarder, Alex, her mom did all the dirty work (even threatening to rip Coach Holly’s head off)…

A typical MADE story is comprised of a shy brainiac who wants to break out of his/her shell. But every once in a while we stumble upon some characters with maybe a little too much confidence. BFFs Amanda and Natalie really overestimated their ability to become survivalists

Temper tantrums and crying fits aside, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned MADE story where someone’s goals are reached and dreams are fulfilled. There was no other MADE subject this year like Brandon, who wanted to be a triathlete in order to overcome his diabetes. We were right beside him as he stepped on the scale week after week — and we were there again when he refused to let a spandex uniform get the best of him. When Brandon crossed that finish line, there wasn’t a dry eye around. Rock on, Brandon, rock on.


Get my top three picks for Best of True Life ‘08 after the jump!

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