A 28-year-old woman in Henan province who looked as if she had aged considerably after giving birth, underwent plastic surgery on Jan 20.

The Zhengzhou Evening News reported on Jan 22 that the woman gave birth to a son when she was 22 but found her skin had become so loose that she looked like a woman in her 60s.

She said she dare not look in the mirror or walk on the streets.

Doctors said she has a rare disease, with just over a dozen cases worldwide by 2010. Lacking knowledge on how the woman acquired the disease, they said that only plastic surgery could help her.

After Chinese media reported the story last week, medical institutions offered her free surgery.

The woman chose a local plastic surgery institute, and underwent a five-hour operation on Jan 22. Doctors said the surgery reshaped her face, neck and ears. She is expected to receive further surgery, on her eyes.

“I hope, in my dreams, that my face can match my real age,” the woman said.