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It's the breasts and the tummies. For years, they've dreamed of having their breasts bigger and higher, their tummies smaller and flatter.

And now, as cosmetic plastic surgery enjoys a TV-fueled boom nationwide, ethnic women — especially Hispanics — are joining the party, making their dreams of new and improved bodies finally come true.

"My only regret is maybe not choosing a larger size," said a laughing Maricela Sullivan, 35. The married, working mother of two had her breasts surgically enlarged here recently, using a loan from a friend to do it.

"A lot of people are having cosmetic surgery now — it's not like in years past. The thinking has changed. I was always told to be happy with what I had. But if you have the means, why should you be happy with what God gave you?"

Wanting cosmetic surgery since she had her second child, Barbara Olea, 47, took the whole plunge this year. She had her tummy tucked and her breasts and face lifted — and she happily passed up a new car to do it.

"We're so used to taking care of our children and our husbands, but not really ourselves," said Olea, who's also married and working full time. "I think that's changing. I see many ladies really taking care of themselves now.

"My husband is thrilled," she added with a giggle. "He may be enjoying this the most."

Sullivan and Olea have joined the nationwide trend noted in just the past two to three years — the dramatic rise in Hispanics, blacks and Asian-Americans going under the knife for cosmetic reasons.

This is not the Botox, wrinkle-filler crowd. These are people — mostly women and solidly middle class — getting major and costly "work" done — tummy tucks; breast enlargements, lifts or reductions; face-lifts; liposuction; and nose jobs.

In the past year alone, cosmetic surgeries have jumped 67 percent among Hispanics and blacks, and nearly 60 percent among Asians, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says.

Hispanics are leading this charge, with more than 900,000 cosmetic procedures in 2005 — nearly 10 percent of the total performed in this country.

The trend is even more obvious in Southern Arizona, where plastic surgeons report that Hispanic patients account for 25 to 50 percent of their cosmetic business now — up from a fraction of that only five years ago.

And almost across the board, they're noticing that younger Hispanic women want breast enlargements, while the older women opt for tummy tucks, breast lifts and liposuction.

"At least a quarter of all the tummy tucks I do are now in Hispanic women," said Dr. Gwen Maxwell. "There are anatomic differences in this group — they tend to have more central obesity, more of an apple shape.

"And the women are more ravaged by the effects of pregnancy, with more significant stretching and stretch marks than most Anglo women. And their breasts get larger during pregnancy and tend to sag more after. So these are they things they want to deal with now."

Two factors — rising prosperity and the plethora of reality "makeover" TV shows — are driving the trend, Maxwell and other physicians said.

"There are a lot of very successful middle-class Hispanic people with steady jobs in this city," Maxwell said. "And their attitude is really no different then most aging baby boomers. They're not afraid to let go of some cash to be able to enjoy life a little more."

And just what that money will buy — and how — is no longer a medical mystery, but shown in graphic detail on such TV hits as "Dr. 90210," "Extreme Makeover," "The Swan" and the wild "Nip/Tuck" drama.

"That whole phenomenon is making cosmetic surgery more exposed, more accepted — even among the older, more conservative Hispanic women," said Dr. Patricia Mars, who has practiced for a decade in Tucson. "People are fascinated by this, and most of my patients have seen exactly what happens during a tummy tuck, a breast augmentation, or a face-lift. I sit down and start to explain it, and they say, 'Oh, I already know.' "

The effects of pregnancy, rather than the images on a TV screen, drove Olea to her plastic surgeon, Maxwell.

"I've had four children and it's been my dream for a long time to go back to my normal body," Olea said. "It's been wonderful, having the kids, but it really changes you physically.

"It's about self-esteem, about feeling better about yourself. My choice was either do this or get a new car, and this was more meaningful to me. I'm just feeling great about myself now. And if you feel good, you make everyone around you feel good."

As more minority women make this choice, it ironically completes the mainstreaming of cosmetic plastic surgery, once an option only for the rich, who tended to be mostly Anglo in this country.

But it also raises questions about the "Westernization" of the concept of beauty, and perhaps the loss of cultural richness and variety, said Laura Orlich, a University of Arizona psychologist who counsels UA students wrestling with body image problems.

"You have to wonder if this might be a rejection of one's own culture and a preference for wanting to look more Americanized, more mainstream, more like what we see on TV and movie screens," Orlich said. "If that is what is happening, it's kind of sad."

Indeed, the heavy influence of pop culture triggers utterly unrealistic expectations in some Hispanic women who come in for a surgical redo, Mars said.

A 40-something woman from Nogales was clearly disappointed by the surgeon's postopera-tion photos of what to expect from body-contouring surgery.

"She took one look and said, 'That's not dramatic enough — I want to look like this model,' " Mars said.

But others dispute the idea that Latinas are jumping on this cosmetic surgery bandwagon to "mainstream" their looks.

"If anything, their culture may be what the women are responding to," said longtime Tucson plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Kay, noting that Brazil long has been the plastic surgery capital of the world. "There's really no cultural reluctance at all to embrace cosmetic surgery. The only barrier has been economic, and incomes are rising."

Like so many young Hispanic women, Melissa Chavez wanted larger breasts since she was a teen, and finally got them, as did her twin sister, in May.

"I was really flat-chested and I hated it," said Chavez, now 20.

"My parents were 100 percent behind my decision — as long as I was doing it for myself and no one else."

Now a student at Eastern Arizona College, Chavez said the surgery was really no big deal, even in Thatcher, the small rural town where she grew up.

"Everybody's interested," she said. "Accepted? Oh yes, absolutely."

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