Shine OnAfter much consideration, Victoria’s Secret says no to mastectomy ‘survivor’ bras
In January, Allana Maiden, 28, launched a petition on Change.org, asking Victoria's Secret to offer mastectomy bras for cancer survivors who struggle to find beautiful undergarments that fit.
This Monday, she got her answer: No.
In the petition, Maiden, the daughter of a breast-cancer survivor, writes that she wants to make "survivor" bras more accessible to women.
"Many women who undergo mastectomy surgery because of breast cancer suffer from body image issues," she writes. "It doesn't help that they don't have the option of buying the pretty bras they wore before their battle with cancer, and specialty stores can be hard to find, forcing them to order bras online that they have to send back because they don't fit properly."
"Mastectomy bras are currently treated as more of a medical device," Maiden told Yahoo! Shine in January. "Their purpose is to hold the prosthesis in place and nothing more. But women like to buy bras and panties that make them feel feminine and pretty. If there's anyone that deserves this pretty feeling it's breast cancer survivors."
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After attracting more than 120,000 signatures, Maiden and her mother hand-delivered the petition to the Victoria's Secret office in New York City.
The company took the petition seriously, but after a series of meeting and discussions, the lingerie retailer declined to introduce a new mastectomy bra to its line.
"Through our research, we have learned that fitting and selling mastectomy bras…in the right way…a way that is beneficial to women is complicated and truly a science," reads a statement released Monday by a Victoria’s Secret spokesperson.
"As a result, we believe that the best way for us to make an impact for our customers is to continue funding cancer research."
Maiden tells TODAY that, while disappointing, she understands the response.
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"I do think they took it very seriously and that was ultimately why they decided not to do it," says Maiden. "If they were going to do it, they wanted to do it well and they didn’t think they would be capable of doing that."
"I was disappointed, obviously," Maiden tells ABC News. "I understand her decision, that there is a science that goes [with these] bras, and it's more complicated than a regular bra would be. But I felt that if anyone could do it, they could. They have everything in place."
Maiden adds that she's still determined to see beautiful mastectomy bras more readily available to women like her mother.
"One of the great things about doing this petition was learning about Nordstrom and their prosthesis program," she says. "Mom and I went there and it was amazing. But Nordstrom has less than 200 stores. So I’ve sent emails to other department stores asking if they could implement similar programs."
"If Macy’s or Sears or JCPenney — stores with a larger reach — could do something similar, that would give women the accessibility and could really help with this problem."
