Aussie pol admits she had her legs lengthened

Hajnal Ban was five-foot-one before checking herself into a Russian clinic eight years ago. After four excruciating operations that involved breaking and resetting bones in her legs, she emerged with an extra three inches in height. Ban wrote a book about the experience at the time under a pseudonym, but recently disclosed her identity as the author. She says she was teased in school about her height, and doubted her prospects as a young lawyer unless she gained some physical stature. She ran unsuccessfully for national office in Australia’s 2007 federal election, but has been a councillor in Logan City Queensland for three years. "As much as it worked for me," she says, "it is not something I would necessarily promote or endorse."

Telegraph.co.uk