Thanks linebacker, some excuses for having grown are good to those who notice the difference, like the one you gave. However, my main concern lies in how to explain this to someone close to me in order to finance this surgery. I understand saving for the surgery is an option, but my point is that I may be able to get enough money for this immediately if I ask someone I know for the money...I am not sure, but it is a possibility. The fact that I may have to pay back over time or not, or whatever, is irrelevant to me, since I would need to pay anyway. I can find a way to make it work, but it would be nice to get the money for this now. The issue, I feel, is how to explain this surgery in order to get the money required.

What seems like a good way to explain this to someone close to me, and how should I do this on the chance that this person says they will not help me pay for this? What is a good way to approach this issue without seeming like I am insecure about my height/my life, etc.? After all, I really am not insecure... the main reason I want this is that my height, as you know, affects actual outcomes in the real world because OTHER PEOPLE are insecure about our short heights (they are heightist). Getting this surgery will make a real difference.

Okay so let's say I have already decided that this is something that I would like to do... given that I will be getting the surgery, how should I approach the situation of talking to the person who may be able to help me pay for it?

Thanks ThatFlyShortGuy, very helpful... I understand that LL could be complicated, but I also know the negative risks are unlikely and if any arise, can almost always be easily treated. The question about personal insecurity versus society may be irrelevant, unfortunately, unless you know of a way of dealing with the issue. If I was confident about my Italian-speaking abilities, but I was living in Brazil, I would still need to learn Portuguese. While theoretically I could confine myself to a place such as Little Italy within some city, or try to convince everyone else in Brazil to speak Italian, unless my attempts are successful, my dilemma still remains. Plus, that's a lot of hypothetical work when I could otherwise just be living my life normally without that societal-imposed handicap.

Thanks and for all comments so far. I agree with you too, in that to an extent, I am against limb lengthening in a perfect world. Ultimately, if we would be able to, as a community of short men, turn the tables of society so that people automatically assumed positive things about us rather than giving the BOTD constantly to taller men, that would be great. Even when we overcome the short bias on a one-on-one basis with someone else, we must again start from scratch when we meet someone else. Sometimes, even once someone "discovers" that we are not stupid, but actually a normal person (or even intellectually superior), they will seem to "forget" this understanding if we, for example, walk to the next room over where there is a crowd of people. Any way we can do this (start being the ones constantly given the BOTD)? I often see shorter men who clearly know the dilemma further contributing to the problem by giving extra attention to taller people, when we should be coming together as a community and supporting each other. It is the only way we can become stronger in the eyes of society. If we turn against each other for the very same reasons we experience discrimination ourselves, how can we overcome the stigma of society?