The Man Who Spent $250K on 18 Cosmetic Surgeries to Look Like Madonna

Adam Guerra transformationScreen capture from YouTube

While it’s quite normal for fans to have pictures or memorabilia of their celebrity idols, 37-year-old Italian American Adam Guerra from Los Angeles has, in the course of 14 years, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on 18 cosmetic surgeries to look like Madonna.

Adam’s surgical procedures include Jaw implants, nose jobs, and fillers, bum and cheek implants. As a result of the surgeries, Adam is now one of the most preeminent Madonna impersonators in the country.

While Adam’s extreme transformation to resemble Madonna might seem absurd to many, Adam has found success and even appeared on reality television hit shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, his mother, Annette Guerra, who introduced him to Madonna, regrets purchasing the Madonna CD that made her son obsessed with the singer.

Though Adam’s obsession with Madonna began when he was just a 15-year-old child, he credits his obsession for helping through what he described as the difficult times of his life. However, when asked whether his extreme cosmetic surgeries were worth it, he justified his actions by saying,

“I’ve had my cheeks implanted and my jaw done several times, I’ve had my chin done and I’ve had brow lifts and fillers. But it is so worth it, because goddamn, I look like Madonna.”

Still, when he was also asked about his obsession with Madonna, Adam said,

“I’d found one of her albums that my mom owned and I played it non-stop. I became obsessed with everything she was doing and I really felt like she was speaking directly to me. Everything that I was feeling inside was what she was singing and everything I wanted to be was what she was.”

While superfans like Adam will stop at nothing to get closer to the celebrities they idolize, his mother’s worry over her son’s obsession is justified as Adam has spent $250,000 and inestimable costs in the form of sustained body trauma as a result of the surgeries.

Adam Guerra interview

Psychologists say extreme fans like Adam suffer from Celebrity Worship Syndrome, an obsessive, addictive disorder. Similarly, studies show a link between acceptance of cosmetic surgery and celebrity worship in young people.

Even though Adam has no regrets in his painful journey to look like his idol Madonna, the shocking news of Jennifer Pamplona has this week captured the headlines of all major media outlets. The former Versace Model has undergone nearly 40 cosmetic surgeries and spent over half a million U.S dollars to look like the reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian.

Kim Kardashian (L); Jennifer Pamplona (R)Getty Images (L); Instagram (R)

However, after seven years of sporting the reality star’s resemblance, Jennifer decided to reverse the surgical procedures that made her look like Kim Kardashian. Instead, the former model has undergone a major cosmetic surgery that cost her over $120,000 to look like her former self.

Besides the mortal risks associated with cosmetic surgeries, fans like Adam and Jennifer are risking it all to chase the mirage of their obsessions. Nevertheless, while Adam is happy with his Madonna looks, many around the world, like Jennifer, quickly get bored with their new looks. So they decide to reverse the surgeries’ effects and wish to return to their original resemblance.

However, though we live in the age of Instagram and Twitter, perhaps communities should work with their minors so that young people are made to understand and counseled over negative body image issues. In doing so, possibly obsessed young people like Jennifer and Adam get the help they need early on and save them from the years of surgeries and thousands of dollars.