Cadaver BBLs Are Here — And Doctors Are Divided
DEAD Set On A Bigger Booty? Cadaver BBLs Are The Newest — And Perhaps The Most Disturbing Cosmetic Trend Yet - Page 2
- Cadaver fat, called AlloClae, is used to enhance body contours without relying on traditional fillers or fat transfer.
A rising number of patients are seeking Cadaver BBLs, but is this procedure safe? Experts share their insights on this new trend.
Some people will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve the body they want—and apparently, even death isn’t a dealbreaker. In a development that sounds like science fiction but is very much real life, a growing number of Americans are turning to a new injectable filler made from cadaver fat to achieve the perfect look.
According to New York–based, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Melissa Doft, patients are increasingly requesting an injectable filler called AlloClae, which is composed of intact, harvested fat from cadavers. The filler is used to enhance body contours and add volume to areas like the hips, breasts, and the ever-popular Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL).
“It can be used to smooth hollows, fill contour irregularities, and rebuild support where it’s been lost—without relying on traditional fillers or fat transfer,” Doft noted in an Instagram video post shared Oct. 10, 2025.
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Dr. Doft explained that patients who have already undergone liposuction and need maintenance, or those who simply don’t have enough fat of their own to spare, may be ideal candidates for the injectable.
“Many of us in New York City are very excited about this, particularly because our patients are sometimes very thin or maybe have already had liposuction,” the plastic surgery expert said in the video.
One woman said the injectable filler helped her turn back the hands of time on her hips and booty.
Some patients are already sharing their positive experiences with the injection. In an interview with The Cut published Dec. 26, 2025, a 61-year-old woman said she opted for AlloClae to address “the loss” of her buttocks and hip dips. She said the procedure went smoothly, though it wasn’t entirely without discomfort.
“While I could actually feel a lump on each side for about three weeks, the only thing that surprised me was the soreness I experienced in the injection site, which persisted for two months,” she explained. “It felt very uncomfortable, and I had a mild but irritating soreness that made me want to avoid sitting on my butt. It didn’t limit my activities. The weekend after I got AlloClae, my daughters and I flew to a wedding in Washington, D.C., I sat on the plane, and we went sightseeing all around the city just fine. I have a medium pain threshold, and I didn’t feel the need to pop an ibuprofen. It feels similar to getting a really good teeth cleaning at the dentist. It doesn’t stop you from talking or going to work, but you’re basically aware that your gums exist. But at no point in time did I have any post-injection regret.”
She added that the results were both natural-looking and rejuvenating.
“It looks like my body, with the impact of time erased. No one can tell I had anything done. Plus, it’s not just that the area that looks fuller, but my skin looks tauter and is no longer crepey. I do get comments about how great my figure is, and I have to admit, I love all the compliments.”
Dr. Shridharani noted that many of his patients also seek AlloClae to correct the aftermath of poorly performed liposuction, especially in the hips and breasts.
“We are also getting a lot of patients coming to us that have had, unfortunately, poorly done liposuction with tons of contour irregularities that need fat grafting back in because of grooves, contour irregularities, over-resection,” he said.
Are Cadaver BBLs safe?
While the idea of using donor fat can sound unsettling at first, Shridharani said most patients become comfortable after a transparent discussion.
“I think transparency is key,” he said. “It’s tissue that’s been gifted in kind, and it’s no different from situations where a patient needs additional cartilage but doesn’t want to undergo a rib graft and the scarring that comes with harvesting their own tissue — in those cases, we use cadaver cartilage grafts.”
Caro Van Hove, president of Tiger Aesthetics, which owns AlloClae, emphasized to The Cut that donor material is “meticulously screened in accordance with regulated and high-quality tissue practices.” Before injection, the fat undergoes a multi-step cleansing, sterilization, and purification process to remove DNA and other elements that could provoke an immune response, while preserving the tissue’s structural integrity.
Still, the procedure comes at a premium. According to doctors, AlloClae treatments typically start at $10,000 and increase based on the volume required.
“If you want a full breast augmentation, hip dip, and some buttock treatment and you have to use hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cc’s of AlloClae, well, that’s going to cost tens of thousands of dollars,” Shridharani said.
Some health experts say proceed with caution.
From a regulatory standpoint, AlloClae occupies a unique category. It is FDA-compliant but classified as a human cell and tissue product, allowing it to be sold without full agency approval, unlike injectables such as Botox. Early evidence suggests it is safe and highly biocompatible, but not everyone is convinced.
Dr. Adam Kolker, a double board-certified plastic surgeon and associate clinical professor at Mount Sinai, has not used AlloClae in his practice and remains cautious, particularly regarding breast injections.
“Breast is not just fat, it’s glandular, hormonally active, and requires lifelong imaging for cancer screening. Anything injected into the breast can create new densities, nodulifications, or cysts, which can complicate mammography and ultrasound,” Kolker told The Cut.
Without imaging and long-term safety studies, Kolker says physicians can’t responsibly predict how AlloClae will behave during cancer surveillance.
“You can see an implant, or autologous fat graft, which are time-tested, evidence-based, and well-studied over the course of many decades. A new biologic material with unknown imaging behavior becomes a big diagnostic question mark in the breast,” he said.
Van Hove told The Cut that Tiger Aesthetics plans to launch a company-sponsored study on breast use in early 2026. Until then, Kolker says he remains cautiously open-minded.
“I support innovation, but I support patient safety more,” he added.
So, how do you feel about Cadaver BBLs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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