They say imitation is flattery, and one Britney Spears fan paid the singer the ultimate tribute by spending roughly $70,000 to look just like the pop icon.

Kara Nicole Hays, a young transgender woman, confirmed to NY Daily that she dropped tens of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery in order to look like pop star Britney Spears. Fortunately, Kara admitted that her face didn’t require any reconstruction – she’s just fortunate enough to naturally resemble the pop singer. “I never had any facial reconstruction to look like a certain celebrity,” she said.

The 26-year-old transgender Spears fan estimated that her surgeries clocked in at around $30,000 back in 2002. The rest of the $70k went for therapy, hormones, clothing, and cosmetics.

Kara began life as Kody, growing up in a small Ohio town. Her interest in Britney Spears began when she was just 12-years-old; she once wore a red catsuit to a Halloween dance in homage to Spears, much tot he ire of school officials, reports the Huffington Post. Her physical transformation is more than just simple homage to Spears – it’s also rooted in gratuity.

“Britney was someone that aided me through depression,” Kara admitted. “Dancing to Britney’s videos also aided me in losing weight and feeling better about myself.”

Though she admits she is emulating Spears, Kara also said that she took cues from other pop stars in her transformation as well. “I focused on Britney and Christina Aguilera for my inspiration: they were the stars that were around when I was younger, they are who you looked up to,” she told the Daily Mail. “Nowadays people have Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. I was just thinking, I want to be a girl now, who do I emulate?”

So what’s next for the Britney Spears uber-fan?

Yeah, maybe now I’ll spend 60,000 to look like Justin Bieber. I’m kidding, of course. I am a huge fan of Britney, but I like being me. xo

— Kara Nicole Hays (@IamKaraNicole) July 22, 2012

Though Kara has faced criticism, a cursory glance through her Twitter feed shows that she’s confident in her transformation, and that she draws a distinction between wanting to emulate Britney and wanting to be Britney.

@ad_orenday because Britney Spears inspired me and I didn’t get facial reconstruction to look like her. I am only a fan and I enjoy being me

— Kara Nicole Hays (@IamKaraNicole) July 23, 2012

@PatrishyO Britney was always an inspiration of mine as an adolescent. I never intended to look completely like her. I’m happy being me.

— Kara Nicole Hays (@IamKaraNicole) July 24, 2012

To all of her haters I say, “LEAVE KARA ALOOOOONE!”

Womanizer: Transgender Britney Spears Fan Drops $70,000 In Transformation is a post from: The Inquisitr