 About a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 40 have at least one tattoo. As they grow older, some of them are having their tattoos removed. David served with the United States Army in Iraq. He says this large tattoo protected him in battle during his deployment. It's just a double-headed eagle with a shield in the middle. But today, David is the father of three young children. And his feelings about tattoos have changed. So he has been coming to this laser tattoo removal clinic in Washington, D.C. I didn't happen to think, you know, one day I was going to have kids and what they were going to think about it. And with my recent addition I just had a newborn baby in the house. I'd really liked it if he never even saw it. Glasses on. Ken Saller operates this laser center. He says he often treats women who believe tattoos are hurting their career. Some are extremely emotional and they say this is the best day of my life that I've had. I've looked at this thing for 20 years. I've wanted it off. You can't imagine how I wanted it off. For today I'm going to juice you up a little bit. That's a little bit more pain, am I right? Not much. If it is, we'll let you know. You got the blue ball already? Yep, got it. Okay, ready to go. Jennifer Bezdecek is a lawyer in Washington. She is having a small tattoo removed from her ankle. I got this tattoo when I was 18. It wasn't the smartest decision I ever made. It just was not conducive to seeing clients or being in high profile places. So I just wanted to get rid of it all together and not have to worry about it anymore. Okay, I'm going to cool the treated area with the skin sheller. New laser technology makes tattoo removal less painful and less costly. The laser breaks up the coloring into pieces that are small enough to be removed by normal body processes. It takes several treatments for the tattoo to disappear completely. I thought it was something that I would want to have forever, but you don't always need to have an image on your body to portray who you are and how you feel. That should be something that's just inside of you. I'm Steve Ember.