Penis Transplant a Success

Surgeons expect an organ donor’s penis given to a man who lost his in a botched circumcision to become fully functional.

Written byKerry Grens
| 1 min read

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STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITYA man who lost his penis after a circumcision went badly is the second to have received a penis transplant. But he may the first to end up with a fully functional reproductive organ.

“He had such a smile on his face—this amazed look when we took the bandages off,” plastic surgeon Frank Graewe at the Stellenbosch University told Vice News. “Three months later he’s having regular intercourse with his partner. We’re surprised about the progress that he’s made.”

The 21-year-old man from South Africa underwent surgery back in December 2014. According to BBC News, surgeons used techniques from face transplants to connect the donor organ and its many miniscule blood vessels.

The patient now can urinate, sustain an erection, and ejaculate. He has yet to gain full sensation in the penis, but doctors expect he will over the next couple of years.

According to a statement from Stellenbosch University, the procedure was part of a pilot study to ...

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Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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