Penis transplant patient gets girlfriend pregnant months after successful surgery

The recipient of the world's first successful penis transplant will soon be a father, according to the South African outlet News24. His surgeons were recently informed that his girlfriend is pregnant.

The surgery took place just six months ago, three years after the 21-year-old lost his own organ after infection caused by a botched ceremonial circumcision.

Stellenbosch University urologist, Professor Andre van der Merwe, who led the historic surgical team, explained at a March news conference that South Africa has a particular need for such a surgery: Members of the Xhosa ethnic group often practice adult circumcision, and poor sanitation leads to some 250 amputations every year.

To get permission to use the penis that has now facilitated a pregnancy, van der Merwe's team had to fashion a new penis out of abdominal skin for the deceased donor to be buried with.

One day soon, we may not need donors at all: Last year, researchers reported progress in lab-grown penises built with the recipient's own cells to avoid organ rejection. Getting the penis attached successfully was quite the feat, too.

Even if everything is working physically, the psychological trauma can sometimes be too much to bear. That's what happened to the Chinese patient who could have been the first successful recipient: In 2006, 10 days after a physically successful surgery, the man asked doctors to remove his new organ.