First Penile Transplant Recipient Now a Father-To-Be

It has been announced that the first recipient of a penile transplant operation would soon become a father. BBC reported that the surgeon who did the operation also made the announcement. The 21-year-old man from South Africa, whose name is withheld for privacy reasons, had the surgery done December of last year by Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital surgeons in Cape Town.  It is now revealed that his girlfriend is 4 months pregnant.

This has been considered to be an achievement since it was not yet known months ago whether or not he will be able to attain normal functions of this said organ. Only a centimeter has been left after a botched circumcision ritual was done to mark a passage from childhood to adulthood.

The operation was done for 9 hours last December and doctors did not publicly annouce any information about it until March this year. They were still observing the progress of the transplantation and noted if the recepient  recovered well or not.  The team of surgeons were able to use the techniques done on the first face transplants by connecting the tiny blood vessels and nerves, as minute as they are.

One of the doctors is Andre van der Merwe, who heads the urology division of Stellenbosch University. He stated that he was pleased to know that the couple are expecting a child. He reportedly did not need to ask for a paternity test as he did not see any reason not to believe them. As CBS News reported, Dr. Merwe saw the need for more penile transplants in South Africa in the future.

"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lose their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision," Van der Merwe said back in March.

It is a common practice among some African boys to undergo this rite of passage as a declaration of becoming men. But it has been reported to be a continuous health crisis yearly as more botched circumsicions cause infections, penile dismemberment and even deaths.

Many local leaders have been reported to have done some educational campaigns to educate the villagers about having safe circumcision practices. These were done with the partnership of the state and medical practitioners. But more effort should be done to get the information across other people who are not aware of the dangers of unsafe operations.