Young man will be the first to receive penis transplant in the United States

A young man could have a new penis transplanted in the next coming months by surgeons at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

Penis transplants have not yet been performed in the United States, but a young soldier who suffered injuries from a bomb blast during his time in Afghanistan could undergo a penis transplant in as little as a few short months.

The new organ will come from a recently deceased donor who has given permission, along with his family. Surgeons from Johns Hopkins University expect that the organ will be fully functional, if all goes as planned.

The numbers listed for soldiers who lose or experience harm to their sexual organs is significantly high. According to the New York Times, Dec. 6, 1,367 men in the armed forces who served in Afghanistan and Iraq suffered wounds to their genitals. Many of these men hadn’t yet reached their mid-thirties. Some of them lost all or part of their penises or testicles. Some of them saw their pelvic areas completely destroyed.

Genital damage isn’t something most vets talk about. Shame and embarrassment aside, the high frequency ofgenitourinary injuries is hidden away under the prevalence of soldiers who have lost limbs.

There are only two other recorded penis transplants on record. In 2006, Chinese surgeons successfully performedthe world’s very first penis transplant. However, the man who had undergone the surgery, as well as his wife, suffered psychological distress due to the new penis. Surgeons regretfully had to surgically remove the organ two weeks after they had done their work. Another penis transplant was successfully performed in South Africa last year.

The penis transplant to be performed by Johns Hopkins surgeons promises a lot of hope for men who have lost their organs. While having a penis is not necessary for a productive life, the loss could lead to debilitating psychological harm. Other methods such as phalloplasty and prosthetics do help in these cases, but the organs are not fully functional. Penis transplant surgeries are still in their experimental stages, but with their advent, men who have lost their organs will increasingly be able to undergo the surgery. Some of them will even be able to become fathers.

*originally published at the now defunct Examiner.com