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The Man Who Got the World's First Penis Transplant Is Becoming a Dad

Man uses new penis exactly how you'd expect him to.
surgeons from penis transplant team

The man who received the world's first penis transplant is doing well. His new penis is working completely normally six months after his operation, and in fact, he is set to become a father.

According to his doctor, the 21-year-old South African recipient and his girlfriend are expecting a child later this year. The man's name has not been released.

"The recipient reported to me that his partner is expecting a baby," Andre Van der Merwe, who helped perform the nine-hour operation back in December, told me. "She is about four months pregnant. This is not unexpected, but we are still very happy for them. The baby was conceived naturally."

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The news was originally reported by the BBC. Van der Merwe announced in March that the recipient lost most of his penis as the result of a botched adult circumcision a few years ago that caused it to become gangrenous. Adult circumcision rituals are relatively common in South Africa.

"We investigated the feasibility of doing penile operations for such patients," Van der Merwe said in a video announcing the operation. "These patients are very young and therefore they are extremely distraught when they lose a penis at age 18 or 21."

Van der Merwe says he hopes to perform more penis transplants in the future. So far, four

lab-grown vaginas have been transplanted into women who were born without them

.