SOUTH AFRICA: Surgeons Announce World's First Successful Penis Transplant

The Washington Post reports:

In a nine-hour surgery, a South African medical team successfully transplanted the penis of a dead donor to a young man without one. Three months later, they say, the recipient, who lost his penis because of complications from a ritual circumcision, has a totally functional sexual organ. That makes him the first successful recipient of a donated penis. To get the approval of the donor's family, doctors had to fashion a pseudo-penis for him out of abdominal skin. That way he could be buried with something resembling a penis. South Africa has a greater need for penis transplants than most of the world. Young men who are members of the Xhosa people often undergo ritual circumcision, sometimes in rural areas without proper instruments or sterilization. Complications from this practice lead to an estimated 250 penile amputations each year.

The surgical team now has nine patients awaiting donated organs.