Scientists Grow “Mini-Me” Testicles in the Lab, and It’s a Big Deal

An Iranian boy was born without a penis, and surgeons want to make him a vagina, which is controversial.

Medically known as aphallia, the condition of the unidentified boy is so uncommon that it is thought to only occur in one in thirty million births.

In the medical literature, fewer than one hundred cases have been reported.

When his case was first reported in a journal, the boy, who was 14 months old at the time, still had two testicles and a healthy scrotum.

However, his extraordinary defect caused him to urinate through his anus.

Aphallia is a condition in which the genitalia do not develop normally during the first few months of pregnancy.

Diphallia, in which male babies are born with two penises, is caused by a similar process.

His mother, who was also not identified, said she had no issues during her pregnancy.

Doctors were able to figure out how his unique urinary system worked through special tests that were performed months after his birth.

An abnormal connection between his rectum and bladder was revealed by a special dye.

Specialists these days make young men brought into the world with aphallia a penis, in a technique known as a phalloplasty.

Doctors can also reconnect their urinary system to them by giving them a urethra.

However, in this instance, doctors said in a controversial way that gender reassignment and feminization surgery to create a pseudo-vagina are the recommended treatments.

They additionally prescribe estrogen treatment during pubescence to quell changes in his body, for example, the improvement of beard growth and the developing of the voice to adjust to his new orientation.

Despite the fact that this has historically been the treatment for aphallia, with boys being raised as girls, intersex and DSD charities have criticized this strategy because it is typically motivated by societal expectations of gender and sex rather than by medical considerations.

However, the doctors at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences did not specify whether the boy would undergo feminization surgery.

Intersex people are also boys born with aphallia.

Aphallia is thought to affect only one in every 10 million to 30 million births.

However, due to the stigma attached to the condition in some parts of the world, some experts believe that cases are underreported.

The cause of aphallia in the womb is unknown to scientists.