Baby boy is born without a penis and pees through his anus
An imaging test revealed an abnormal rare connection between the child's bladder and rectum
An Iranian baby was born with a malformation called aphalia, which is characterized by the absence of a penis. The condition occurs when the genitals do not develop normally in the uterus during the first few months of pregnancy. This is so rare that it is thought to only occur in up to one in 30 million births.
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| Test on a baby born without a penis revealed that he urinates through his anus through a connection between his bladder and rectum |
Despite not having a formed penis, the boy has an intact scrotum and two testicles. The case was described in the journal Radiology Case Reports when the baby was 14 months old. Doctors said the boy is in "good general condition".
Special tests carried out months after birth allowed doctors to find out how the baby's urinary system worked. The team that accompanied him observed that he urinated through his anus.
Using a special dye, the imaging test revealed an abnormal connection between the bladder and the rectum, shown in the image above.
How to solve malformation?
In cases of aphalia (absence of a penis), surgeons may opt for a procedure known as phalloplasty, a plastic surgery that is also used in cases of micropenis.
However, in the case of the Iranian child, doctors said the recommended treatment would be sex reassignment and feminization surgery to create a pseudo-vagina.
In the case of a feminization, doctors also recommend estrogen therapy during puberty to quell changes in the patient's body, such as the development of facial hair to suit their new gender.
The approach, however, was strongly contested by intersex institutions, which advocate the possibility of creating a urethra, making the connection with the urinary system, thus maintaining male characteristics.
The doctors involved in the case did not say whether the boy will actually undergo the sex change.
Aphalia
According to the report published in the scientific journal, aphalia is an extremely rare birth defect characterized by the complete absence of the penis in a male child. Aphalia is believed to result from non-formation or failure of embryonic development between the third and sixth weeks of gestation.
Usually cases like this include other anomalies, such as renal, which is the congenital absence of one or both kidneys.
Also according to the doctors, aphalia has been reported among diabetic mothers, however, in the case reported, the baby's mother had no history of gestational diabetes.