A 2-year-old boy born with three penises in an incredibly rare occurrence has undergone pioneering surgery to correct the abnormality.

An Indian mother and her boy who suffers from a rare condition

The 2-year-old boy who was suffering from diphallia, a rare condition where a male is born with two penises, had a third penis considered rudimentary or undeveloped.  In addition, the unnamed boy was born without an anus.

However, a medical report shows that he is in process of a successful recovery at the Sion Hospital in Mumbai, India.

The boy from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was brought by his mother to Mumbai for treatment. Last month he went ‘under the knife’ to correct the physical abnormalities. His family are now hopeful that their child will be able to lead a normal life.

Previously, he was able to pass urine through one of the penises. Only two had erectile tissue, which is responsible for sexual function.

A six-hour surgery was carried out in Mumbai, to correct the malfunctions.

Dr Vishesh Dixit, a paediatric surgeon, said: “There was a huge soft boney mass and tissue to which the penises were attached. However, the anus was absent.”

In detailing how the mass and rudimentary penis were removed, Vishesh said: “The two functional penises were fused into one by wrapping a mass of skin around them.”

He further explained that the boy had already undergone a colostomy, where surgeons made an incision in his stomach, enabling him to get rid of waste.

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However, from the  latest operation, an anal path was created through the boy’s rectum to facilitate the passage of excreta.

The doctor assured that so long as the anal path surgery proves successful, the incision in the boy’s stomach will be closed in a separate procedure later this month.

There are other assurances that the boy’s sexual function and his fertility will not be affected.

The boy’s relatives overwhelmed by the surgery, thanked the surgeons: “We want our boy to lead a normal life, and are grateful to the doctors who have conducted a successful surgery.”

Diphallia is a rare abnormal development in which an infant male is born with two penises. The first ever recorded case was that of Johannes Jacob in 1609. The presence of diphalia is usually accompanied by several other anomalies.

There is also a higher risk of spina bifida and infants born with diphilia and its related conditions have a higher death rate from various infections associated with their more complex renal or colorectal systems.

There have been just 100 cases of diphallia reported since 1609.