The moving story behind America’s first penis transplant
March 25, 2016 7:07 AM Subscribe
A lot more people stand to benefit if the transplant is successful:
Though Johns Hopkins is only planning to offer the operation to combat veterans for now, a lot more people stand to benefit. Foremost among them are cancer survivors and transgender individuals looking to gain a functional penis.
That would be a dick move, dude.
posted by jonmc at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2016 [7 favorites]
An opportunity lost: "The uplifting story of America's..."
posted by notyou at 9:10 AM on March 25, 2016
posted by notyou at 9:10 AM on March 25, 2016
Sometimes it is interesting to be an employee at Johns Hopkins.
posted by josher71 at 9:22 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by josher71 at 9:22 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
billionaire sex fiend with five penises
They'd have to reengineer his whole circulatory system to keep him from dying of something as simple as morning wood-induced brain ischemia.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:36 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
They'd have to reengineer his whole circulatory system to keep him from dying of something as simple as morning wood-induced brain ischemia.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:36 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
A lot more people stand to benefit if the transplant is successful
Depends on how much they put it about I guess.
posted by biffa at 9:37 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Depends on how much they put it about I guess.
posted by biffa at 9:37 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've got at least one close friend who would sign up for this surgery in a heartbeat. I truly hope it's successful.
Hell, if they can work out vaginal/vulval transplants at the same time (gee how surprising it is that penises are first), seems to me that bottom surgery suddenly gets easier for any pair of AFAB/AMAB trans people who want confirmation surgery.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:19 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
Hell, if they can work out vaginal/vulval transplants at the same time (gee how surprising it is that penises are first), seems to me that bottom surgery suddenly gets easier for any pair of AFAB/AMAB trans people who want confirmation surgery.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:19 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
Five? That's just silly. I can't even imagine anyone really needing more than two.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:58 AM on March 25, 2016
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:58 AM on March 25, 2016
Hell, if they can work out vaginal/vulval transplants at the same time
I'm not sure these are often blown apart during battle, where the person still survives. I mean, obviously sexism is a thing but this surgery was specifically designed for combat veterans, who are going to be overwhelmingly male, in addition to the anatomical differences.
This would be such a boon to trans men if the surgery is less complicated (and less expensive) than the existing methods. I know a lot of guys who require additional surgeries due to complications with the original.
pending a donor of the right age and skin color whose family gives the hospital special permission to use their loved one’s organ.
Are families going to be less likely to give permission if the recipient is a trans man? You bet your life.
From one of the links in the Vox article: "Patients eligible for the surgery must have certain nerves and blood vessels in their pelvis intact. " I wonder if trans men have the requisite "connections." I don't see why not since the clitoris is really just a small penis, but I'm not a doctor.
Weird this is getting attention now, pretty much the exact same story was going around months ago in trans forums.
posted by desjardins at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure these are often blown apart during battle, where the person still survives. I mean, obviously sexism is a thing but this surgery was specifically designed for combat veterans, who are going to be overwhelmingly male, in addition to the anatomical differences.
This would be such a boon to trans men if the surgery is less complicated (and less expensive) than the existing methods. I know a lot of guys who require additional surgeries due to complications with the original.
pending a donor of the right age and skin color whose family gives the hospital special permission to use their loved one’s organ.
Are families going to be less likely to give permission if the recipient is a trans man? You bet your life.
From one of the links in the Vox article: "Patients eligible for the surgery must have certain nerves and blood vessels in their pelvis intact. " I wonder if trans men have the requisite "connections." I don't see why not since the clitoris is really just a small penis, but I'm not a doctor.
Weird this is getting attention now, pretty much the exact same story was going around months ago in trans forums.
posted by desjardins at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
You meant, "the penis is really just a large clitoris", I know you did.
posted by allthinky at 11:11 AM on March 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by allthinky at 11:11 AM on March 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
Hell, if they can work out vaginal/vulval transplants at the same time (gee how surprising it is that penises are first)Except that vaginas were first; back in 2006. No need to jump to conclusions.
posted by LightStruk at 11:39 AM on March 25, 2016 [6 favorites]
Johns Hopkins? More like Dong Swapkings!
(Sorry, I'm feeling bad about nothing about math and a lot about potential puns.)
posted by tummy_rub at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2016
(Sorry, I'm feeling bad about nothing about math and a lot about potential puns.)
posted by tummy_rub at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2016
There's something specifically american about the mix of advanced technology and science, a certain implicit puritanism and militarism in the need to make the first recipients having to be veterans of one the of US's many foreign adventures, because support the troops and PR and avoiding a prudish backlash of some sort.
posted by signal at 3:38 PM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by signal at 3:38 PM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Lab grown Vagina FPP.
This is yet more awesome science, fantastic stuff.
posted by marienbad at 3:49 PM on March 25, 2016
This is yet more awesome science, fantastic stuff.
posted by marienbad at 3:49 PM on March 25, 2016
This would be such a boon to trans men if the surgery is less complicated (and less expensive) than the existing methods.
I don't see how that is likely to be the case. It seems like it presents all the same technical challenges except you have extra erectile tissue in play, but then you have to worry about rejection too.
Anyway, phalloplasty is one of those things I probably don't want to discuss in any sort of detail on Metafilter.
posted by hoyland at 4:10 PM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't see how that is likely to be the case. It seems like it presents all the same technical challenges except you have extra erectile tissue in play, but then you have to worry about rejection too.
Anyway, phalloplasty is one of those things I probably don't want to discuss in any sort of detail on Metafilter.
posted by hoyland at 4:10 PM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
(I will add that I have helped with researching and arranging bottom surgery. If you're someone who needs that information, me-mail me. But, yeah, not for public discussion.)
posted by hoyland at 4:15 PM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 4:15 PM on March 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
This was big news, and front page in the NY Times, some months back. I'm glad they are going forward with it and I hope that it becomes a routine medical procedure for anyone who needs it.
Have the medical ethics people made any announcements for how they will prioritize recipients? Right now it is restricted to the veterans, but eventually they will have to make prioritizations between, say, an accident victim, a trans guy, and a cancer survivor.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:17 PM on March 25, 2016
Have the medical ethics people made any announcements for how they will prioritize recipients? Right now it is restricted to the veterans, but eventually they will have to make prioritizations between, say, an accident victim, a trans guy, and a cancer survivor.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:17 PM on March 25, 2016
I would assume that the special nature of the donation process ensures that the donor families would be selecting who gets their loved ones' penis. It's such a deeply personal thing. I can't imagine consenting to donating my husband's penis for anything short of deeply, deeply compelling reasons. Combat veterans would be more likely to draw me, as a veteran myself, but I'd also really want to know who exactly I was donating it to. I would want to be absolutely sure it would only be used for good purposes. I can't imagine the nightmare of learning the recipient had raped someone with my husband's penis, and given one out of three women will be raped in their lives, the odds are not good on that.
posted by corb at 10:15 AM on March 26, 2016
posted by corb at 10:15 AM on March 26, 2016
> donor families would be selecting who gets
I can't imagine that ever flying, ethically.
> It's such a deeply personal thing
Less so than corneas, I think (which are the only thing not on my donor card). I personally wouldn't have a problem with it.
posted by Leon at 6:40 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't imagine that ever flying, ethically.
> It's such a deeply personal thing
Less so than corneas, I think (which are the only thing not on my donor card). I personally wouldn't have a problem with it.
posted by Leon at 6:40 PM on March 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
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