Baby Boy Becomes First To Be Born With Three Penises

The condition that the boy has is called triphallia, and - as we've covered - it has never been reported before.

The doctors from Kurdistan published their report of the case in medical journal International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, stating that the unidentified child was three months old before the unusual state of affairs was uncovered.

It's not exactly clear why it wasn't picked up on straight away, but his parents - from Duhok City - brought him down to the hospital because he had swelling in his scrotum and 'two skin projections'.

Or that's what they thought they were, at least.

Upon closer inspection, the doctors discovered that the boy actually had two penises that were two centimetres and one centimetre in length.

However, the penises did not perform like functioning organs, having no urethra from which to urinate, and it's not immediately clear if they were connected to the boy's reproductive system.

Only one of the extra penises had a head, according to the report.

This condition is affects one out of every five or six million births and often there are significant differences between each case.

They're called supernumerary penises and the first case was reported in 1609.

However, in all that time, no child has ever been reported to have three penises.

There have been around 100 reported cases in which baby boys have been born with two penises, and in some of those cases both organs were functioning.

In India it had been claimed that a boy was born with three penises and no anus, but that was never written up in a medical journal and therefore cannot be verified.

The team back in Iraq said that in this case the boy had no evidence of other health issues, and an investigation revealed that he had not been exposed to alcohol or drugs during the pregnancy.

So, they've no idea how the condition occurred.

In the end, the decision was taken to remove the two extra penises whilst the baby was under an anaesthetic.

After a year, the baby is reportedly healthy and had recovered from the surgery successfully. However, he will continue to have check-ups as he enters and traverses puberty and 'before marriage' according to the report.

Dr Jabali wrote: "Triphallia (three penises) is unreported condition in human until now.

"Treatment is difficult because it poses medical, ethical, and cosmetic aspects."