Emily Le Coz

The Clarion-Ledger

Space constraints in the newspaper limited how much I could write about the man whose reconstructed penis allowed him to father a child naturally. But as if the story itself isn't amazing enough, I found myself wanting to include more information that I found equally fascinating.

For example, even though Mike Moore lost his penis because of a tragic circumcision accident, he decided to circumcise his infant son (who is now 6 months old).

Mike "was nervous about having him circumcised," his wife, Heather said, "but there was no cutting involved – just a little plastic ring that goes around him and then it just falls off."

The procedure went smoothly, and everyone is happy and healthy and in tact.

Speaking of botched circumcisions, here are the court documents related to a case almost identical to Moore's where a 2-year-old boy lost his penis after a laser-cut circumcision. (Moore was 7 when he lost his.)

And while we're on the topic of missing members, Dr. Gordon Lee of Stanford University Medical Center (he's the one who did the reconstruction) and I were talking about the various reasons men lose their genitals. It's not a fun topic, granted, but it's obviously central to the issue of penis reconstruction and advancements in that field.

Men sometimes lose their genitals because of cancer. Penile cancer is rare compared to breast cancer, but it does exist. And men have to sacrifice their penis to spare the rest of their bodies from the ravages of the disease just as their female counterparts. But whereas the nation seems to rally around woman (Susan B. Koman; Save the Tatas, etc.,) no one brandishes the pink ribbon for men.

Likewise, few people react to the mention of fake breasts anymore and certainly not when they're implanted after a mastectomy. But when a man loses his penis, people blush or snicker or tease. And when a story runs in The Clarion-Ledger or any other media outlet about a reconstructed penis, someone inevitably finds the topic distasteful.

It's a double standard. And it's not fair, certainly not to the men who have lost their genitals through no fault of their own - not only to cancer, but to injuries sustained in military battle or car wrecks or, as in Mike Moore's case, medical accidents.

These men need not feel shame for the loss of their genitals. They need support and hope.

Not all men lose their penis through no fault of their own, though. Lee told me about a man who tied a shoe lace around the base of his penis to cut off blood flow so as to maintain a longer erection. He was pretty drunk at the time and eventually passed out, with the shoe lace still squeezing his organ. When he awoke two days later (maybe he had been consuming more than just alcohol to have passed out for two days ...) his penis was irreversibly damaged. In short, it was dead. Doctors had to amputate.

Lesson 1: Don't tie shoe laces around your penis or any other body part and then pass out for two days.

Lesson 2: Let's all be more compassionate about people who have suffered such losses, no matter how it happened.