A recent routine autopsy yielded a first-of-its-kind medical finding—a 78-year-old man who lived his entire life with three penises. But given the anatomical complexities, it’s entirely possible he never even knew of his own extremely rare condition.
Supernumerary penile formation, aka multiple male genitalia, is only estimated to occur in 1 in 5-6 million live births, and even then, it’s not always what you might expect. Instead of clear outward signs of multiple genitals, the organs often develop within one of the penises. Because of this, actual documentation is potentially more rare than the physical feature itself—according to the experts who reported their triphallic discovery in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, only 168 papers dating as far back as 1606 mention such anatomical features. Of those, the vast majority were classified as complete diphallia (two penises), and 50 displayed pseudodiphallia. Another five papers didn’t specify the cadaver’s total count, while the very first documented triphallia case occurred just four years ago in an infant boy. The anonymous 78-year-old man, however, marks the first adult displaying a penis in triplicate.
As Gizmodo notes, the anatomical makeup varied between each example. Inside the first penis resided a secondary organ containing its three primary tissues—the corpus cavernosum, corpus spongiosum, and glans. A single urethra ran through both this one and the main penises, while a third lacked the corpus spongiosum or any connection to the urethra itself.
The cause behind developing multiple penises is generally believed to stem from genetic mutations affecting androgen receptors during development. The study authors theorize the man’s condition possibly occurred through growing three initial genital tubercles. Interestingly, it appears the urethra first grew within the secondary penis but failed to entirely develop there, forcing it to change its route and grow through what became the primary penis.
[Related: Please think twice before letting an AI scan your penis for STIs.]
Because of this internal arrangement, medical researchers explained in their paper that it’s possible the man spent his entire life unaware of his situation. That said, it still could easily have caused a number of medical issues over the years, including urinary tract infections or erectile dysfunction. Local UK medical donation laws mean virtually no other information is publicly available about the man apart from his physical characteristics and age.
At one point in his life, however, the man received a groin hernia repair—a process often requiring a catheter. An usually shaped urethra could have made this problematic and eventually hint at his condition. Because no medical notes reference the triphallia, it’s possible that the hernia surgery thankfully went smoother than expected. Either way, it is possible the man lived his life without the knowledge of his condition due to “apparent lack of symptoms and its benign nature.”
