The first of two recent pieces of sobering news.

Steven Svoboda
Attorneys for the Rights of the Child

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http://shanghaiist.com/2012/05/10/penis-amputated-circumcision.php

Man’s penis amputated after botched circumcision

A 21-year-old man in Tianjin has had his penis cut off after what appears to be a botched circumcision procedure just two weeks before his wedding ceremony.

Xiaohe (not his real name) said he decided to go for circumcision before his big day but his wound would not recover following the operation, despite days of transfusion.

Immediately following operation on November 11, 2011, Xiaohe said he felt a sharp pain in his penis the day after, and his penis began to swell, eventually turning red, and then black as the cells and tissues in his penis began to die.

Doctors at various hospitals were unable to save Xiaohe’s penis and the decision to amputate his penis was made on December 21, 2011.

He has now sued the hospital where he had the circumcision for a compensation of 150,000 yuan (23,833 USD).

Xiaohe’s wife and former schoolmate, Xiaoli, also sued the hospital for compensation. Xiaohe was upfront with his fiance about the botched procedure, but she decided to go ahead with the wedding believing everything would turn out fine.

Xiaoli’s claims have, however, been thrown out by the court, because Xiaohe was below the legal marriage age of 22 and hence their marriage was not officially recognised by the law.

Xiaohe’s lawyer has also asserted that the doctor who performed the circumcision had no legal papers to be practising in Tianjin and urged authorities to punish the hospital.

Penis reconstruction surgery is available, but is a highly complex procedure which is unlikely to give Xiaohe a fully functional penis even if successful. Moreover, the operation, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, is too much for Xiaohe’s farmer family to bear.