Why South Africa leads the world in penis transplants

South African doctors completed the world's third ever penis transplant with a white donor and a black recipient

Boys from the Xhosa tribe who have undergone a circumcision ceremony sit near Qunu on June 30, 2013.
Boys from the Xhosa tribe who have undergone a circumcision ceremony sit near Qunu on June 30, 2013. Qunu is where former South African President Nelson Mandela grew up.
(Image credit: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

On 21 April 2017 South African doctors conducted the world’s third-ever penis transplant. The operation conquered a new frontier for the procedure: it involved a white donor and a black recipient.

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