Health5 min(s) read
Published 14:17 01 Jul 2026 GMT
A man who was born without a penis revealed the difficulties he faced having sex were caused by factors other than his missing appendage.
Andrew Wardle was born with bladder exstrophy, a rare condition which occurs when the bladder of an unborn baby forms outside of the stomach area during pregnancy, per the Mayo Clinic.
The exposed bladder can't store urine or work as it should and the condition can also affect the genitals, stomach muscles, pelvic bones, intestines and reproductive organs, and surgery is needed to close the bladder and repair any other affected body parts.
It is a rare condition affecting between one in 30,000 to one in 50,000 live births, and in Andrew's case, he was born without a penis.
Throughout most of his life, Andrew associated his genitalia with pain - from the physical, requiring many trips to the hospital, to the mental anguish of being different from his peers.
This in turn led to him turning to drugs at the age of 18, using them for 10 years as a way of distracting himself from his physiological problems.
However, hope came in the form of a £70,000 ($93,000) surgery to create a "bionic" penis for him, which functions just like the real thing.
Andrew explained during an appearance on This Morning in 2018 that the discussion around his phalloplasty started in 2010, and the surgeries to create his bionic penis began in 2015.
He revealed: "It's taken a long, long time. They had to build me a new bladder, new penis, new everything, basically. Honestly, it's fantastic what they've done.
"The skin comes from your arm, with muscle. They take nerves and veins, and nerves from your back and all over the place, really.
"You'd be completely shocked to see what they can build. It's shocking. It completely surprised me, I just never thought anything like that was possible."
The newly constructed penis consists of a reservoir filled with liquid placed inside the abdomen, which connects to two cylinders within the shaft of the penis, and a pump button within the testicles, which pushes the fluid from the reservoir into the penis to make it erect.
As if the mechanism wasn't impressive enough, the penis has been constructed so he also has sensation in it, as Andrew added: "They put nerves in which is completely mind-boggling."
While he is enjoying his new appendage, the road to recovery was not an easy one, as Andrew was forced to live with a permanent erection for three weeks in order to stretch the skin out.
He added: "It was very uncomfortable as well, I had to stay in basically for three weeks. They had to do it to stretch everything out, so it's very normal."
Once the recovery period was over, Andrew and his long-time partner, Fedra Fabian, were excited to explore intimacy together, but he admitted the main issue around sex was not so much the physical side but rather the mental aspect.
He explained that he'd compartmentalized sex so far in the back of his mind he'd have to "unlock it with a psychologist", adding: "It's still not quite there yet.
"They say it'll take about two years to link it, because when I used to think of it as a child it's just bullying, pure physical pain, mental pain.
"So to link it with pleasure, I think, is near impossible but I will get there."
Andrew previously revealed that most of his past girlfriends had been understanding about his condition, but one even reacted with violence.
He admitted: "It's very difficult to explain, but when you do explain it, some of them are really nice, and my first girlfriend - I was so lucky, she was really nice.
"I've actually been punched in the face once when I told a girl, that was a real shock."
When he and Fedra finally managed intercourse and he lost his virginity at the age of 45, Fedra revealed what it was like, explaining: "It was really natural, it only lasted around 30 minutes.
"I was really nervous not to cause any pain, which is usually the other way around, isn't it. And it was just really magical because we know each other so well, that was just the cherry on the top. It was lovely to make the next step and open that door as well."
As well as finally being able to experience penetrative sex, the phalloplasty has changed Andrew's life in a deeper way, as he told the hosts: "I can see a future now, and before that's why I used to take drugs - because I couldn't see a future."
Looking to the future, Andrew and Fedra were planning to start a family together, but if they are unable to, then they wish to adopt instead.
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