Penis problems come in all shapes and sizes. While one man might be suffering from being too well-endowed—a 19-inch penis will do that—another might not be endowed at all, like Andrew Wardle. The 40-year-old man, born without a penis, is finally getting one thanks to his arm and science.
Wardle was born with bladder exstrophy, a condition which led his bladder to form outside of his body and also led his body not to form a penis. His bladder was later reinserted into his body via surgery when he was a year old, but he still remained without a penis and would go on to live like that until his current 40-year-old self. But Wardle almost didn’t make it to 40. He told People that he started heavily doing drugs in his teens to get away from his problem and all of the lying he had to do because of it: "I thought I was going to end up dying from all the drugs. I just didn't even care."
Wardle would eventually meet “Fedra,” now his girlfriend of three years, and would keep his secret from her even after they were living together before eventually coming clean. Their lives will soon change when Wardle gets a fully functioning penis—though Wardle says he's "not expecting anything"—after having a Radial Forearm Flap Phalloplasty, a series of four surgeries in which doctors will use the muscle and skin from his arm to create a penis.
His story will be documented in TLC’s The Man With No Penis which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m.
