Hypospadias - has your son had an op for this?

[Lonelymum]

I have two sons with this condition. Ds1 has had the operation but ds3 still has it to come. The trouble is that we have recently moved and have to see another surgeon now. I saw him yesterday and he does a different op to the one that ds1 had. Neither dh nor I are very happy about the op being done differently. Is there anyone out there whose son has had the op and would you be prepared to tell me the pros and cons of your son's procedure? The older your son is (and therefore the longer they have gone since their op) the more I would like to discuss it with you.

Thanks in advance, hoping there is someone out there!

Thanks for replying eldestgirl. This surgeon doesn't do the op until they are about 5 (which was when ds1 had his op so I have no problems with that). So there should be no problem with nappy rub. It is interesting that you say one son has his foreskin and the other doesn't. I don't know how important that is because I am not a man (of course!) but dh seems to hold a lot of store by all our boys looking the same (and looking the same as him? - maybe)

I think I might try to find a surgeon who will do the op the same way as ds1 was done. It is just that now this new man is saying ds1 is going to have problems and I can't tell if that is a dispassionate assessment or just his personal prejudice against reconstructing the foreskin.

Should say, the surgeon operates when they are 1 (like your ds2) or when they are 5ish and as ds3 is now 2, he has missed the boat for getting it done early.

I had not idea that you could reconstruct the foreskin. Do you know if your DS has enough foreskin to make this possible? I am pretty sure that DS2 didn't have enough.
Yes, I would get a second opinion and have both boys looked at. It may be that there are more post-op complications if the foreskin is reconstructed. Surgeons are always developing new techniques. It may be that the accepted best practice now is not to reconstruct, or it may be personal preference. These are all things that you should ask your second opinion surgeon.
I don't think it matters that they look different (though they certainly confused a Moslem mum who came over for a playdate!). I have been very open about it with DS1 and he knows that DS2 has had his foreskin "cut off" by a doctor because his willy didn't work properly otherwise. Sounds a bit aagh! but DS1 doesn't think it's a big deal. He knows his foreskin is staying put.
My Dad's brother had to be circumcised due to a tight foreskin. Dad wasn't. He says the two other brothers didn't think twice about it. Just one of those things.
Tbh, what bothers me more than appearance is having to explain to him one day that his male children are more likely to have this problem than other men.
Good luck.

My use of the word reconstruct may be a bit misleading. All I know is, the surgeon who operated on ds1 was able to retain his foreskin and get it to stretch round so that it covers the tip completely (like a normally formed boy). Ds3, from what I can tell, has about the same amount of foreskin and the same degree of hypospadias as his brother so I was assuming the same op could be done.

Do you really worry about the chances of your grandsons having this condition? I didn't know it was hereditary in that way but even knowing that, I can't say I will worry about it too much. Of course I would rather my ds's didn't have to be operated on, but it wasn't so bad when ds1 went through it. Neither of mine really needed the op as such, it is really just cosmetic, although in a way that makes it harder to make the decisions involved don't you think? My concern would be if their fertility were affected but thankfully that isn't the case.

DS2 had a mid shaft hypospadias, so he needed to have the op. His foreskin was removed and transposed to the back of his penis to form a urethral extension so that the pee comes out of the end of his penis, and not half way along the back. He also needed to have a testicle brought down at the same time.
I found the whole process quite traumatic and I am very glad DS2 will not remember anything about it. I know that it's not so bad if the hole just has to be moved for cosmetic reasons. Lucky you! I really hope that if I have another boy, he doesn't have it. At least I will know what is coming if there is a next time.

Hopefully you won't have to go through it again. I have three boys but only two have the condition.