Hypospadia in Teenager

Questions about whether surgery is safe should be posed to a medical doctor. All surgery has risks. A doctor can tell the parents what the benefits vs risks of surgery are, explain all of the details, etc. Moms or Dads here can share their experiences of having kids go through this surgery, but that doesn't tell you anything about your grandson's own case or the overall statistics for this type of surgery.

J.,
I had to look this up as I didn't know what it was. I see that it is now done when the child is a baby still or before he starts school. All surgeries have their own risk, your family needs to talk to the doctor that is going to do the surgery, if possible get a second opinion. Make sure that you ask for references and question the doctor (who will be performing the surgery) about how many of these surgeries he has done and how successfull they have been. Don't just take their word for it, and if you are not comfortable with the doctor, then go to a different. A professional doctor will try to give you as much information as possible, even if they don't have good bedside manners, they still try to inform you. Get as much info as possible and find out what would the worse case scenario be, and from there you can decide what to do. If this is something that will be detremental to him and he "has" to have surgery regardless of the risks, then you would have no other choice. But if this is something that he can have a normal life with and have to adverse consequences, and the risks are greater than the positive outcome, then so be it and just let him be.
Blessings

Hello J. ~

I've only known of an infant having corrective surgery for hypospadia & that went well. In some cultures, circumcision is performed at age 13, so I suppose this wouldn't be unheard of. I'm presuming that surgery was deemed unnecessary when your grandson was an infant & now he's wanting it done because he's wishing to be like other boys? I hope it's that and not that there have been complications arising.

In any case, it would be for a doctor to advise you, as the other moms who've commented on your post have already said. But I have a feeling you were hoping to find others with similar experience. I don't know how common it is for a 14 year old to have the surgery, but you might want to re-post your question stating that you are seeking to hear about how it went for anyone out there whose son or grandson had the surgery as a teenager rather than as a baby.

Also, have you tried googling your question? Apparently, it is rare for the surgery to be done later, but I did find a website with information & advice. This might be a little bit more information than you want right now, because it's a Q&A from men & teenagers, so some of the concerns were whether they'd be able to perform sexually, but do give it a chance, scroll through to find questions that relate to what you & your grandson's parents & your grandson need to know:
http://heainfo.org/FAQ-PeopleWith.html

I'm sorry he's having to deal with this & I hope the right course of action will be clear very soon. I wish you & your family all the best!

I definitely agree with Mindy.

I agree that a physician is the best suited person to share the risks/benefits of having the procedure to correct the hypospadias.

But, you can do some research on the topic and see if you feel comfortable moving forward (or if he even wants to):
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/tc/hypospadias-topic-...

Any surgery has risks. Just like vasectomies are generally routine and complication free, we have a friend who was one of those rare complications, and he regretted the procedure considerably - this is a man who's served many tours of duty in both Gulf Wars.