Thousands of men belong to online communities where they fantasize about surgical removal of part or all of their penis, a fetish known as genital nullification or 'nullo'. While the fantasy is rare, experts warn that acting on it can lead to life-threatening complications.
Online communities and the 'eunuch maker' case
On Reddit, a community of 2,300 members discusses the desire for a glansectomy (removal of the glans), while a separate group of 3,500 is dedicated to penectomy (removal of part of the penis). These practices fall under voluntary genital ablation, defined as any non-necessary procedure that removes or disables external genitalia. The danger of such procedures was highlighted in 2024 when Marius Theodore Gustavson, known as the 'eunuch maker', was sentenced to life in prison for performing life-threatening castrations and penectomies on vulnerable victims for the sexual pleasure of viewers on his website. Gustavson himself had undergone removal of his penis, testicles, right nipple, and left leg due to fetish and body integrity dysphoria (BID), a condition where individuals feel a severe mismatch between their actual and ideal body.
Medical reality of glansectomy
A glansectomy is a serious operation typically performed only for penile cancer patients, according to Dr Jeff Foster, a urologist. 'These men need part of the penis removed to remove the malignant growth,' he explains. The procedure involves removing the head of the penis, shortening it, and altering sexual function. It also requires a skin graft and a catheter for about a week. 'No reputable surgeon would do this procedure unless it was medically implicated, and there's no way that you could attempt this yourself because of the risks of sepsis and death,' Dr Foster adds. Around 820 new penile cancer cases occur in the UK each year, though not all require surgery.
Why some men fantasize about genital removal
Most men who fantasize about voluntary genital ablation do not actually want it performed, according to a 2024 Sexual Medicine study. Only up to 4% of individuals with such fantasies aspire to carry them out in real life. Sexologist Ness Cooper explains that multiple kinks may be involved, including eunuchophilia (arousal from castration historically performed on servants of kings), chastity fetishes, medical fetishes, or aesthetic preferences for a smooth genital area. Some men with foreskin issues may fantasize about glansectomy as a way to ease discomfort without knowing how to discuss it with a doctor. Others may be asexual and wish to remove gender-defining characteristics. 'Some of this may be preference, and some may be influenced by media censorship, as penises in the past have been edited or drawn to be smoother than they are to avoid erotic censorship,' Cooper adds.
Psychological and physical risks
Dr Foster warns that voluntarily wanting such a procedure 'suggests significant mental illness around the concept of self mutilation and harm.' UKCP psychotherapist Katherine Cavallo notes that while unusual sexual fantasies are not inherently pathological, 'if these thoughts become intrusive or distressing, or are accompanied by compulsive urges to act in ways that could cause harm to oneself or others, this may be indicative of an underlying mental health condition.' Physically, attempting genital ablation can lead to infections that may require further removal of tissue, regular UTIs, nerve pain, blood loss, and even death. 'It can lead to infections which may result in more of the area needing to be removed, alongside some which are hard to beat even after more surgery,' Cooper warns.
