A baby boy in Iraq was born with three penises.

The unidentified boy, a native Kurd from Duhok, was three months old when the first-ever human case of triphallia-in which someone has three penises was discovered by doctors in the north of the country.

The boy’s parents initially took him to the hospital because of swelling in his scrotum. But when he arrived doctors noticed the boy had two extra penises.

One measured 2cm and was located at the root of his main penis, while the other was 1cm long and positioned below his scrotum.

The doctors investigated whether or not the child had been exposed to drugs during pregnancy or if he had a family history of genetic abnormalities. But neither was the case and the cause of the condition was a mystery.

None of the extra penises had a urethra, so urologists decided the best option was to cut them off during surgery.

And follow-ups done a year after the operation found no abnormalities, according to Dr Shakir Saleem Jabali, the author of the report.

Scientists are still baffled over the cause of supernumerary penises – the technical name for the extra members – the first case of which was reported in the 1600s.

Dr Jabali argued each case had a “unique presentation”.

Writing in the journal, he said: “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case with three penises or triphallia.”

The condition is associated with other abnormalities, including being born with two scrotums or anuses.