GoFundMe has financed medical bills, funerals, dream weddings, and an entire subgenre of campaigns that test the outer limits of what strangers will fund for each other. There’s a fair amount of audacity required for many of them. Michael Phillips just launched one that tests those limits harder than most.
Phillips, a 38-year-old from North Carolina with a medical diagnosis of micropenis, is raising money on GoFundMe for a penile enlargement procedure.
He told TMZ his penis measures 0.38 inches, which he claims makes him the world’s smallest. A few months ago, he was apparently weighing whether to enter the Guinness World Records for the same reason. Now he’s doing this instead.
The procedure involves an injection of semi-permanent dermal filler, a non-surgical approach to penile enlargement that has grown in popularity over the past decade. Phillips tells TMZ the motivation is practical, noting he struggles to use the bathroom and currently wears pull-ups. On GoFundMe, he describes the campaign as a step toward “living with more dignity and independence.”
The Internet Delivered the Cash for Mike’s Penis Enlargement
Micropenis is a clinical diagnosis, defined as a stretched penile length of less than 2.5 standard deviations below the mean for age. In adults, that threshold sits at roughly 3 inches. Phillips at 0.38 inches falls well outside even that range. The dermal filler procedure he’s pursuing is increasingly common as a non-surgical enlargement option, but insurance won’t cover it. A hefty bill with nowhere to send it is exactly what GoFundMe was built for.
The procedure itself involves injecting hyaluronic acid filler into the penile shaft—a non-surgical approach that adds girth rather than length. Results typically last one to two years before the filler breaks down and needs refreshing. For Phillips, whose issues are functional as much as anything, even a small increase could change the day-to-day considerably.
Earlier this year, Phillips told TMZ he was considering entering the Guinness World Records for his condition. Now he’s asking strangers to fund a procedure that would change what he’d be claiming. He went public once to announce the situation and is going public again to address it. Doing it twice, in opposite directions, takes something most people wouldn’t volunteer for.
The GoFundMe started at a goal of $1,800 and has since climbed to $22,000. Phillips wants the procedure done within the next couple of months. The campaign is live, the story is out, and the rest is up to strangers.
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