A question about testicle transplant

bunting · Newbie Joined: 22 May 2005 Posts: 18

hi, I'm 25 years old and 3 years ago I had my left testicle removed. I have heard that it is now possible to do a transplantation of testicles but I can't find any information about it. I would like my missing testicle to be replaced by another one. Is this procedure even possible and does anybody have any information on how and where it is performed?

schimek · Newbie Joined: 22 May 2005 Posts: 17

Theoretically testicle transplant from another donor is possible but it still hasn’t been tried on humans because it wouldn’t make any sense to do it. Spermatozoids carry genetic information that they got from germ cells of the testicle, so even if you would get someone to donate you a testicle and even if that transplant were successful the sperms that the transplanted testicle would produce wouldn’t be genetically yours and so wouldn’t the children. They would be genetically donors children. Still there is a procedure that is called testicle transplant although it is not quite like that. The procedure involves taking testicular tissue from men suffering from cancer or some other disease, freezing that tissue and returning it to the testicles of that man later on in the future. It is used to treat men with testicular cancer who have to go to chemotherapy, which would destroy their ability to have children, to prevent that a tissue sample is taken and frozen. Later when the chemotherapy is over the tissue is being returned to the donor and testicular germ cells repopulate the testicle returning the fertility of the man. In your case there is no need for any kind of a transplant since one testicle can make up for the missing of the other producing more sperm and testosterone and testicular prosthesis can replace the missing testicle if you have a problem with not having a testicle in your scrotum.

hensonj · Newbie Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 1

It is unfortunate the experts on this site fail to realize there are people who have experienced very real psychological effects of only having one testicle. Saying "it makes no sense" to even consider the option of considering testicular transplants is not only narrow thinking but baseless. They fail to realize that not all men want to have children.
Even if the recipient wants to father children, there are proven and approved methods to extract the sperm from the patient's own testicle. Yes, the reasons can be simply cosmetic, but if the documented studies do indeed show there can be psychological effects regarding one's self image, the procedure is possible, so what is the issue of not investigating this very real possibility further.
Unless you've had this happen to you, you simply cannot fully understand. Lets begin to think outside the box and have some awareness and sensitivity to those of us in this situation.

Guest · Guest

I have had a testicle removed due to testicular cancer (about 10 years ago now). I have no interest in having children. Yet I would still love to have my missing one replaced with a functioning one, regardless of who it came from. While a single testicle is all that is required to be fertile, I believe certain sexual acts would be easier and better with two.

andyd · Newbie Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

Believe it or not, I have lost both of my testicles from two seperate types of cancer, 16 years apart. I lost the first one at 28 years old to semanoma and the other at 44 years old to germ cell cancer.

Having children is not of concern for me personally. I had two in between the cancers and actually had a vasectomy.

I maintained a very active sex drive with the one testicle, but now without the other, my drive is only supported by receiving testosterone injections every two weeks. My sex drive is tepid at best.

I still have a prostate and can ejaculate, but I truly desire more of a sex drive without having to get injections of testosterone for the rest of my life.

I was wondering if a tesicular transplant would create the testostrone that I need to provide me with a normal sex drive again.

I am currently 46 but have a 29 year old wife!! Hence the desire to stay sexually active.

Guest · Guest

when i met my boyfriend he was afraid to get naked with me. i had no idea why until he told me that he had a problem and had one of his testicles removed. it had disturbed him for years. he went through a divorce and felt as though he'd never date anyone again. he looked into a transplant but decided not to. now that he met me he realizes that its not a big deal. i love all of him, and don't judge because he only has one. i am a lot younger than him...15 years. now we are married and having our first child together, something that he never thought would be possible. just want to tell everyone to keep your head up...there are people out there that would never judge you.

tkubic46 · Newbie Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

I'm confused. I was born without any testicles and i'm now 19 years old. I get testosterone injections once a month and recently got two silicone testicles put in. When i was six, the doctors cut me open (my abdomen) and found nothing, no testicles. Will there ever be any way to get me real testicles put in? Will I ever be able to father children? Will I ever have sperm or ejaculate? I can't seem to get any answers! Please help me.

Kirk C · Moderator Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 833

I think the point is that this is a new field and a new area of exploration.

Most of the contributors on these threads are NOT experts. Just as it says under your name or handle, it says "Newbie", not "expert".

I agree that the purpose of such a transplant at first escaped me.
However, I know t hat there are silicone and liquid implants occurring for those who need the sense that they have a testicle or something in their scrotum.

A question about testicle transplant

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