# Can castrated men have sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961 "2003-07-16T19:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/21 "2013-08-30T19:44:52Z")
> [@castrati](#): > > Hi. I am a castrated male. So, the user name; coincidental? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/22 "2013-08-30T20:45:39Z")
Of course a castrated man can have sex. He still has a mouth, anus, hands, feet, and a brain. And as long as he still has nerves in his penis, that too. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/23 "2013-08-30T21:52:07Z")
Sometimes men with advanced prostate cancer are castrated to suppress the testosterone that the cancer feeds off of. That could be one reason for castration nowadays that has nothing to do with a fetish or criminal punishment. If you’re really curious about what castration is like you might want to see if there is any info for men considering this option for prostate cancer. Most men who have testicular cancer would only have one testicle removed, for the record, so they are NOT going to have the hormonal issues that completely castrated men would. ---
**Author:** ![castrati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9e8a1a/32.png) [@castrati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castrati)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/24 "2013-08-31T05:04:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, the user name; coincidental? No. ---
**Author:** ![castrati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9e8a1a/32.png) [@castrati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castrati)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/25 "2013-08-31T05:05:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Of course a castrated man can have sex. He still has a mouth, anus, hands, feet, and a brain. And as long as he still has nerves in his penis, that too. Does he want to? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/26 "2013-08-31T10:42:19Z")
> [@castrati](#): > > Does he want to? You tell us, since your username isn’t coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/27 "2013-08-31T13:45:23Z")
My partner was born without testes and can have penetrative sex, achieve orgasms and ejaculate, just fine. He has been on hormones for a good chunk of his life though. ---
**Author:** ![castrati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9e8a1a/32.png) [@castrati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castrati)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/28 "2013-09-01T02:30:16Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > You tell us, since your username isn’t coincidental. I’m lost. I tell you about what? ---
**Author:** ![castrati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9e8a1a/32.png) [@castrati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castrati)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/29 "2013-09-01T02:31:18Z")
> [@BleizDu](#): > > My partner was born without testes and can have penetrative sex, achieve orgasms and ejaculate, just fine. He has been on hormones for a good chunk of his life though. Good point. With hormones castrated men should be able to perform sorta/kinda normal. ---
**Author:** ![castrati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9e8a1a/32.png) [@castrati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/castrati)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/30 "2013-09-01T03:42:53Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > You tell us, since your username isn’t coincidental. Oh, No he does not want to be bothered anymore. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/31 "2013-09-01T06:06:59Z")
> [@castrati](#): > > Does he want to? You’ll have to ask him. But in my case . . . A couple of years ago I stopped getting erections. A blood test indicated a very low level of testosterone. I was put on testosterone replacement therapy, and my level returned to normal. Still no erections. I still get the injections because they’re beneficial to my body in general, especially my heart muscles. At no time has my libido been affected. I have normal desires; with the right kind of stimulation I feel normal pleasure; I have normal climaxes with normal ejaculate. Everything is fine, except no erections. Fortunately, the varieties of sex I have with my partner don’t require me to have an erection. In fact it was my partner who informed me that I was no longer getting erections; it feels totally normal from my point of view. So I don’t understand what people say about losing their libidos and not being able to climax. What controls that, other than testosterone? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/32 "2013-09-02T00:20:56Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Of course a castrated man can have sex. He still has a mouth, anus, hands, feet, and a brain. And as long as he still has nerves in his penis, that too. > [@castrati](#): > > Does he want to? > [@JBDivmstr](#): > > You tell us, since your username isn’t coincidental. And I apologize if this post came across as ‘snarky’, but I think only you can answer the question, “Does he want to?” (as regards yourself) > [@castrati](#): > > I’m lost. I tell you about what? Does a castrated man _want_ to have sex? 😕 > [@castrati](#): > > Oh, No he does not want to be bothered anymore. Oh, I’m still here, and I was genuinely curious about what _your_ answer, to _your_ question, (“Does he want to[have sex]?”) would be. And thanks for **your** answer, **panache45**. ---
**Author:** ![lazarus86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@lazarus86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazarus86)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/33 "2013-09-02T01:32:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > So I don’t understand what people say about losing their libidos and not being able to climax. What controls that, other than testosterone? Stress, performance anxiety, depression, blood flow, a combination of the aforementioned things, and even more. I have heard a doctor say that Viagra’s debut helped men’s health overall because now men were going to the doctor and saying they were having erection troubles and it would find problems with their heart, etc. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/34 "2013-09-02T05:53:58Z")
> [@lazarus86](#): > > Stress, performance anxiety, depression, blood flow, a combination of the aforementioned things, and even more. Those are the negatives; what I was looking for were positives. Why do I have a libido, regardless of my testosterone level? Why do I have no trouble reaching a climax, and a normal amount of semen? What makes these factors not change, regardless of whether my t-level is very low or normal? Do I have some kind of “reserve” that takes over when my t-level is low? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/35 "2013-09-02T22:19:59Z")
I don’t know, but I suspect the not getting erections is–how do you put it?–mechanical. Your blood vessels aren’t able to constrict in the same way as to hold an erection, or something. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/36 "2013-09-03T01:49:01Z")
I have read that the Castrati were rock n roll gods to women, that they got as much poontang as Mick Jagger ever did. Can’t cite a source but a normal (physiologically) male produces plenty of testosterone outside of the testes so drive and erection aren’t a problem, and I can’t believe the level of ignorance concerning the male orgasm I’m reading, our precious gonads are just there to dribble sperm into the ejaculatory fluid that boils up out of the prostate at that great but regrettably very short moment. Guys, learn about your prostate, your missing way too much fun! And if you want something to worry about, it’s removal of the prostate for cancer that can really jack up your sex life, nerve damage from the procedure and a lack of seminal fluid leave a lot of men happy to be alive but depressed at the poor quality of their sexual experience, and it does nothing for your vocal range. ---
**Author:** ![deliveryman1994](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@deliveryman1994](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deliveryman1994)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/37 "2015-07-01T15:29:22Z")
Wow - there seems to be a lot of ignorance on the issue here. I have had a bilateral orchiectomy due to cancer. Yes that means I am castrated. I am on hormone replacement - Androgel 1.62. I can tell you that it is not a direct substitute for the testosterone made by your testes. I cannot sustain an erection. Viagra and the other erection enhancers do not work well so I have to use a constrictive ring. I am still able to have orgasms, but they are not the same as before - they are more like weak sneezes now. My ejaculate is minimal and clear. Sometimes my orgasms are dry which are less pleasurable. My desire is still mostly the same as before. While I was trying to get the insurance part worked out for hormone replacement I crashed and burned. I had continual hot flashes a desire and erections disappeared completely. Most times I could not achieve an orgasm. So the person who said that you still have plenty of testosterone produced elsewhere in the body after castration to take care of erections, libido and desire doesn’t know what he is talking about. I know first hand. Don’t get me wrong - I am glad to be cancer free and alive, but I really do miss the sex life I had before castration. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/38 "2015-07-01T17:00:05Z")
The amount of testosterone produced by the body in places other than the testes (like the adrenal glands) is going to vary considerably from person to person, **deliveryman1994** , so while I in no way doubt your experience it is also possible for another man to have a somewhat different outcome. My very casual “research” seems to indicate that while penetrative sex post-castration (assuming an intact penis) is _possible_ it is in no way _guaranteed_. Any man getting a complete removal of testicles needs to understand that normal sex may be off the table for good. Likewise, men with prostate surgery need to also understand that future lack of sex is a distinct possibility with such surgery. If they retain normal or near-normal function post surgery they are fortunate. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/39 "2015-07-01T20:31:12Z")
What about sex on the table? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961/40 "2015-07-01T21:21:55Z")
Good [del]Fucking[/del] Non-fucking Luck trying to find _any_ reliable information on this subject from _any_ source. (Time for **Cecil** to take it up? Has he already?) While any particular source you might find (possibly including the posts in this thread) _might_ be accurate, how would you know what source to believe? The answers, the stories and anecdotes, are so all over the map. Once upon a time, while waiting in the Kaiser pharmacy for whatever toxic potions they were feeding me, I picked up a brochure that was on a rack there. It was about prostate surgery, and focused on males’ fears about what “life after” would be like. Jeez-fucking-shit, what a load of BSDL (Bullshit, Doubletalk and Lies), what a compendium of euphemisms, what a confabulation of weasel-words that brochure was. It was full of statements like (I’m sort of making this up from memory, but along these lines): “While many men do experience some reduction in their libido, they find that they can learn to enjoy the satisfaction of cuddling and caressing with their partners”. Translation? Forget it, buster, it’s all over? The whole brochure was full of shinola like that. And this was from Kaiser, a health care organization! So where would _you_ turn to get real information that you would feel you could trust? Oh, wait, for that we have Teh Internet! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-castrated-men-have-sex/188961.md?page=3)