# Can testes be transplanted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365 "2018-12-01T00:19:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/1 "2018-12-01T00:19:23Z")
Also, are autologous organ transplants possible? Let’s say we have a happily-married couple, crazily in love with each other. We’ll call them Art and Gwen. They’ve been living in connubial bliss for a few years, and together they’ve decided to gift the world with the fruit of their loins. Tragically, Art is in a serious mishap that mortally wounds him. Gwen is given the bad news while sitting in the hospital chapel (with Art’s best friend Lance at her side to provide comfort and support), and is asked if she wishes to donate Art’s organs so that others may live. But Gwen, in her grief, can only focus on one thing: her dreams of bearing Art’s child(ren) have been snatched away by the cold, unfeeling hand of Fate. Then Lance steps up, and makes the following offer to Gwen: if Art’s doctor (whose name is Merle, for some reason) will only\* remove and store his (Lance’s) testicles, and transplant Art’s testicles in their place, then he (Lance) will do his level best to get Gwen pregnant with Art’s child. It doesn’t even have to be a carnal conception — Lance is perfectly happy to donate Art’s specimens for IVF; he was just that good a friend. And after Lance has done his final favor to his old pal, and Gwen has borne Art’s baby, Lance will return to Dr. Merle and have his original testicles reinstalled and maybe start a family of his own someday. Is any of this even remotely possible? \*I realize that this sentence stresses the word “only” to its breaking point, and I beg y’all’s indulgence. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/2 "2018-12-01T00:37:03Z")
If Lance is willing to take Art’s parts then that _might_ work. I sincerely doubt that Dr Merle could store Lance’s original equipment in any kind of transplant viable condition for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/3 "2018-12-01T00:42:19Z")
If they’re going to do IVF, I’d think they’d not have to transplant the testes at all. Couldn’t they extract viable sperm from Art’s after his death? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/4 "2018-12-01T00:54:24Z")
I can’t imagine any ethical doctor doing something like this except between identical twins, and then only to make hormones should one of them lose his own testicles due to disease or injury. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/5 "2018-12-01T03:37:45Z")
Lance only needs to take one, not both, and have his own tied off for the time needed. So he can remain semi-intact without worrying about recovering his removed organ. Can’t really see why this wouldn’t work in principle. Lance would need to take the usual anti-rejection drugs whist carrying the transplant. Should be about it. If you were only concerned about harvesting Art’s sperm, there is no requirement that the testes are plumbed in properly. All they need is a blood supply. You could implant them under a skin flap anywhere and redirect a couple of suitable blood vessels. Add a drain and away you go. Lance could remain quite intact. Heck, if it were only until you have a viable amount of sperm harvested Gwen could probably host the organ. The hormonal difficulties would only transitory and probably manageable. The ethical question only comes down the now well worn one of a widdow’s right to her deceased husband’s sperm, and the right to become pregnant with it. No different to those questions of access to long frozen sperm. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/6 "2018-12-01T04:00:29Z")
There’s the ‘ick’ factor i cannot get past. On a bunch of levels. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/7 "2018-12-01T05:31:04Z")
In the OP’s scenario, who would be the legal father of any resulting children? The sperm would have Art’s DNA, but they would be produced by Lance’s body. A paternity test would pin Art as the father, but a calendar would show that as an impossibility. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/8 "2018-12-01T09:09:16Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > If they’re going to do IVF, I’d think they’d not have to transplant the testes at all. Couldn’t they extract viable sperm from Art’s after his death? Of course, albeit I understand that they would have a limited number of opportunities to try to conceive. I’m trying to work out whether some Casanova could make a living by renting out his phallus to bereaved widows with acts to their late husbands’ testicles. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/9 "2018-12-01T10:03:29Z")
Earlier this year, surgeons performed the [first-ever penis and scrotum transplant](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/first-ever-penis-and-scrotum-transplant-makes-history-at-johns-hopkins). But the testicles were NOT transplanted for ethical reasons: > [@](#): > > Doctors chose not to give the patient testicles after consulting with bioethicists. They determined that the sperm-generating tissue would confer the potential for having children with genetic material from the donor. More details: [Transplanted testicles will always make the donor’s sperm](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/26/17286728/penis-scrotum-transplant-surgery-us-veteran-johns-hopkins-testicles-ethics) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/10 "2018-12-01T13:18:42Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > If they’re going to do IVF, I’d think they’d not have to transplant the testes at all. Couldn’t they extract viable sperm from Art’s after his death? [Posthumous sperm retrieval.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthumous_sperm_retrieval) ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/11 "2018-12-01T13:45:49Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Also, are autologous organ transplants possible? > > It doesn’t even have to be a carnal conception — Lance is perfectly happy to donate Art’s specimens for IVF; he was just that good a friend. Lance has every right to insist on full carnal knowledge, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/12 "2018-12-01T20:17:27Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > Lance has every right to insist on full carnal knowledge, IMHO. Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/13 "2018-12-01T21:06:18Z")
I just imagine the doctor’s face as Lance explains this scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/14 "2018-12-02T05:41:13Z")
As fun as this all might be, it’d probably just be quicker and easier to use [electroejaculation](https://maleinfertility.org/procedures/electroejaculation) to collect semen from the donor. (The More You Know!) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/15 "2018-12-02T13:00:48Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@skdo23](#): > > Lance has every right to insist on full carnal knowledge, IMHO. Your opinion isn’t relevant here in this fact-based discussion, and even if it were, it’s disgusting. The word for men insisting on sex is “rape”, and no, they don’t have any right to it, ever. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/16 "2018-12-02T14:28:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **[Moderating]** > > Your opinion isn’t relevant here in this fact-based discussion, and even if it were, it’s disgusting. The word for men insisting on sex is “rape”, and no, they don’t have any right to it, ever. Extremely bad and tasteless joke on my part. I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/17 "2018-12-03T00:22:45Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Earlier this year, surgeons performed the [first-ever penis and scrotum transplant](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/first-ever-penis-and-scrotum-transplant-makes-history-at-johns-hopkins). > > But the testicles were NOT transplanted for ethical reasons: > > More details: > > [Transplanted testicles will always make the donor’s sperm](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/26/17286728/penis-scrotum-transplant-surgery-us-veteran-johns-hopkins-testicles-ethics) Wow. That’s really cool. I wonder if that is something that could eventually be used for FTM gender reassignment surgery. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-testes-be-transplanted/825365/18 "2018-12-03T02:07:33Z")
[A 2015 article that addresses the issue.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4857897/) > [@](#): > > In the 21st century, attention turned to testicular transplantation mainly as a therapeutic intervention for infertility. This scenario arises in oncology patients who face courses of chemotherapy that jeopardize their fertility. Cryopreservation of sperm leaves these patients with a finite resource of fertility and is associated with only modest rates of successful future conception. Cryopreservation is also not a suitable option for prepubertal patients who have not yet started to produce sperm.27 > > Complex immunologic principles provide a further unique challenge in testicular transplantation. The testes are known to be a site of immunologic privilege, which means they can tolerate the introduction of antigens without the development of an immune response. Fijak and Meinhardt28 suggest that further research into the immune system of the testis may open new avenues for future successful testicular transplantation. It is apparent, however, that despite more than 100 years of effort, evidence of successful entire testis transplantation between humans remains scarce. Some interesting history there too. There has been success between twins. > [@](#): > > In 1978, Silber24 published a case report claiming the first entire human testis transplant. He described the case of two genetically identical male twins, one born with two normally functioning testicles and the other born with none. Using microvascular techniques, Silber successfully transplanted a testicle from the healthy twin into the anorchic brother, and, within 2 hours of the operation, normal levels of testosterone were measured in both the donor and the recipient. FSH and LH levels also gradually normalized, and, over several months, the sperm count and motility also reached normal levels in the recipient. Silber24 pointed out that, despite his success, the application of his procedure to any scenario that did not involve genetically identical twins awaited the development of more sophisticated methods of immunosuppression.