# Do human males have to wait until they're a certain age before their testicles drop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047 "2002-08-22T07:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/1 "2002-08-22T07:10:32Z")
See, there’s a funny story attached to this question. One of the deputies I work with, who does look like he’s about, oh, 16, just arrested an obnoxious drunk. Said drunk, affronted by the deputy’s actions, bellowed out, “You’re so young your nuts haven’t even dropped yet!” Once we stopped giggling, my co-workers and I started wondering. We know it’s true of puppies, but comparisons between men and dogs aside, is the same true of human males? ---
**Author:** ![the\_duke\_69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@the\_duke\_69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_duke_69)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/2 "2002-08-22T07:19:12Z")
it usually happens at any point in time during puberty. I don’t have a refrence but I learned it in my health class! go pubic schooz! ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/3 "2002-08-22T08:13:51Z")
wait till puberty? no way no how! i’m pretty sure that if a boy’s boys don’t drop by the time he’s six, doctors become concerned. and i can tell you what- before puberty, i had 'em, somebody’d hit 'em, and they hurt like hell. jb ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/4 "2002-08-22T08:20:16Z")
well sheeut. although I meant six years old, it appears it’s actually [six _months_](http://www.mccg.org/childrenshealth/urology/cryptorc.asp). as to the OP,the same page says- "the testes do not descend from the abdomen to the scrotal sac until the seventh month of fetal development. " jb ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/5 "2002-08-22T10:45:41Z")
jb, you rock. Now I can email the deputy and assure him that the drunk was completely WRONG! Thanks, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/6 "2002-08-22T12:00:45Z")
[blush] thanks. hyuk hyuk. [/blush] and don’t be so quick to call the drunk wrong. he could have been implying the deputy was a second-trimester fetus. jb ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/7 "2002-08-22T12:20:40Z")
Yea I always thought they dropped before your 0th b-day. I know I had mine as a child. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/8 "2002-08-22T12:28:01Z")
Yes, the testicles have usually descended at birth. If a boy is born at a hospital, a doctor or nurse will usually check for them before the baby goes home. What happens at puberty is that the testicles and scrotum get _larger_, not that the testicles suddenly emerge from their hiding place. Come to think of it, because Mom’s hormones sometimes leak over to the baby before birth, newborn boys can have an amazing set of tackle :eek: It shrinks back to a more realistic size fairly quickly, though. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/9 "2002-08-22T15:16:39Z")
If the testicles don’t descend on their own by the first birthday, a surgeon has to go retrieve them because undescended testicles (great band name) are a risk factor for infertility and tumors. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-human-males-have-to-wait-until-theyre-a-certain-age-before-their-testicles-drop/125047/10 "2002-08-22T15:22:36Z")
As another data point…my son’s testicles aren’t undescended, but they are hugged up way close to the body. Doc says they’ll drop down at some point, and he’s not worried. My son is three. But I know tots who have had to have the surgery. I think it’s a lovely insult for a drunk to fling around though