# Hitler's Single Testicle **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 15, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630 "2021-01-15T22:23:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DoctorPurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@DoctorPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorPurple)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/1 "2021-01-15T22:23:34Z")
re: [Did Hitler have only one testicle? - The Straight Dope](https://www.straightdope.com/21342044/did-hitler-have-only-one-testicle) Having myself been born with only a single testicle, I have often wondered how common this is…? As a child my father took me to a doctor who told both of us that “approximately 5%” of boys are born this way. (In my case, the doctor thought it might be simply an “undescended testicle” rather than a single testicle, which, he said, is far more common.) Any other males out there care to admit to this or am I truly a rarity…? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/2 "2021-01-16T03:59:17Z")
I can’t give any direct help, but the place to start investigation is with the word _monorchism_. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/3 "2021-01-16T17:52:36Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > monorchism > One testicle not descending into the scrotum during normal [embryonic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo) or [fetal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus) development (3–4% of ‘normal’ live births), also known as undescended testis or [cryptorchidism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptorchidism). ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/4 "2021-01-16T19:21:48Z")
Himmler had something sim’lar. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/5 "2021-01-16T22:11:21Z")
Did your doctor then do an operation to bring your undescended testicle down into the scrotum? Why didn’t he? At what age did you first go to a doctor to talk about the fact that one of your testicles hadn’t descended. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorPurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@DoctorPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorPurple)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/6 "2021-01-17T04:36:51Z")
Yes, the doctor (or associates) did an operation to determine if I had only one testicle or if the other was simply undescended. When I was 4 (yes, four) years old, they first examined me. Finding nothing then, 10 years later (when I was 14), I had exploratory surgery to finalize that determination. They still found nothing. Now, decades later, I still have a scar where they operated and only a single testicle. To put it as simply as I can, how common is this condition (or maybe “rare” is a more appropriate term)? Obviously it won’t change anything but I am just curious. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/7 "2021-01-30T21:33:52Z")
We have not interacted but your name popped into my mind a couple days ago, and I realized I had not seen you post in a long time. Welcome back, hope you plan to stick around. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/8 "2021-01-30T21:40:41Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > I can’t give any direct help, but the place to start investigation is with the word _monorchism_ . I thought Germany abolished the monorchy after WWI. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/9 "2021-01-30T22:50:07Z")
I only ever interacted with “Comments on Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports”, which is circling the drain for lack of material. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorPurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@DoctorPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorPurple)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/10 "2024-10-14T21:07:01Z")
[oops nevermind…] ---
**Author:** ![quintinmorrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/919ad9/32.png) [@quintinmorrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quintinmorrow)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/11 "2026-05-04T23:46:17Z")
Monorchism is actually more common than most people realize, estimated somewhere around 1 in 5000 males, though numbers vary depending on the source. The undescended testicle scenario you described is the typical diagnostic path and the surgery to confirm absence is standard practice. Most guys with the condition live completely normally with no real health implications beyond the obvious cosmetic difference. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/12 "2026-05-05T00:28:00Z")
Doctors can perform a surgical procedure called [orchiopexy](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17297-orchiopexy), which moves the testicle into the scrotum and has a 98% success rate. ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-single-testicle/930630/13 "2026-06-30T13:03:35Z")
And poor old Goebbels…