# What is the genetic result of a testicle donation?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 5, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154 "2003-08-05T17:54:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shaolinrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaolinrabbit)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/1 "2003-08-05T17:54:38Z")
Ok, this is convoluted, since I don’t think that you can transplant a testicle, or why you’d want to, but the subject came up at work…
So, would nthe children produced by such a testicle be your children genetically speaking, or the children of the new owner?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/2 "2003-08-05T17:59:19Z")
It depends. If the recipient still has one working testicle of his own, then his offspring would have roughly a 50% chance of being his, genetically. However, if the donated testicle is the only one the recipient has, then his offspring will be genetically the donor’s. The genetic makeup of the sperm cells is derived from the stem cells inside the testes.
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### Author:  [@Shaolinrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaolinrabbit)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/3 "2003-08-05T18:05:01Z")
Alright, I failed to mention this before, but a coworker has posted this to another message board as well. They want to know how you know, **Q.E.D.** , and I tried telling them you just do, but they didn’t buy it… Sorry, but the honor of the SDMB is at stake:
Cite?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/4 "2003-08-05T18:21:04Z")
A key point in the process from [here](http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/menshealth/part1_3-1.html):
> [@](#):
>
> The Sertoli cells are tightly connected to each other, to the spermatogonia and to the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubule to form the blood-testis barrier.
>
> Rather like a rubber ground sheet, **this interlocking barrier prevents large molecules seeping to and fro between the central space of the seminiferous tubules** and surrounding tissues, including the bloodstream.
It’s important to note that if genetic information is not being passed to the testes by the bloodstream, it must come from the testicular tissue itself, and hence, from the donor.
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### Author:  [@Shaolinrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaolinrabbit)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/5 "2003-08-05T18:28:47Z")
Thanks, **Q.E.D.**!
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### Author:  [@AV8R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AV8R)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/6 "2003-08-05T18:46:51Z")
I think Phil Donahue did a show about this around 25 years ago.
A guy who had two good testicles (and had already fathered some children) donated one testicle to his identical twin brother, who was sterile for some reason.
The transplant was successful, and the recipient subsequently fathered a child.
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### Author:  [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-genetic-result-of-a-testicle-donation/193154/7 "2003-08-05T18:50:48Z")
On a side note, it is important for sperm to remain isolated from the body’s immune system (in the blood stream). Occasionally, the body will mount a response against the sperm (which it sees as foreign) and will cause infertility.