Does having only one testicle affect a man's sex life?

The testicle is a very important organ for men. Normal men have two testicles, but not all men have this. Some men only have one testicle. Men in this situation will inevitably worry that having only one testicle will affect their sex life and fertility. So, does having only one testicle really have these effects?

It is common to have only one testicle. For example, some people are born with only one testicle due to congenital absence of one testicle. Some people have had one testicle removed due to disease or injury. Some patients find out that they have only one testicle in their scrotum during premarital examination. These patients often worry about the lack of one testicle and whether it will affect their sexual desire and function or whether it will affect marriage and childbearing.

When a man loses a testicle, many people will naturally think of the eunuchs in the palace, who have male sexual dysplasia and lose their sexual desire and sexual function. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. The reason why eunuchs lose some of their male characteristics is because their testicles are removed. The testicle is the organ that produces male hormones. If the testicles are lost and male hormone treatment is not used, the above series of "castration" symptoms will naturally occur, and sexual desire and sexual ability will also be lost. However, if only one testicle is left, the situation will be very different. There are many organs in the human body that are paired, such as the lungs and kidneys. This type of organ has a characteristic that once one side of the organ loses its function or is defective, the normal organ on the other side will take on the function of both sides of the organ, while increasing its own size and enhancing its function. This is called compensatory hypertrophy in medicine. In hospitals, urologists often perform such operations to remove the diseased kidney. Some patients also have the other kidney cut in half, but the remaining half of the kidney can still work normally and excrete metabolic waste from the body through the kidney. The same is true for the testicles. Although there is only one testicle, as long as it is healthy and normal, it can still play the role of both testicles, and patients do not have to worry about becoming "eunuchs."

As for the question of whether one can still have children if one testicle is missing, this requires specific analysis of the specific situation. Sperm is the origin of life, and testicle is the factory that produces sperm. Generally speaking, if only one side has a healthy testicle, the chance of infertility is quite high. Objectively speaking, we cannot discuss the issue of fertility simply based on the existence of several testicles. Take varicocele as an example: when one side is diseased, the diseased side can transmit metabolic products and other adverse factors to the healthy side through the communication branch, so that although there are two testicles, there is no fertility. Some unilateral testicular diseases can be treated with timely surgical removal without affecting the healthy side, which can increase the compensatory capacity of the remaining testicle. Of course, the fertility situation of missing a testicle is generally not optimistic and needs to be protected. As long as the quantity and quality of sperm are up to standard, fertility can be normal.