5YO and one testicle (different kid than the other post!)

[Anonymous]

My 5YO was just "diagnosed" with only having one testicle. Our family doctor always assumed the other just hadn't dropped when he was a baby (which I guess is very common) and always said "let's wait and see" but finally at his 5YO check up said it was time to get it checked out. Turns out, it looks like he only has one! They're recommending surgery to first see if there is ANY other testicle up in his abdomen - if there is a normal testicle they will bring it down OR if there is any remnant of a testicle/blood vessels they'll remove it completely. She said it's likely that there is no other testicle because the one he does have seems a bit large and usually that means there's only one functioning testicle.

Has anyone else had experience with their son only having one testicle? Any issues? Or anything I should be prepared for with this surgery and/or issue? She made it sound like this is a fairly common thing, but I can't say I've ever encountered it before.

And I think I win the record for saying "testicle" the most today! Woohoo!!

[Anonymous]

I don't have your experience, OP, but my best friend of 30 years only has one testicle as well {I am male}. He has not had any issues -- he went through the 'wild' phase in college and had a lot of sex, he settled down, he became single, he's dating a lot again... apparently very few people even realize (according to him). No health issues, no other issues. I think it's more common than one would think.

[Anonymous]

My 4yo just has one. They did a surgery when he was little (9mos?) to see if they could find the other one, but it wasn't there - they may have removed some tissue or something. It was a quick and easy surgery and his doctor was not (and hasn't been) concerned about there just being one.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your replies!

[Anonymous]

My son had something very similar. He had surgery when he was 11 months old and it was a very smooth, easy outpatient surgery. We had Dr. Pohl at CNMC as our surgeon and loved him. He has a reputation for being very competent and the scar is almost unnoticeable at age 3. Same as PPs above, both our pediatrician and Dr. Pohl said that having one would have no impact on how he could live his life.

Hang in there! I know how stressful getting news like this is about your baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4yo just has one. They did a surgery when he was little (9mos?) to see if they could find the other one, but it wasn't there - they may have removed some tissue or something. It was a quick and easy surgery and his doctor was not (and hasn't been) concerned about there just being one.

OP again - did they remove the tissue through his belly button? The doctor today said they’ll put a scope through his belly button to see if there’s any tissue that needs to be removed but now I can’t remember if they find anything if it would be removed through the belly button, or if they’d also have to cut his scrotum. Ugh, it’s going to be like my DH was when he had his vasectomy... bags of peas for days!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4yo just has one. They did a surgery when he was little (9mos?) to see if they could find the other one, but it wasn't there - they may have removed some tissue or something. It was a quick and easy surgery and his doctor was not (and hasn't been) concerned about there just being one.

OP again - did they remove the tissue through his belly button? The doctor today said they’ll put a scope through his belly button to see if there’s any tissue that needs to be removed but now I can’t remember if they find anything if it would be removed through the belly button, or if they’d also have to cut his scrotum. Ugh, it’s going to be like my DH was when he had his vasectomy... bags of peas for days!

PP again - I think there was one tiny incision very low on his abdomen, if I'm remembering correctly. I think that's where the scope and removal happened. Not at the belly button - but again, he was 9 months so maybe the plan is different. We also had his circ done at that time (we had delayed it at birth due to some other factors), so that was what we spent most of our attention on healing.

[Anonymous]

OP back again - surgery is scheduled for next week and I'm officially getting upset about it. Has anyone elgone through this with their sonse? Anything I should expect with my 5YO?

[Anonymous]

OP back again - surgery is scheduled for next week and I'm officially getting upset about it. Has anyone else gone through this with their son? Anything I should expect with my 5YO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back again - surgery is scheduled for next week and I'm officially getting upset about it. Has anyone elgone through this with their sonse? Anything I should expect with my 5YO?

I'm the PP from above. Sending good thoughts your way!

[Anonymous]

First, sending you and your son good vibes for surgery.

Second, how old is your doctor? Wait and see is outdated advice by at least 10 years, maybe 20 or more.

[Anonymous]

I haven't experienced this as a parent but I have as a partner. A man I had a long term relationship with only had one testicule. He had a surgery when he was a young tee where they placed a prosthetic testicule in his scrotum. In other words, he looked normal, but one testicule felt firmer and perfectly round. It was no big deal at all.