They are then sent via a twisted tube called the vas deferense to the prostate gland, specifically the urethra (the pipeline which moves sperm from the testes, as well as urine from the bladder, out through the penis.) Here the sperm mix with prostatic fluid, a high sugar (fructose) liquid produced b the seminal vesicals at the top of the prostate gland. This fluid gives the sperm their yellowish color and the energy needed to complete the swim up into and beyond a woman’s cervix, in search of an egg to fertilize.

This complex process is called spermatogenesis and it takes around 70 days to produce an egg-ready sperm. In a normal ejaculation (release of sperm through the penis), 60 million sperm are sent out to begin the one-chance-only-winner-takes-all race to be the first one to find and fertilize the egg, the one to become a human. (Occasionally the rules are bent and twins are born, but that’s another topic.)

The cells within the testes that make androgens (male hormones) are called the Sertoli-Leydig cells. Androgens travel to all the body’s tissues via the bloodstream and are responsible for keeping the male breasts small, deepening the his voice, growing his facial hair, enlarging his upper torso, and keeping his red blood cell count high.

If a boy has been castrated (had his testicles removed) before puberty, he will have less facial hair, a higher pitch in his voice, larger breasts, and will be unable to father children. The unfortunate male child to suffer this fate is referred to as a eunuch.

If a boy is castrated after puberty, he retains the secondary male characteristics. In earlier cultures, young boys were sometimes castrated in order to keep their pre-pubescent voices for singing, or in preparation to be a guard of the king’s harem.

Testicular Cancer

Put simply, testicular cancer is a rapid and invasive growth of malignant cells in the testicles. An abnormal cell appears, divides, and metastasizes (spreads).

In the beginning, the spread consists only of cells to small to be seen with the naked eye and is called a micrometastasis, or a “seeding.” Those “seeds” can travel via the bloodstream to other areas of the body, such as the lungs, liver, brain, etc., and begin metastasizing there.