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Children's Mercy Hospital

Children's Mercy Hospital

2401 Gillham Road
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 234-3000
www.childrensmercy.org


What's an Undescended Testicle?

Undescended Testicle

Say: un-DIH-sen-did TESS-tih-kul

A testicle is an egg-shaped gland that makes and holds sperm. There are two of them in the sac called the scrotum (say: SKROH-tum) that hangs underneath a boy's penis. When a baby is developing inside his mom, his testicles grow in his abdomen and then drop, or descend, into the scrotum.

Undescended testicle is a condition in which one or both of a boy's testicles have not moved into their proper place in the scrotum. The testicle may move down on its own within a few months. If it doesn't, the doctor will do surgery to move it.