I am considering authoring a story that takes place in a surgeon"s office at some date in the future - say 20 to 30 years. Medical procedures and new powerful pain killers have made the mechanical crushing of testicles the preferred and most effective method of castration. New government regulations carefully manage a person's sex life - and sexual function. For males, this means mandatory circumcison by age five, mandatory vasectomy after fathering two children (three, if the first two are of the same gender), mandatory transuretharal resectioning (TURP) by age 50 (the purpose of which is not only to improve urine flow, but also to reduce erectile capability and eliminate ejaculation via the penis), and finally, mandatory castration through mechanical crushing by age 65.

The procedure takes place in a surgeon's office, and is attended by a thirty-something nurse. Actually, the nurse administers the sexually terminal procedure under the doctor's perfunctory supervision. The procedure takes about an hour, followed by an hour in the recovery room, and then the patient is free to go home with the assurance that his testicles have been killed, and can no longer produce sperm or testosterone.

As will be seen in the completed story, my futuristic procedure is rooted partly in fact. Modern circumcision, for whatever reason, is already done by largely mechanical means, and is practiced routinely in hospitals unless the parents are enlightened enough to intervene. Vasectomies and TURPS currently take place everyday. Circumcision is currently almost mandatory for most recipients (few boys get to keep their foreskins until age five), vasectomies are already mandatory in some parts of the world, and urologists today hand out TURPS like candy (one reason for the increase of impotence in our society). Who's to say castration by one method or another won't become mandatory in the future, ordered by government bent on population control, or by "medical necessity." Finally, doctors are almost anxious to prescribe castration at the first hint of testicular or prostate cancer. Why not for other reasons?

If this story is successful, wait until you see what I have in mind for the ladies in this sexually controlled, mechanistic, future society.

Comments please!

It is not clear to me whether you mean to have the testes crushed, or merely the spermatic cords. The former would be messy and, after the local anæstheic wore off, excruciatingly painful and debilitating. In fact, there would be a serious risk of potentially fatal shock. I would like to suggest another technique, never used, as far as I know. A fairly large-bore trochar is inserted into each testis. It is connected to a trap for solids and then to a vacuum pump. Tha vacuum would aspirate the contents of the testis until the tunica albuginea testis was entirely empty and deflated. The seminiferous tubules and the epithelial tissue would have been sucked out of the testes, leaving nothing to produce spermatozoa or testosterone.

I'm relying, after all, on medical science in the next 20 to 30 years. Perhaps your suggestion is just that. However, it IS all fantasy, and medical science has done a great deal in the past 20 to 30 years. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll consider it as I develop the story. doug

ps: If you haven't guessed, I'm as interested in male genital surgery as social policy as much as in the medical technique. doug

You might consider the following procedure:

Access to the testis' plumbing is gained via the lower abdomen (ie the route used when a cancerous testis is removed.) The blood vessels, etc, are clamped and 'digesting enzymes' are pumped in, which dissolve the tissue.

To prevent the tissue of the scrotum being dissolved, it has been filled with a protective fluid. This fluid is 'inert' in contact with 'normal' body tissue, but polymerises with the dissolved tissue/enzyme mixture, so as the outer envelope of the testis dissolves, a polymer layer forms at the boundary. Once this layer has firmed up sufficiently, the remaining dissolved tissue can be pumped out. The polymer bag can then be pulled out, or it could be used as a ready-made mould for a prosthetic implant.

Boy! I thought I'd have to wait 20 or 30 years for a technique. I'll take yours into consideration. Thanks. Doug

Sounds interisting.

Good luck with the story!