Are Testes "Medical Waste?'

[2026Curious]

Do support always professional (MD) orchiectomy. What happens to the nuts? Can the patient request them back, or are they disposed of as MW?

[wanasoso2]

Everything coming form a human body in an hospital after an intervention is kept in and dispose by incineration. And this is for any parts, with disease or healthy.

[WheelyFixed]

AFAIK, Most US hospitals seem to regard them as medical waste, and won't let you have them... Actually it's a bit more complex, as the general rule for almost anything they remove from your body is that first it goes to pathology where they will do an examination and test for potential cancer or other issues, THEN send it to medical waste for disposal...

I've heard a few say that some of the non-US "informed consent" clinics will give them back, but then you can get some interesting problems if they get found by customs when returning home...

WheelyFixed

[Sakebigoe]

It entirely depends on local laws and your specific hospital or clinics policy but in most cases they're disposed of as medical waste. That said in most of the US there aren't actually any laws against keeping them, just most doctors don't know the process, my doctor actually did, and I was able to keep mine. I was castrated in a small clinic in the US. I had to fill out a few liability forms then they handed over my testicles in a plastic biological waste bag, basically a big ziplock with red lettering on it. I keep my testicles preserved in a jar on my bookshelf.

[2026Curious]

Thanks to you and others for sharing!

[dandelion]

I remember watching on the TV about someone getting to keep his foot after it getting amputated... Think he kept it in his freezer or someothing

[Stallion]

there should be more flexibility with this!

[WheelyFixed]

there should be more flexibility with this!

I agree, but can sort of understand why they get antsy about it... Remember that usually they are only going to be removing bits that are either diseased or irreparably damaged, not because the former owner simply wanted them gone...

Almost by definition, anything diseased coming from a human should be considered highly contagious as whatever it has is proven to be able to live on humans.... It may also be desirable to find out exactly what it is, or how extensive, and so on. Even if the patient isn't showing obvious symptoms, he may still have something nasty... (While there is plenty of history of cannibalism, there is also evidence the the cannibals also had a serious issue with the same sorts of viruses that caused the mad cow disease scare of a few years ago...)

Damaged bits could also still be hosting diseases, so are only somewhat less of a concern...

What the hospital doesn't know (and no matter what the patient says can't be certain he isn't lying) is what the patient would DO with the returned bits, and many of the possibilities could be a contagion risk...

I'd consider the only really 'safe' way to return removed bits to the patient is if they were properly preserved in such a way that nothing could be spread by them - i.e. proper processing w/ chemical preservatives, or possibly sealing them in plastic or something like that. However I suspect that hospitals and especially clinics wouldn't reliably have the tech for that sort of preservation since it wouldn't be used enough to justify it...

WheelyFixed

[Sakebigoe]

I really do feel I need to reiterate, in the US at least, in most areas there are no specific laws disallowing hospitals from releasing non-infectious tissues. So in instances of elective orchiectomies (like mine was) provided the hospital or clinic you go to doesn't have a specific policy against returning the testicles to you they often can. That was the case for me, I had my severed testicles returned to me following my orchiectomy, they weren't in any way preserved when they were given to me so I had to preserve them myself. I did have to sign a few liability release forms, I kind of just skimmed them so I can't go into specifics about what they said. I honestly didn't believe I was going to be allowed to keep them but I asked out of curiosity in my initial consultations and was pleasantly surprised that the doctor had no issues with it.

[TheRagingEunuch]

Very good question. Since you are able to "Donate" your organs (for a price), I see no reason why they shouldn't let you keep your own (also at a price). Today's Hospitals, IMHO, are in it for the $$$$$$$$$$$.

[dandelion]

Not sure about elective orchiectomy, but if it's done out of medical necessity, I think a doctor would find it understandable that a patient wants to retain their bits to feel "whole"? It's not like a skin tag or tumor... it's an organ that has to a great extent defined your life up until that point.

[Stallion]

they are medical waste, but where elective was performed on healthy tissue(organs) the owner should have the right to chose! Just my opinion.

[eggless splitty]

my bigger(inflammated) egg was send into the pathology and the smaller one i got with me at home, because i said to the doc that i will find it a shame when my good eggs will land into the trash, which made me to a man, my childs aso...
And so they put it into a box and sticket it under my blanket, whereby i could take it with me at home and have burried it under my wifes rosebed...