Castration: Does it Make a Man Taller?

Castration- a word that strikes fear into the pants region of males worldwide. Many people are unaware that both males and females can undergo castration, which is just a side fact. Even less people, know male castration before puberty has some interesting effects, which is what this article is actually about.

Have you ever heard of an Eunuch?

Eunuch is Greek. It refers to a castrated human male. In China, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Byzantine the men that guarded the emperor's harem had to endure castration for, well, obvious reasons. The men who were generally picked at a young age retained a child-like appearance. Their voices stayed high, their faces hairless, and their sex drive innocent and non-existent, but not everything was child-like. The Eunuchs were tall, abnormally so.

Fast forward, to the time of the great Operas, and meet the Castrati.

Though castration was, and still is, used as a punishment worldwide, the second time castration became popular for employment reasons was with the Castrati. Castrati were young and talented male singers who were castrated before puberty to prevent their voices from breaking. The Castrati were also, abnormally tall, and lanky by description.

Clearly, I am hinting at something here. Castration before puberty makes a man taller? Bingo! Why? Those removed family jewels would have done more than just make junior a "man". The release of testosterone also effects bone growth, and without testes there is far less testosterone. Not enough hormones holler at the epiphyseal plates, or cartilage at the ends of long bones in adolescents, to ossify, or harden, and long bones grow longer than normal. Poof! Tall, lanky, baby faced men.

We find a similar effect in Klinefelter's Syndrome, or the presence of an extra X chromosome in males. Klinefelter's syndrome causes a reduced size in testes, which again will cause less testosterone and hence more bone growth.

Does this have any relevance to modern times?

No. I came across the trivial fact during a conversation about Circumcision. One misled mother suggested that circumcision would make a boy grow taller. She was a little bit off on what was cut off. Removing the foreskin of a boy before puberty will not reduce testosterone, as castration will. Nor would I recommend castrating a boy just to make him taller that really would be mutilation. In Modern times, castration in young boys is unheard of. It is used to treat prostate or testicular cancer, and often as a prevention method in sex offenders. All of which do not commonly occur before puberty.

So now, you know. A female castration is called an oophorectemy, and does exist. Male castration before puberty does actually cause an increase in average height, and makes for a nice singing voice or so Farinelli says.