All transgender women, transfeminine people, and gender diverse people like eunuchs who wish to have their testicles removed should get an orchiectomy performed by a trained practitioner. In the past, people in our community sometimes got this done from people without good training or equipment. Some even tried to castrate themselves.
Castrating yourself or having it done by an unqualified person is dangerous and could cause unwanted side effects or death.
Animal castration
Ways to castrate animals should not be done on humans, as they could cause unwanted side effects or death.
Domesticated animals are often castrated to prevent unwanted mating and to alter animal behavior. Castration of animal companions like cats and dogs is often done by a veterinarian and is called being neutered or “fixed.” Some castrated livestock animals have names similar to the term eunuch for humans:
- cat = gib or neutered cat
- dog = neutered dog
- boar (pig) = barrow
- bull = steer
- horse, pony, donkey, mule = gelding
- sheep, goat = wether
- chicken, turkey = capon
- deer = havier
- rabbit = lapin
Ways to castrate livestock include:
- castrating knives
- bull cutters
- elastrators
- emasculastomes
- burdizzos
- twisting
Unqualified people performing castration on humans
Some notable “home castration” and “do-it-yourself castration” cases show that this occurs throughout the population, although there is sometimes some overlap with people with diverse gender identities:
- Heaven’s Gate cult leader Marshall Applewhite had been castrated as had about half a dozen of his followers prior to the 1997 mass suicide of the group.
- Tammy Felbaum, “known widely as ‘Tammy/Tommy'” according to news reports, was convicted in 2002 of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the castration death of her sixth husband. Trial testimony indicated Felbaum had allegedly performed her own and had done the procedure on others before the death.
- Suo-Shan Wang was convicted in 2003 following a botched home castration that hospitalized his victim. Mr. Wang said the castration was about the 50th he’d performed.
- Doug Lenhart was charged in 2003 following a botched home castration on transgender victim Catherine Watson. Mr. Lenhart said he had performed 23 other castrations, even though he did not have medical licence.
- In 2017, James Pennington pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license after using an Army surgical kit to remove the testicles of a transgender woman.
- In 2018, surgeon Dr Mahinder Pal Singh alias Mahender Insan in Sirsa, was charged with the castration of 300 people ordered by spiritual leader Ram Rahim.
- In 2019 74-year-old Gary Van Ryswyk was arrested after performing a botched castration in Florida on someone he met on a eunuch website.
- In 2020, Australian electrician Ryan Andrew King was arrested after sending a person he castrated to the hospital.
- In 2021, Bob Lee Allen was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for a botched castration in Oklahoma.
- In 2021, a German electrician was arrested after killing one of several people on whom he performed castrations.
These cases often had a sexualized component: Applewhite sought to eliminate “homosexual urges,” Felbaum was allegedly angered about infidelity, and Wang’s victim sought to reduce his sex drive.
Involuntary castrations
Involuntary castrations are typically classified as aggravated assaults and attempted murder. If the victim dies, the charge is typically manslaughter or murder.
- In 2018, Candace Grantham was arrested and charged with “malicious castration.”
- In 2018, Justin Fowler was arrested after castrating his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.
Some people have been involuntarily castrated as a punishment. Some conquering armies throughout history would castrate their enemies. Many modern countries do not allow involuntary castrations to be carried out by the government, because it is considered unethical. Some countries have forced criminals, especially sex offenders, to undergo “chemical castration” with drugs intended to reduce their sex drives. This type of drug is called an anaphrodisiac or antiaphrodisiac.
Cultural motivations for castration
Throughout history, genital modification has been a part of social and religious life in many cultures. Circumcision, subincision, and castration have been performed all over the world in various forms. The motivation for orchiectomy can fall outside of issues of gender identity. Most historical accounts of those who underwent castration indicate they still considered themselves male after the procedure and did not do so to resolve a gender identity issue. In some cultures, eunuchs hold positions of religious authority. Eunuchs were often part of ancient royal households, typically as guards or as concubines. The Skoptsy sect active during the Russian Empire advocated castration for followers, and many other religious groups have practiced castration for adherents. In Europe, castrati were singers castrated as children to keep their voices from changing during puberty.
Erotic motivations for castration
In addition to social and religious reasons, some motivations for orchiectomy are erotic in nature. Some people undergo it because of an erotic interest in medical procedures or body modification.
Surgery fetishists
Some people have an erotic interest in the medicalized procedure itself. Kevin Clever’s site [beavercleaver.net] appears to be one such surgical fetishist’s site, evidenced by his fictionalized photo essay “Bilateral orchiectomy procedure slides.” It starts with photos of a human penis being prepared for surgery, proceeds through photos of an animal castration (as if the human and animal photos are sequential) and ends with a recipe for Rocky Mountain oysters (bull testicles). The author appears to be playing out a fantasy of removal and preparation for eating his or someone else’s testicles by choice or force. The style throughout is a combination of factual medical data and eroticized language similar to the account of vaginoplasty (Taking Portlandia’s Hand) by Anne Lawrence. Clever’s photo essay on his vasectomy includes the caption “my glistening scrotum awaiting the vasectomist,” which echoes Lawrence’s sexualized account of vaginoplasty: “Looking at my rapidly waning erection, I can summon no sadness or hesitation at my impending emasculation.” The juxtaposition of human and animal photos and testicle recipe in Clever’s story “does not detract from the essay’s value,” according to Lawrence, further indicating they may share an erotic interest in medicalized body modification and sexualization of professional services.
Erotic role play and socialization
The erotic or autoerotic interest for some who seek castration may be or part of sexualized role-play and socialization, as in Gelding’s story. “Cock and Ball Torture” (CBT) appears to be a specific subset of sadomasochistic activity performed by a dominant male or female partner. “Extreme CBT” may involve removal of the testicles (sometimes referred to in their erotica as “nullification”), all done as part of erotic roleplay.
LINK: http://www.bmezine.com/news/people/A10101/gelding.html
Sherry Joanne gets a lot of questions from castration fetishists. She writes:
Some examples of requests I frequently read include:
1. I want a woman to castrate me.
2. I want to be castrated without anesthesia, and to feel the pain.
3. I am a sub seeking a master to castrate me and make me his slave.
4. Will I ejaculate as my balls are cut off?The thing I usually notice about these requests is that the person making the requests is more preoccupied with the manner in which they will be castrated, and I have to ask if they have considered at all what their life will be like after their castration experience.
People who seek testicle removal for these reasons usually have different needs and outlooks based on their motivations. While there can sometimes be overlap with gender diverse people, many people in our community do not have an erotic interest in orchiectomy.
Orchiectomy with penectomy
Some people opt to remove their penis and scrotum as well as testicles. These people identify as nullos or smoothies. Those interested in this result should consider a vulvoplasty performed by a qualified surgeon.
In 2013 artist Mao Sugiyama was acquitted in Japan after having his testicles and penis removed and serving them to willing guests at a dinner.
While some transgender women opt for a genital procedure that removes the penis and testicles but does not create a vagina, most nullos do not identify as women after their procedure.
Resources
Please visit the main eunuch resources page for information on the community and procedures.