Castration

Castration is any surgical, chemical, or other action that disables the function of the testes in a male, reducing the body's production of sex hormones and typically causing sterility. Surgical castration removes both testicles, while chemical castration uses drugs to suppress their hormonal function without removing tissue. The practice has ancient roots in animal husbandry, where it is called neutering, and in human history it produced eunuchs for court and slave service, was used as a legal punishment in some societies, and was sometimes inflicted on prisoners of war. In modern medicine, castration is used to slow the growth of prostate and testicular cancers that depend on testosterone, and in some jurisdictions courts have ordered chemical castration for certain sex offenders, a practice that remains legally and ethically disputed.