Health experts warn of fertility risk over US military's testosterone plan

Key Points:

• The US Department of Defense, led by Secretary Pete Hegseth, has introduced a policy requiring all male troops aged 30 and older to undergo routine testosterone testing, with options for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) if low levels are detected.
• Medical experts caution that routine screening may lead to inaccurate diagnoses and unnecessary TRT, which carries risks such as infertility, testicular shrinkage, and other serious side effects; they emphasize that treatment should only be given to symptomatic individuals with clinically low testosterone.
• Administering and monitoring TRT on a large scale within the military poses logistical challenges, especially during deployments, due to the need for frequent injections and close medical supervision to maintain safe hormone levels.
• The rise in TRT usage in the US, fueled by social media influencers and public figures, has increased from 7.3 million users in 2019 to 11 million in 2024, though experts debate whether this reflects more diagnoses or growing demand for perceived benefits.
• Critics argue that the Pentagon’s aggressive screening policy may lead to lifelong dependency on TRT for some soldiers and caution that testosterone therapy should be a carefully considered medical decision rather than a routine procedure.