You've probably seen the meme. It pops up every few months on Reddit or TikTok, usually featuring a screenshot of a guy claiming he made $35,000 by selling a testicle to buy a Porsche. It sounds like the ultimate "get rich quick" scheme for the anatomically endowed. Honestly, who wouldn't trade a spare parts situation for a down payment on a house? But if you're actually sitting there wondering, can I sell my balls, the answer is a lot more complicated than the internet leads you to believe.
Basically, no. You can’t legally sell your testicles for cash in the United States or most of the developed world.
It's illegal. The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984 made it a federal crime to exchange human organs for "valuable consideration." We’re talking about a law that treats selling a kidney or a testicle the same way it treats high-level drug trafficking. You could face up to five years in prison or a $50,000 fine.
Where did the $35,000 rumor come from?
The internet has a long memory for weird things. Back in 2013, a man named Mark Parisi appeared on the TLC show "Extreme Cheapskates." He claimed he was participating in a medical clinical trial where researchers would replace one of his testicles with an artificial one to see how the body reacted. He said he was getting paid $35,000 for it.
People lost their minds.
The story went viral, and suddenly every guy with a credit card debt was Googling how to sign up. But here’s the catch: Parisi wasn't "selling" his ball. He was being compensated for participating in a high-risk medical study. There’s a massive legal and ethical chasm between "selling an organ" and "receiving a stipend for a clinical trial."
Clinical trials happen all the time. Sometimes they need healthy volunteers to test new devices or procedures. However, these trials are strictly regulated by Institutional Review Boards (IRB). They don't just hand out $35k for a weekend of surgery. Usually, these payments are calculated based on the time spent and the discomfort involved, not the "value" of the body part itself.
The dark reality of the organ trade
While it's easy to joke about, the global "red market" is a grim place. In countries with less oversight, people do occasionally sell organs out of sheer desperation. But the testicle isn't exactly a hot commodity on the black market.
🔗 Read more: No Alcohol 6 Weeks: The Brutally Honest Truth About What Actually Changes
Why? Because it’s not life-saving.
If someone’s liver fails, they die. If someone’s kidney fails, they need dialysis. People will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay alive. But if a man loses his testicles, he can take testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). He can live a perfectly normal, healthy life without them. There just isn't a high-demand underground market for a "spare" testicle like there is for a heart or a lung.
Can I sell my balls for scientific research?
This is a common follow-up. You might think, "Okay, if I can't sell it for a transplant, can I sell it to a lab?"
Medical schools and research facilities do need cadavers and tissue samples. But they almost never pay living people for them. Most "body donation" programs are just that—donations. You sign a paper saying that when you pass away, your body goes to science. Sometimes they cover cremation costs, but they aren't cutting checks to living donors for specific bits and pieces.
Even in the world of "compensated donation," like blood plasma or sperm, the payouts are relatively small. You can make a few hundred bucks a month donating plasma. You can make decent money as a sperm donor, but the screening process is more intense than getting into Harvard. Selling a whole organ? That's just not how the legal framework of modern medicine functions.
The legal wall: Why you can't get paid
The reason can I sell my balls remains a "no" is rooted in bioethics. Lawmakers and doctors worry that if we allowed people to sell their organs, it would lead to the exploitation of the poor.
Imagine a world where a billionaire could buy a younger, healthier heart from someone who just needs to pay off their student loans. It sounds like a dystopian movie because it basically is. To prevent this, the world (mostly) agreed that organs should be donated based on need, not sold to the highest bidder.
💡 You might also like: The Human Heart: Why We Get So Much Wrong About How It Works
Even in Iran, which is the only country with a legal, regulated market for kidneys, there isn't a market for testicles. It’s just not a procedure that serves a medical necessity for a recipient.
What about "medical compensation"?
Let's get back to the clinical trial thing. If you actually want to make money from your body, you have to look at "human research compensation."
- Phase I Trials: These are the most lucrative because they test new drugs on healthy people to see if they’re safe.
- Sleep Studies: You get paid to stay in a lab and sleep while they monitor your brain waves.
- Niche Studies: Sometimes a university might need people with a specific condition or, rarely, someone willing to undergo a specific minor procedure.
But here is the reality check. Even in the most "hardcore" trials, you are looking at maybe $2,000 to $5,000 for several weeks of your time. The $35,000 figure is an extreme outlier that hasn't really been replicated in any public record since that one TV episode aired over a decade ago.
Misconceptions about testosterone and health
Some guys think selling one wouldn't matter because "the other one takes over." To an extent, that’s true. The remaining testicle often undergoes hypertrophy and ramps up production to keep your hormone levels stable.
But it's a risk.
If something happens to your one remaining testicle—an injury, torsion, or cancer—you’re done. You become hypogonadal and have to be on hormone shots for the rest of your life. No amount of "meme money" is worth the loss of your endocrine health and fertility.
Moving toward actual financial solutions
If you're at the point where you're Googling can I sell my balls, you’re probably looking for a way out of a financial hole. It’s a relatable feeling. The economy is weird, and the idea of a "quick fix" is seductive.
📖 Related: Ankle Stretches for Runners: What Most People Get Wrong About Mobility
But the "ball-selling" route is a dead end. It’s a myth that persists because it’s funny and shocking.
If you genuinely want to monetize your biology, there are legal, safer, and more consistent ways to do it. Plasma donation centers like CSL Plasma or BioLife are everywhere. You won't get $35,000, but you can get $500 a month. If you’re young and exceptionally healthy (and don’t mind a mountain of paperwork), sperm donation is an option.
Actionable next steps for the curious
Stop looking for organ buyers. They don't exist in a way that won't end with you in a federal prison or a very sketchy "clinic" in a country you don't speak the language of.
Instead, if you want to see if you qualify for high-paying medical research, check out ClinicalTrials.gov. It’s a database of every study happening in the US. You can filter by "healthy volunteers" and your location. You’ll see studies for everything from new flu vaccines to the effects of caffeine on heart rate.
Most importantly, recognize that your health is your most valuable asset. It’s a cliché because it’s true. Trading a permanent part of your endocrine system for a depreciating asset like a car or a temporary fix for a debt is a mathematical nightmare in the long run.
The internet is full of "guy who sold his ball" stories, but notice how it's always "a guy," never a specific, verifiable person with a bank statement and a missing testicle (aside from the TLC outlier). Treat it like the urban legend it is. Keep your health, keep your parts, and look into legitimate ways to boost your income.
Summary of Reality:
- Legality: Selling organs is a felony under NOTA.
- Market: There is no medical demand for "used" testicles.
- The $35k Myth: It was a unique clinical trial stipend, not an organ sale.
- Alternatives: Plasma donation or legitimate clinical trials are the only legal routes for biological compensation.
If you are struggling with debt or financial pressure, reaching out to a credit counselor or looking into gig-economy work is far more effective than chasing a medical myth that could land you in legal or physical jeopardy. Your "spare" parts are worth far more to your own body than they are to anyone else.