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The distance from the bottom of your scrotum to the top of your anus, the anogenital distance or AGD, may correlate with your testosterone levels. The AGD has been known to be a marker for the development of genitals. Historically, it has been used to identify the gender of animals, and the AGD has been found to be longer in boys than in girls. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that AGD correlates with better semen parameters. Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas recently looked at AGD and looked for correlations with reproductive hormones.

Dr. Eisenberg and associates in 2012 looked at 116 men with the average age of 36. They measured their AGD as well as the following reproductive hormones (FSH, LH, testosterone and estrogen). The averaged AGD was 3.4cm and the average testosterone was 316.5 ng/dL. They found that a man's testosterone increased by approximately 20 ng/dL for every 1 cm increased in AGD. Additionally, men with low testosterone (<300ng/dL) had a shorter AGD (3.2cm) as compared to men with normal testosterone (3.7cm).

Bottomline: This is definitely interesting research that we will hear more about in the future. It probably will not change how we evaluate men for male fertility since semen analysis and blood tests to look at hormone levels provide more definitive information; however, we just wanted to give guys a heads up just in case your male fertility doc near you whips out a ruler and starts taking measurements "down there". This way you won't be surprised!

Reference: Eisenberg et al. 2012 J Urol 187: 594