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The testes and ovaries are also very sensitive to radiation. The ovaries may be irradiated either deliberately, or incidentally when * nearby organs are treated. Because they lie within the pelvic cavity it is difficult to shield them from nearby irradiation. The effect depends on the dose. Anything more than very small amounts of radiation is likely to stop menstruation permanently. You would become infertile—unable to have babies. Unless you took replacement hormones, you could experience any of the possible symptoms of a normal menopause, such as hot flushes, relative dryness of the vagina and possibly a loss of interest in sex. If your periods stop, I strongly suggest that you take small doses of female hormones until the usual age of menopause (about fifty) to replace those that would normally be produced by your ovaries. Ask your doctor to prescribe these if they are not offered to you.

The testes, because of their position, are much easier to shield off when nearby areas such as the groin are irradiated. They should receive only a small dose in such cases. If they received a large dose for any reason, they would become small and soft, your libido (interest in sex) would diminish and you would probably become permanently infertile. You might still be able to get an erection and ejaculate (come). However, regular injections of male hormones to replace those normally produced by your testes would probably be needed for normal sexual feelings and function. With or without the hormone injections, your ejaculate would contain very few or no sperm. There is no treatment that could make you fertile.

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