Hegseth announces testosterone replacement therapy for service members over 30 

U.S. military service members will now have access to testosterone replacement therapy for men over 30 if annual tests find them deficient, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.

The military will add a new testosterone level screening test to annual physicals required for soldiers. If their levels are deficient, military medical staff may recommend that members begin optional testosterone replacement therapy, Hegseth said in a video on X. While all service members undergo annual physicals, Hegseth did not specify whether the testosterone screening is male-specific or what qualifies as “deficient” levels. Soldiers under 30 are not required to undergo the test but may choose to do so.

“We must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience and your long-term health,” Hegseth said in the video.

The average age of active-duty soldiers has increased since the draft ended in 1973, supporting the idea that men in service may have lower testosterone levels. The average age of an enlisted active-duty soldier was just over 28 years old in 2020, compared with 25 in 1973.

Compounded with the increasing average age of soldiers, the average male’s testosterone levels have decreased since the late 1980s, according to a survey of randomly selected men ages 45-79 living in the Boston area. The results found that an average 60-year-old man in 1989 had higher testosterone levels than an average 60-year-old man in 1995.

Testosterone replacement therapy may both strengthen soldiers in their current roles and support a long, healthy life, Hegseth said. However, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, increased testosterone for men ages 65 and older did not produce a noticeable difference in vitality and physical performance.

The X video did not specify whether women would undergo the screening or receive testosterone. The U.S. Army fitness test is “sex-neutral,” meaning the Army requires both male and female soldiers to perform at the same level and achieve the same degree of fitness.

President Donald Trump also issued an executive order in January 2025 to eradicate “radical gender ideology” from the military.

“It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity and integrity,” the order stated. “This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”

Additionally, individuals who struggle with gender dysphoria or express “a false ‘gender identity’” are not eligible for military service because they “cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” the order continued.

“Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” the order said. “A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

Hegseth’s supplemental testosterone announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discussed advancing testosterone treatment options at a panel in December 2025. No official decisions have been made about making testosterone readily accessible to the public.