Undescended Testicles in 12 yr old

[Verbena37]

Hi,
After worrying about I think for a few weeks, I took DS (12yrs) to the GPs today and discovered I was right.

He has both testicles undescended.
The Gp thinks they've retracted back up into his groin (where he could feel them, near his hip bones) as I said that when he was checked as a baby, after birth, the paed said they were there.

Anyway, GP says he will need an op to bring them down.

Just wondering how common this is for this age child as I know it's not good health-wise to have them undescended for this long.
Have any of you had children who have had the op as an older child and if yes, how was it post-op for them?

hello @k1mbers yes we got him sorted. I was so devastated i paid for a private ultrasound who confirmed the lump in his groin was his testicle and looked healthy. We then had his consultation in the hospital who advised us it had probably been there from birth and it probably wont work but it shouldn't effect fertility as one is enough. The plan was to try and bring it down and told he needs to check regular as it runs risks. there was also a risk when they brought it down it would be bad tissue and he could lose it and if this happened they'd put a prosthetic one in. We had the absolute best outcome we could have wished for. When the operated they found a very healthy testicle that they were very surprised about, they moved it down successfully and he just had his checkup where they confirmed it is now the same size as the other. They said he was too old for it to have descended at that age and it would have been there since birth now they believe it could have actually happened more recent. He was a very late maturer and shock or stress can make them go up or the fact he had a very fast growth spurt and the stringy thing that attaches them couldnt grow fast enough with that pace so it shot up. Please try not to panic i was distraught and felt like i failed my son because of the way our original doctor acted, it was a very difficult time but now so so grateful my gut instinct was right, go to your doctors and start the process asap good luck and message if you need any further help