The Child Health and Development Studies is a > or =40-year follow-up of 20,754 pregnancies occurring between 1959 and 1967 in California. There were 84 cases of undescended testes at birth persisting to at least age 2 years among 7,574 liveborn sons whose mothers were interviewed in early pregnancy. Cases were matched to three controls on birth year and race. Compared with mothers of controls, mothers of cryptorchid boys consumed more caffeine during pregnancy (odds ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.9 for an interquartile range equivalent to three cups of coffee per day) but were not more likely to smoke or drink alcohol when all behaviors were considered together. Other maternal and perinatal risk factors were not significantly associated with persistent cryptorchidism and did not confound the association with caffeine.