Circumscision?

Question

We're not sure the gender of our baby yet, but if it's a boy, we're hedging towards NOT getting him circumscised. I asked the doc how common it was these days to not do it, and she said that at least 60% of her patients chose not to. I knew this was a growing trend, but her high figure still surprised me. Then again, she's a midwife doctor, so I'm sure most of her patients preferr to keep things natural. My question is...for people who have had sons, how many of you chose to circumscise?

Answer 1

Its cleaner and healthier for them I did with my son at birth.

Answer 2

This is a pretty hot topic. I found that its a 50/50 choice. I asked around (yup even asked men I knew if they were or weren't and how they feel about it) In the end we did it so then he's at least the same as Daddy. I found that it cuts down on disease and founf that little boys aren't always diligent about cleaning themselves and pulling back the foreskin. Some people will say that they are born that was...leave it alone. I had my son done at 12 days. It was a pain free procedure...so don't let people tell you that you are traumatizing your son by doing it.

Answer 3

We had my son circumscised before we left the hospital. I love it and think it much easier to keep clean. That not to say if you chose not to that there is anything wronge with that either. Every person has there own views on it, but I chose to have it done.

Answer 4

both my sons are not we thought we should at first then I saw a tape of what really happens when they are circumsized and the poor little thing was crying so much and I couldn't watch the rest the other thing was my first son was 6 wks early and spent 8 days in the hospital and we really didn't want to add to his trauma. they are now 7 and 2 and no problems yet!!!!

Answer 5

right on for you, for deciding not to! too many people are intimidated by drs./relatives/friends. Apart from those who do it for religious reasons, USA is *only* country that performs this barbaric mutilation of boy babies regularly (discounting bushmen in Africa who do it with a sharpened rock)...and it's so ironic, because we are the most hygiene conscious country in the world too, so we have the least reason to! As to the STD studies, well, condoms will give protection, with no pain or mutilation necessary....

The drs. don't need the easy $ for the 2 minutes work, they will still be able to make their Mercedes payment. Kudos to you for doing your part to end neonatal traumatization of baby boys.

Answer 6

My husband and I chose not to have it done since there is no good reason to have it done. My husband is not cut and he has never had a problem in the 28 years he has been alive.

I personally believe that people who say that a circumcised penis is cleaner and will help with preventing STDs are LAZY. If you can't teach your kid how to wash themselves and safe sex practices then you shouldn't have children in the first place. They are very easy to clean circumcised or not.

Answer 7

When we were PG with our first, we found out we were having a boy. I assumed that we would circumcise him. I thought it was "what you did" when you had a boy. My hubby is circumcised.

Imagine my surprise when hubby insisted that I learn more about it and that he did NOT want our son to be circumcised! Our doula shared some information with me that I read. After I did the research and learned more about it, I couldn't imagine doing that to a child.

The American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends against routine infant circumcision.

http://www.aap.org/policy/re9850.html

Their policy statement begins, "Existing scientific evidence demonstrates potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision; however, these data are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision." They don't feel that the benefits are significant enough to recommend it.

Most insurance companies won't pay for it as it is considered primarily a cosmetic procedure. I figured that I would never circumcise a daughter, why should I circumcise a son?

Good hygeine is something that is TAUGHT. I'm not going to chop off their ears because they might forget to wash behind them sometimes. Instead, I'm going to teach them how to take proper care of their bodies.

There is no special care required for an uncircumcised infant. You should NOT retract the foreskin, as many people think. It is still attached and would feel basically like ripping off one of your fingernails. The fact that the foreskin is still attached helps keep fecal matter out while the child is still in diapers. When the child is closer to school age, he will discover that he can retract it himself then. At that point he should be taught to retract the foreskin and simply rinse his penis with water. You don't want to use harsh soaps and such there, just as a woman would not want to do so inside her labia.

The "increased rates" of cancer in uncircumcised males is such a tiny number that it's really insignificant. In its 1996 Statement, the Canadian Paediatric Society noted:

Cadman, Gafni and McNamee... calculated that the cost of circumcising 100,000 male infants is $3.8 million and that this maneuver would prevent only two cases of cancer of the penis. ... they estimated that the cost of prevention would be 100 times the cost of treatment.12
There are many documented cases of penile cancer in circumcised men. To reduce the risk of penile cancer, men are best advised simply to use reasonable hygiene, practice responsible sexual behavior, and to avoid handling tobacco.

According to the American Cancer Society, penile cancer is extremely rare in Europe and North America. The cancer only occurs in 1 in 100,000 men. Penile cancer usually occurs well beyond age 50, although it can occur earlier.

Some people argue that sexually trasmitted diseases are a reason to circumcise. Here's the thing.....being circumcised isn't an assurance that you won't contract an STD. The man will still need to practice safe sex and use a condom. Teaching safe sex is much simpler than chopping off part of the boy's body! Especially since he would need to do so anyway, even if he was circumcised!

Some people argue that the child needs to "look like Dad." Obviously, our family felt differently. Personally, I find this arguement kind of silly. The child isn't going to "look like Dad" no matter what you do to his penis. They're going to be different sizes, different shapes, Dad will have pubic hair and the young boy won't, etc. Kids are SMART. They know that not all people look the same. They see people in their family with different hair colors, different eye colors, different weight and height, etc. They know that not everyone looks the same.

And then there is the "locker room" arguement. The circumcision rate in the USA is approaching 50/50. Which child do you really think will be teased? The one who still has his entire penis or the one who admitted to LOOKING at another boy's penis?

My son is almost 8 years old now and as I said, was left intact. He has never had a UTI. He has never had any problems from not being circumcised. As far as I know, he has never asked his father why their penises don't look the same. The kids I have heard of who did ask this question usually said something like, "WOW.....thanks for not letting them do that to me Dad!"

Here is a LINK to a very informative website, Circumcision Information and Resource Page.
http://www.cirp.org/

Personally, I think this is a decision that is best left to the child when he is old enough to have an opinion. After all, it is his body.

(I forgot to say, do you know how circumcision became common in the USA? It was an attempt to prevent masterbation! Didn't work, did it? My hubby calls it, "a cure looking for a symptom.")

Answer 8

im expecting and not sure of the gender either. I am all for circumscision, i think its healthier and ect but we are opting not to do it because of medical problems that run in our family. I would hate for him to have a problem down there for the rest of his life as a resule. but really its your choice although I think there are more benefits to having one but doesnt really matter either way

Answer 9

my son is circumscised. i also used a midwife, but the doctor that she works under did the circumscision. they numbed the skin a little first and he slept through it.

Answer 10

If I had one, I think I would choose not to. All the arguments "for" just make no sense.