Has anybody ever been told that their boy's penis was too small to be circumcised?

Question

My husband and I were informed by the doctor doing our son's circumcision that his penis was too small to have the operation performed at present. He told us to wait at least a year. Anybody ever been in the same situation? Typically how long do we need to wait until he's ready?

Answer 1

Don't listen to Jennifer or Momma2mingbu..they are feeding you a line of bull. Only the responsible parents circumcise.

I've never heard of them not doing it because the penis is too small (some infants have it done before even leaving the hospital). Get a second opinion...and maybe a third. If they all say the same thing, then just wait until he's a few months older.

Answer 2

Well when researchers have gone in and tried to find average penis sizes they have almost always seen some difference between circumcised and uncircumcised. On average uncircumised tends to be larger, they just don't know why. Girth will be improved with a foreskin. However they speculate with circumcision at birth there is enough trauma done to the tissue of the penis that it can possibly cause a shorter length and hinder growth. However it's only around .5-1 inch difference, nothing that major. But then again an inch can make a difference. -Connor

Answer 3

That is a bit unusual, usually the operation can be performed on a small penis. However, it's not completely unfathomable that your doctor might feel uncomfortable doing it if he believes the chance for error is too great (afterall, it is an important body part...). My strong advice would be to get a second opinion, preferably from the same hospital. If both doctors agree that it shouldn't be done for a couple months, I'd suggest waiting it out; it's not worth taking the risk, and whether he's 0 or 6 months, he still won't remember it when he's old enough to talk, so "remembering the pain" isn't an issue.

If you really really really absolutely must positively have it done right now, I'd suggest taking him to the affiliated hospital of a major medical university (i.e. Johns Hopkins, Cornell Medical, Northwestern Medical, UCLA Medical etc...) where you tend to have doctors who are absolutely the best in their field, are professors of medicine, and are a little more up-to-date on new surgical procedures and techniques. If you can't actually get to a hospital like that, don't hesitate to browse the web, look up the office number of one of these professors, explain the situation and see who they'd recommend in your neck of the woods.

You also have the option of not circumcising your son, however, if you want to, it's your call and no one elses. As an uncircumcised 19 year old who is going to get circumcised soon, my personal advice would be to get it done, but wait the 6 months to 1 year your doctor recommended; worse than being uncircumcised is having a deformed one...

Answer 4

Wow I bet you didn't ask this question to get bombarded with peoples opinions. I have never heard of that either. So I guess I won't be much help. I just wanted to say that I would ask another doctor or clinic about it. I would not go in saying that you were told it was too small, I would just go in asking about it. Then if you get the same answer you will know its the right one. Good luck and congrats.

Answer 5

I have never heard of that before. However, if they are saying this, you may want to listen. My neighbor's son's penis was circumcised but it didn't turn out well and now he will have to have an operation to fix his deformed penis once he is old enough for the anesthesia. If dr. doesn't think he can do it, maybe don't let him just in case.
Also, I would not wait to long because it is more painful for them the older they are.
All this being said, I would get a second opinion. Then do what will be best for your son.

Answer 6

Why not leave your son alone as nature intended? There is no medical reason to have it done as I previously stated in another circumcision post. Please ignore the person above me who said only responsible parents circumcise their kids. She's just saying that so she doesn't feel guilty. What responsible parent puts their child through pain and possible risk of infection, bleeding to death, or disfigurement just so their kid has a penis *they* find more attractive???
And the whole potty training thing is a myth. My husband is cut & my son is uncircumcised. Never any problems with "differences" at all. If someone's going to take that approach, then I guess a mother better never potty train their sons - those are some mighty big differences going on down there.

But yes, if your sons penis is too small, then there isn't enough room for a mistake, which can happen. That means all the nerves, veins and arteries are too close & there isn't enough room to take off the foreskin without a possible complication. My advice is to just leave his penis alone. It'll continue to grow
and uncircumcised boys (and men) look bigger than circumcised ones anyway.

Answer 7

I'd take your doctor's advice very seriously. Have you heard of the cases where circumcisions got botched so they had to cut off the whole penis and raise the child as a girl? That is surely more likely if he is too small!

Before you go to a lot of trouble to have unnecessary surgery done on your perfect new baby, watch the videos at http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/ - do you REALLY want that done to your child.

God made men with foreskins - he didn't do it by mistake! Do you know more about it than he does?

Answer 8

Congratulations! Yes, this can sometimes happen. I'd advice you to seek a second opinion from another doctor.

Please ignore what the radical and fanatic anti-circumcision people claim, they are against the procedure even after all the studies have shown the many benefits of circumcision.




Now some info on circumcision, keep reading...


CIRCUMCISION IS VERY BENEFICIAL, its cleaner, healthier and several prestigious research institutions have proved that circumcised men have less risk of contracting STD's such as AIDS-HIV, syphilis or herpes.

Uncircumcised penises are difficult to keep clean, and more prone to infections and penile cancer, studies have shown.
A circumcised penis is naturally clean and virtually free from urinary infections. You will not have to worry again with careful washing of your penis.

Is it NOT true that the AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics) does not recommend circumcision. They simply say they leave the decision to parents. But recently, and specially after the recent studies by the US National Institutes of Health, the AAP has been discussing if it may be necessary to change their policy and recommend circumcision to all newborns as they used to do, so in the future we may see that the AAP advocates circumcision again.
Have a look at: http://www.baby-health.net/articles/381.html

About STD's:

As I said, several studies carried out by prestigious research bodies have proved that uncircumcised penises are more prone to infections and contraction of STD's, including AIDS-HIV. It has been confirmed that circumcised men are up to 70% less likely to be infected than those who are uncircumcised. Have a look at this site: http://www.torontodailynews.com/index.php/HealthNews/2006121404Circumcision

As for women, studies also show that circumcision also protects female partners from AIDS-HIV and other STD's. Browse this article: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2006/02_08_06.html

About sensitivity of a circumcised penis:

NO medical or physiological study has ever shown that circumcision reduces sensitivity, opposed to common belief. It is completely FALSE that circumcision reduces penis sensitivity. The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) confirms this on their web site; have a look at: http://www.aap.org/pubed/zzzjzmemh4c.htm

Circumcision is an easy and nowadays *painless* procedure, which has many benefits, and virtually no risks.
Circumcision is NOT an amputation. Circumcision is NOT comparable at all to female circumcision, which is something completely different.

Circumcision rates are INCREASING nowadays, both in the United States and overseas. Many African, Asian and Latin American countries with little circumcision tradition are starting to promote the procedure to help to reduce the AIDS-HIV infection rates.

Finally, this site has a lot of useful and *unbiased* information. Make sure you have a good look: http://www.circinfo.net

Answer 9

My fiance's penis had a similar problem. I think it's because something isn't all the way developed inside it yet. My fiance waited until he was 5 and then had it done.

Answer 10

Ask him when he is 18 years old. It is his penis after all.

Before you have this procedure done to your son, you should know that there is a very real risk of loss of sensitivity as this study shows.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16037710&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum

Masood S, Patel HR, Himpson RC, Palmer JH, Mufti GR, Sheriff MK.

Excerpts from the report:

OBJECTIVES: Currently no consensus exists about the role of the foreskin or the effect circumcision has on penile sensitivity and overall sexual satisfaction. Our study assesses the effect of circumcision on sexually active men and the relative impact this may have on informed consent prior to surgery.

Penile sensation improved after circumcision in 38% (p = 0.01) but got worse in 18%, with the remainder having no change. Overall satisfaction was 61%.

CONCLUSIONS: Penile sensitivity had variable outcomes after circumcision. The poor outcome of circumcision considered by overall satisfaction rates suggests that when we circumcise men, these outcome data should be discussed during the informed consent process. 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

One out of five men circumcised suffers loss of sensitivity; one out of ten has painful erections or bleeding from sexual activity. All together, more than one out of three is not happy with the results; these are not very good odds.

This is not a good thing to do to your son. In most cases it will take 18 or more years for the problems to become evident, most likely the parents will never be told of the problem (if they are lucky), as the child will then be an adult.

I would point out that while this study shows that adult men should be warned of the possibility of sensitivity loss before they can give "informed consent" to circumcision, there is no way that a newborn boy can give his informed consent to an elective procedure that has greater than 1 in 5 chance of leaving him with an impaired sex-life.

His body. His choice.

Owen recomends a big name hospital, he mentions Johns Hopkins, that would be a good choice because if they screw it up they know how to make him into a girl (they have tried that before!) of course the boy/girl commited suicide after a short miserable life. BUT AT LEAST HE DIDN'T DIE WITH HIS FORESKIN! See the story of John/Joan