I just found out that I will be having a boy! Should I have him circumcised?

Question

What are some pros and cons?

Answer 1

First, watch this video. http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/video.html

I unfortunately had this done, I didn't agree to it but in the drugged haze I was in after giving birth, this was done to my son. I can tell you that it's still hard to clean once it's cut. He's got extra skin (many docs are doing that now since a tight circ makes a guy have painful erections), so I have to clean around that.
I don't care if a mother thinks it looks funny-what an awful thing to say about a body part of a baby you've carried for 9 months!
I don't care if you want it to look like daddy-since when do father and son share their penises? You've got bigger problems then!
It's not cleaner to be cut, I just described what I have to do with my son. An intact penis cleans itself, you don't have to do anything different.
It doesn't prevent STD's (plenty will say that), condoms and no sex prevent that-you still will teach your son about safe sex right?
Just please research before you mutilate your child!

Answer 2

I think that it's the individual parents decision, but I personally did not have my 2 sons circumcised. I am a nurse and I have seen it done before. I don't care what kinds of pain relief they give the baby, they still scream!! I don't see the purpose in it. I researched it when I was carrying my oldest son. It is not medically necessary. You teach the child to clean himself just as you would be doing anyway. My son's are almost 5 and 3 and they haven't had any problems out of it at all. My husband isn't and he's never had any trouble with his. I feel it desensitizes the penis as well. These are just my personal opinions. Noone can tell you whether or not to do it. BTW, congrats on the baby!

Answer 3

If you want to see what's involved, take a look at the Circumcision link on the Stanford School of Medicine website. NB There is no "www." in the address, and you may need to lower your firewall to get the videos to stream properly.

Answer 4

The US is now the only western country where circumcision of infants is done routinely. That should speak for itself. Even in Canada, where a generation ago most male infants were circumcised, now only a very small proportion are.

There are many arguments can be brought forward -- for me, the most telling are set out in
http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/lostlist/

The arguments adduced for routine male circumcision are exactly the same as the arguments in favour of routine female circumcision or, as it's normally described, female genital mutilation which, ironically, is a crime in the US.

Answer 5

I have not had a boy...yet but my husband and I would like to have our son circumcised. Being young, they will not remember as if they are older and develop problems they will remember it. Two of my friends both had their sons done at 3 weeks of age I think it was. They both are happy with the decision. That's what it comes down to....you are your husbands decisions...no one else's......It is the cleanest and most hygienic way!

Answer 6

Circumcision is not medically necessary. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend circumcision as a routine procedure for newborn males. When making this policy, the AAP considered the possible health benefits of circumcision, such as a lower risk for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the first year of life. The AAP also considered the risks and costs of the procedure when making this policy.2

Answer 7

Good evening Porker, Hi every body !..

I think you should.
According to me, that will be the appropriate decision.
You have so many opinions in this forum,some links to sites giving you explanations.It will be up to you then to decide.
According to my personal experience, I'm 59,have 2 boys (30 &23 years old) both where circumcised when they where 4.
I'm not a medical doctor, du to my job I had many occasions to talk about the reasons of being circumcised, with well known and skilled specialists from diffrent part of the world,most of them agree with the benefits of the circumcision.

Answer 8

Absolutely not. It's HIS penis, not yours. Would you want someone cutting parts from your genitals without your permission? Besides, it serves no purpose beyond increasing the bottom line for the doc and the hospital. Did you know they sell the foreskins without asking or telling anyone? That's clearly in violation of laws restricting the marketing of body parts, but they do it anyway. Cosmetic companies make an absolute fortune by incorporating infant foreskins in many of their formulas. Now you have a clue why this nonesensical procedure doesn't go away. When in doubt, always look at the money involved.

Answer 9

Don't do it to your son. There is a very real chance that it will have a bad effect on his future sex life. Circumcision was started centuries ago to control men's appetite for sex, so that they would not find so much pleasure in sex and then they would devote more time to religion. Sound like something you would like for yourself?

Here is a study that shows that men contimplating circumcision should be warned of possible loss of sensitivity before they can give informed consent for surgery.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query...

Exerpts from the report:

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

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 and one out of three is not satisfied with the results, these are not very good odds. This damage is also likely when babies are circumcised but the problems will not be apparent for many years.

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 a greater than 1 in 5 chance of leaving him with an impaired sex-life.

His body. His choice.

Answer 10

Have a look at these links in favour of the procedure:

http://www.pollockclinics.com/circumcision/circumcision-index.html
http://www.medicirc.org
http://www.circinfo.com
http://www.circumcisioninfo.com
http://www.circinfo.net
http://www.drweiss.org

As an adult I wished it had been done for me when I was a baby. Saying "leave him to choose later on" is not realistic. It's difficult both emotionally and logistically to get it done as an adult. I know, I did it and the circumcised state is much better. I do not miss my foreskin at all even though I can remember what it felt like.

Good luck making your decision.