From a man's point of view, would you/did circumsize your son?

Question

Would you/did circumsize your son? If so, why did you choose to do it? If not, why didn't you choose to do it? Were you circumsized yourself? If so, how do you feel growing up and how do feel about it today? If not, how do you feel growing up and how do you feel about it now?

I am 23yrs old and a mommy to my first born son. I want to do it for the hygiene proportion but then again I do NOT want to do it for seeing my son in pain. I need real answers please. This decision could affect him and me later on in life. I want to know what is the right thing to do.

Answer 1

Below is a link from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They agree that (obviously) that pain occurs from the procedure, however, there are anesthetics that can lessen the pain. You should ask your doctor if they use anesthetics while performing the procedure.

One thought - do you think the pain of being circumsized would be any greater than the trauma of birth?

The pros of circumcision vastly outweigh the cons, but it's a personal decision.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

My 16-month-old son was circumcised, and if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't. We were told that the new procedures they have cause no pain. We could hear him crying and screaming down the hallway. Also, adhesions started to form almost immediately, despite my wife and I following doctors' orders to pull the skin back from the head of his penis and applying Vaseline at every diaper change. Now, it appears that he will have to have a follow-up procedure when he gets older to once again circumcise him. I understand the health and hygiene aspect of circumcision, but I am very doubtful I would ever do it again. I believe it is much easier on all of us just to reinforce good cleanliness practices.

Answer 3

It's not your right to cut a part of yoru son's penis off and it's not more hygenic - would you of liked it if your parents cut off a part of yoru clitoris so that you would be more hygenic? All he has to do it clean it just like a woman does her vagina or any other body part, of course it will spell otherwise. You can get vaginal infections or it would smell if u didn't wash your vagina, same for guys, makes sense does it not. If he sleepps around with girls who he doesn't know or if they dont' practicse safe sex ie condoms, knowing who your partner is with then he has nothing to worry about aids/std's. and even cut guys have to worry about catching this.
Also, their is no skin on the body that has no feeling, the most errogoneous part of a man's body is no exception. It's his penis so leave it in one piece.
Any problem that can occur is rare and even if it were to occur could be dealt with using cream or somethighn like that. Amputation is done only in rare/extreme cases so why would u do this to your son with no problem at all. Many dr's in the US are so ignorant to this fact and over use the circumcision thing.
If you leave him in one piece your respecting him to make his own decision and giving him a gift of genital integrity. What if he doesn't want to be circumcised, he can't get it back. and he will probably just become another ignorant person who for some reason thinks this is a good thing to cut of part of your penis.

Answer 4

I'm not circumcised, as it wasn't the culture of my parents. I personally like being uncircumcised and have had no problems with it. I feel it's an unnecessary procedure and since it's his body, it should be his choice. About 80% of the world's male population is uncircumcised, and 95% of them never have any probems due to having a foreskin.

The foreskin is actually very easy to take care of and maintain, so hygiene probably won't be an issue (see 1st link). Interestingly, with proper hygiene, all medical "benefits" of circumcision are essentially negated, even the supposed HIV reduction from being circumcised correlation (see 2nd link).

Lastly, circumcision does have its own risks and complications, aside from the pain it's sure to cause him. Some of these complications can be quite severe, and even if the rate of complication is 5% or less, it still exists (see 3rd link). That's also approximately the probability that he'll develop any problem from having a foreskin (most of these problems are easily treatable without surgical intervention).

So, my point is, since it's a rather unnecessary procedure it should be his choice as it's his body. That I think is the right thing to do. The hygiene issue of having a foreskin really isn't a big deal (or any other potential problems for that matter) and to have him circumcised for that is pretty much overkill. If he hates being uncircumcised (which is unlikely I think), he can always get circumcised later and it'll be his choice.

Answer 5

I am a 29 year old uncircumsized male. I have played sports my whole life and been in the military for 4 years, so alot of guys have seen me naked. It is not as embarassing as people may think and for the hygiene purposes it doesn't matter either way if the person is clean nothing will happen and if the person is a dirty bird then he will get an infection. That skin is there for stimulation later in life and he will be glad he has it when he gets to the right age.

Answer 6

The right thing to do is to leave him with an intact body!

Take a look at how this barbaric procedure is done: http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/ Is that what you want done to your son? Some parents say their babies only cry a little -- that's because they go into shock!

The hygiene "reason" to do this is pure myth. 85% of the world's men still have their foreskins and have no trouble keeping clean.

Answer 7

I'm not a man, but I was faced with the same dilemma when I had my son.

I chose not to circumcise for the following point: why would I chose to cut a piece of my sons genitalia off if I wouldn't do the same to my daughter? I wouldn't (and didn't)

Modern culture looks at female circumcision as a horrific act that is a violation of basic human rights of these girls, but they justify doing the same to our boys for the reason of 'hygiene'.

I can tell you for a fact, as my son is 5 years old and I have known many uncircumcised men, that an uncircumcised penis is no less clean than a circumcised one. The time spent on keeping it clean is mere seconds, as regular bathing will take care of any potential problems.

Circumcision for cleanliness probably made sense as recently as 100 years ago, when men generally bathed once a year "weather they needed to or not".

Finally, removing the foreskin from the head of a males penis basically removes the protective barrier that protects the 'head' from friction and constant stimulation - reducing sexual pleasure later in life (when these things are going to count, trust me).

(One last point, and the one that shut my mom up - if my son decides later in life that he wants to be circumcised, he can go have it done - but if he wants his foreskin BACK, well...)

Answer 8

I believe that it is unneccessary operation and there are risks as with any operation. There was one incident where the surgery went wrong and the boy was raised as a girl. Incidentally, there is a book written by that person. Talk about ruining a human being for life.
There is some pain involved and you are making him suffer needlessly.
The right thing to do is not to circumsize. If a person takes the proper procedures for hygiene, then there is no reason to circumsize. If a person is unclean, then that person will acquire disease not because of having the foreskin on the penis, but because of his unclean life style. A person that is circumsized will still have to take the proper cleaning procedures or suffer the consequences of infection.
Final answer: do not do it!

Answer 9

Yes I would. Aside from hygeine, it looks better.

We may have needed it in the old days when we swung from branches and sat on rocks, but it's not necessary these days. We remove appendixes when they present a problem, and they are useless. A foreskin is useless and can only present problems down the road. Kids cry and scream when they get a shot... you wouldn't decide not to give them a chicken pox vaccine because they will cry would you?

Answer 10

I have a three year old. He was cicumsized. He cried for about 2 minutes. The thing about it is, when you get older most men want it done. There is so much more cleaning involved. Alot of my older family members weren't when they were born and just about all of them got it done later in life, which is alot more painful than when you are a baby. I fully recommend it. Think about the future. It is the best way to go. They are only hurt for a few minutes and they forget about it.

Answer 11

hey stephanie- i am happy to admit that i am not circumsized at all and never once had any hygine problems at all- growing up as a male you do learn how to look afteryourself. it is the same for females you live and learn.
from an enjoyment side- well from what my ex girlfriends have told me etc men who are not circumsized tend to last longer.