Circumcision?

Question

I just found out that my husband and i are having a boy in may! we are tickeled to death because thats what we wanted. I asked my husband about circumcision and he said that his son would definalty be circumsized. Is this really nesacary though? seems like needless pain to remove a small flap of skin or am i not looking at the situation right since i am a woman?

Answer 1

Medically there is evidence that is better for your child and evidence pointing that it makes no difference, and even some evidence that it can be bad to get it done.

It is becoming common for parents not to do it because all it is is a form of "plastic surgery", altering the way your baby looks naturally.

I did have my son done but I will admit it was a bit selfish, I think it looks better. But my friend decided not to with her son who is the same age and has had no problems yet.

Its really up to you, if you decide not to though you can always have it done later or he as an adult can decide to have it done when hes grown up. Infants feel jsut as much pain as an adult does but they give infants pain medication now a days when they have it done and they can give children and adults pain medication to so I don't think that pain is a big issue no matter his age. Its going to hurt some both ways, and there is medication to help the pain both ways.

Answer 2

The jury's out on this one, and it doesn't look like they're coming back anytime soon.

There are arguments to be made for both sides and they are both right.

There is a slightly increased risk of infection or STD with an uncircumsized penis, but it is practically a microscopic increase, and if you make sure to practice and teach your son to practice good personal hygeine, then he will be fine.

On the pain front, any reputable doctor will use anesthetic when preforming a circumcision. They used to think that when a baby was brand new, they didn't feel pain yet, but I guess the screaming finally tipped someone off and they started numbing the area. Also, they can give an ounce or two of sugar water, which helps with the pain.

At the hospital, they should have a booklet or a chart showing the technique that they would be using. There are several ways, I believe three, that are commonly used, and they can show you all of them, but they'll focus on the way that they do it at that particular hospital.

Your husband is probably wanting it for the same reason that my boyfriend insisted that our son be circumsized: that's how he is. In my area (middle America) most boys are circumsized. I've never known anyone who wasn't, and we didn't want our son to be different than all the other boys.

The risks of circumcision include infection from not properly caring for the wound, or the doctor not preforming it right. I do know someone who's doctor botched their son's circumcision, and ended up leaving a nasty looking scar.

The only thing that you can do in this situation is to be knowledgable. Read up on it, learn how it's done, read through articles by supporters and opponents, and then sit down and have a serious conversation with your husband. It is a highly personal decision, and should be made with great care.

I have posted a link for an article here, but you may want to google it to see other perspectives.

Good luck, and congratulations on your son! My little boy just turned one, and he's so incredible.

Answer 3

If you decide not to have it done then you must learn how to clean him properly and teach him how to clean himself properly when he learns to bathe himself because he will be more prone to infection. That is the only difference with having it done or not having it done. It's easier to keep clean if they are cut. I have 4 brothers and 2 are and 2 aren't they have never had a problem (as far as I know) I know a man who had to have the surgery after he was a grown man, he said it was the most pain he has ever been in in his life, and I also know a woman who had her newborn circumcised and the Dr. cut too much and caused an infection really done a whack job on the baby. You can read all these answers but in the end the choice is up to you and your hubby. there are good stories and horror stories on both sides of the fence.

Answer 4

The circumcision debate is seems to be endless. However, there is one message that will end it permanently.

The sexual importance of the foreskin.

It was only proven in the year 2000 that the foreskin is vital sexual tissue, but the message is getting out very quickly, due to the internet. By the time your son is 18 years old, it will be common knowledge that natural sex is far superior to circumcised sex, and the natural penis will be the universally accepted norm.

Give your son the best possible advantage in life. Go to the following website and study the...

TOP 10 Reasons Why Circumcision is Harmful to Sex

http://www.sexasnatureintendedit.com/10F/1hook_scrapes.html

Be sure to click on the faq link about hygiene and penis infection. Also, visit Mothering Magazine discussion:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=623246

Also, by the time your son is sexually active in 18 years, HIV-AIDS will be medically preventable and/or curable. Several companies are already anticipating breakthroughs. Keep that in mind.

Best wishes for you and your husband, and your new baby boy.

Answer 5

Congratulations on expecting a son! I have two and they love their Mommas so much!

To answer your question, no circumcision is not necessary. And the foreskin is not just a small flap of skin, it contains thousands of very sensitive nerve endings and is actually very beneficial.

No medical organization in the world recomends infant circumcision.
http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/...

It is a painful, traumatic thing for a sweet little babe to go through.
http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/method...

And the risks are wayyyy too high!
http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/compli...

Besides, most people are not doing it now anyway.
http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/b...
http://www.courtchallenge.com/refs/yr99p...

I read this article when expecting my first and thought it was great!
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_ba...

Most men start out wanting their sons to look like them, but most do end up comming around.
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/Like-Son.htm

But this is for you so you can understand his point of view,
http://www.udonet.com/circumcision/vincent/vulnerability_of_men.html

My husband is circumcised, but our sons are not. They are 5.5 and 2 right now and we will explain to them what circumcision is and how when Daddy was born doctors thought it was better, but when they were born, they knew it was not, so we did not do it to them.

We are very happy with our decision. So are our sons, at least they are enjoying their foreskins for now :) And if when they are grown, they want to be circumcised, they can be, not a problem! The same is not true if the boy is circumcised at birth, he is then stuck with what he has left :(

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.
Take care!

Answer 6

There is no reason to circumcise boys in this day an age.

HYGIENE - IT'S CLEANER : Unless you are a dirty person, you can have a perfectly clean and healthy foreskin if you bathe at least once a day. Anyone who tells you otherwise (mainly circumcised men who have never experienced anything different), is ignorant or lying or both.

HEALTH : Remember, most of the world's population is intact (including Europe and they are as 'civilised' as any of the 'circumcising' nations) so if it was such a health/hygiene issue, why doesn't EVERYONE circumcise? They don't because it is unnecessary! Think about it people!

Yes, you MAY have problems with your foreskin that MAY require circumcision at a later date - but using this as an excuse to circumcise baby boys is retarded thinking. You may get an eye infection when you are older ... or tooth decay ... or a kidney stone ...! Why not whip those potentially problematic parts of the body out of your defenceless baby son, just in case he MAY suffer from one of these afflictions somtime in the future? Anyway, new stretching and steroid therapies makes even the tightest foreskin unlikely to require circumcision.

The American Academy of Paediatrics states there are no significant benefits to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure.

IT LOOKS BETTER : Yes, some people think it may 'look better' but don't you think you ought to leave that decision to your son at a later stage? Many men don't particularly find the labia and clitoris particularly beautiful - but for some reason, everyone is against female circumcision!!! What's this all about? Why one rule for boys and another one for girls??? Let your boy make his own choice, for goodness sake!!!

I'M CUT SO MY SON MUST BE CUT : What nonsense! YOU need to break this abusive cycle now. If you were physically or mentally abused as a child, should it be expected of you to do the same again to your child? No - people would think that was horrific. Accept that what happened to you was abuse - but you cannot change it - and fight for your son to be left in the state that nature intended. You will be a better person for it.

DANGERS : A number of children die from the circumcision procedure every year. Is the death of your new son EVER worth this risk? Accidents happen in circumcision procedures - so many boys also suffer from damage to their penises and some lose them completely. You still think it's worth it - risking his life for something completely unnecessary? Are you that unfeeling and selfish? Do you think that your son will 'thank' you when he's older that you had him circumcised for no real reason, and he now suffers some sort of sexual dysfunction because of it?

Lastly, do you know what circumcision entails? The child gets strapped down onto a board, his legs and arms tied so he cannot squirm .. and his foreskin is either CUT or CRUSHED, depending on the circumcision technique. Contrary to what was once thought, babies DO FEEL PAIN and their screams should be enough to cause any loving parent even considering doing this procedure.

How could you possibly do this to your new born son if you really, really love him?

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/hollywoodz_horror/Hayden11106155.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/hollywoodz_horror/Hayden11106156.jpg

Let your child chose what HE wants done with HIS foreskin when he is older. It is not about YOUR parental rights - it is about HIS rights!

Answer 7

I've known men on both sides of the "fence" It makes no difference when having sex. They urinate the same, some say it's "cleaner" but if the parents are doing their job they can keep an uncircumsized boy clean. If it were MY son I would not be making the choice since I am a female and I just don't feel I have the right to decide that. Luckily I had a daughter LOL.

Answer 8

"Oh my it is so scary to see how ignorant people are these days. First off, coming from somebody with many years of medical experience and many years of assisting with these procedures, babies are NOT in pain. There are no nerve endings formed in the tip of the penis at this point, anyone that knows the anatomy of a newborn's penis should know that."

There is plenty of evidence out there that shows that the pitch of a baby's screaming is far higher when he is being circumcised. How can you POSSIBLY know that he is not feeling anything? Yet you are willing to take that risk with a completely unnecessary operation?

"I assist in anywhere from 3 to 5 of these per day, so I would say that there are still quite a few people getting this done."

Ah! So THAT'S your motive! Money! No major healthcare organisation in the US or the world approves of nonessential, routine circumcision of babies. Period.

"In assisting, I can tell you the baby does not feel pain, and they do not get strapped down to the table."

These look like happy, little unstrapped fellas to me - NOT!

http://www.circumstitions.com/Images/Glossary/circumstraint.jpg

http://www.circumcision.org/SCAN2.gif

http://www.drabruzzi.com/images/baby_strapped_to_restraint.jpg


"I am a surgical tech and work in the OR. When assisting on these procedures my job is to help hold the baby still and I usually talk to him, and hardly ever do I have one that is crying. Most of them that do cry start crying when they are taken out of their warm blanket not because of the procedrue."

I don't know how you sleep at night if you believe that! Oh, of course, its the MONEY that you make by mutilating newborn babies for no reason!


"They do not use a knife for the procedure and have never used any kind of a crushing method????"

You call yourself a 'surgical tech" yet you have NEVER heard of the Gomco clamp???? What kind of education did you have?

The Gomco clamp : The bell is introduced into the preputial cavity (over the glans and under the foreskin) and the prepuce is drawn over it. The plate is then placed over the bell so that the prepuce is sandwiched between them. The arm is fitted into its proper place, and when the nut is screwed on tightly, it exerts a CRUSHING force on the prepuce at the junction of the bell and plate. The clamp is left on for 5 minutes to achieve hemostasis, and the prepuce is excised.

"Where do you people get your facts??????"

There are non so blind as them that will not see. All the current medical evidence is against you yet you PERSEVERE in this outadated and abhorrent practice.


"My son never cried or even flinched when he had his done and he had NO pain medication before or after."

You would say that. You have the guilt of carrying the knowledge that you mutilated your child for no reason. You ought to be ASHAMED of yourself!

Answer 9

It shouldn't be your choice nor your husbands choice. It is your baby boys foreskin...if he wants to get it lopped off when he's old enough to make an educated choice about it, he can do it. Foreskin is there for a reason. So many people say that being intact (uncircumcised) is unhygenic. What the hell is wrong with parents TEACHING their boys how to clean their penis? It's not hard. Until your boy naturally retracts, it needs to be cleaned just like a finger, just rinsed on the outside.

But if if if one of you had to make a choice, it should be you because YOU have the foreskin still (yes you were lucky enough not to have your foreskin cut off), your husband doesn't.

Have you ever watched a video of a circumcision? Have you ever seen pictures of botched circumcisions (happens more often than anyone wants to think!)? I urge you to do both.

Also, for those who are using the locker room arguement. Circumcision is on it's way out. The circumcision rate here in Canada is less than 10%. So 90% of boys are left intact. So if ANYONE gets made fun of in the locker room, it will be the boys with their foreskin chopped off.

Answer 10

Totally unecessary! Just ask %80-%85 of the rest of the men in the world!

First off: It is not a small flap of skin. It is a double layered mucus membrane with thousands of nerve endings and blood vessals. It is fused to the head of the glans until it naturally separarates, which means they have to break the bonds, much like pulling a fingernail from the finger. This will be your baby's first experience with his sexual organs. Is that what you want for him?

Second: You are the one with intact genitals, not your husband. you have a prepuce (your clitoral hood), he does not (if he is cut.) You know what it is like to live your whole life with all sexual sensation intact. You know that any infection a female gets is treated with antibiotics or anti-fungals NOT AMPUTATIVE SURGERY! As for keeping clean. Do we whack out our daughters labis so we don't have to clean them? No. Boys foreskins are adheared and self cleaning until puberty sometimes. just wipe like a finger and go!

And you know what? Most women deal with a lot more penises in life than most men;-) just because Americans have been conditioned in the past few geneerations to see the mutilated penis, with parts brutally ripped away at birth, as normal and attractive doesn't mean we have to pass this dreadful idea on to our children.