Can anyone give me advice with this circumcised decision?

Question

Well im 15 goin onto 16 and i never got circumcised when i was a baby. My parents never gave a hoot on if i should do it but i really would love to be circumcised but i dont know how my parents will take. Im thinking if i tell them they're gonna tell me why am i thinking of this or just simply say no but its a decision id like to make to make myself feel better. so what do you guys suggest?

My family is catholic and well asking my dad first sounds like a good idea but i dont know if he thinks im getting to sexually and thinks i wana do it just to go around and having sex with girls.

Answer 1

It's your choice. More and more parents are leaving their boys uncircumcised nowadays. (in the USA the rates are as low as 14% in some states and the USA remains the only advanced nation doing it) So you have the advantage of being able to choose.

Just make sure you research throughly, you can have it undone if you don't end up liking it. As an example, studies have found that circumcision reduces sensitivity in the long run (since the head always rubs and the nerve endings on the head get used to being rubbed, so they become less responsive gradually) and makes masturbation more difficult. In fact, that's how it became popular in the USA in the 1800s since masturbation was considered bad. The studies and the risks are described here:
http://forums.govteen.com/showpost.php?p=3069995&postcount=2
http://circumstitions.com/Sexuality.html#sorrells

So just research it throughly. I doubt they'd say no, however.

Hmmm... in response to a post below, Catholics aren't required to circumcise. The bible actually has pretty strong words against it it. The Catholic church actually condemned circumcision. Catholics who are circumcised are done for cultural reasons or personal choice, not religion. Most Catholics in the world are uncircumcised (Europeans and Latin Americans).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision_in_the_Bible#In_Christianity

In response to one of the posts below, there's no epidemic due to being uncircumcised in the developed world. Much is the opposite, honestly. Look at current HIV rates. Which advanced nation has the highest HIV rates? The one with the highest circumcision rates. Europe (which don't circumcise) have lower circumcision rates. That's using CIA statistics:
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2155rank.html

I think your parents just wanted you to avoid this:
http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/

Answer 2

Are you concerned that girls will find it odd? Don't be. These days, only about 60% of US boys are circumcised; so girls often have seen both circumcised and uncircumcised. In any case, what they think looks good shouldn't be the basis for deciding to do this.

The Amerian Medical Association and the American Association of Pediatrics both agree - routine circumcision is unnecessary. It does not reduce STDs. (Check the AMA and other medical sites - this is an old myth that for some reason, women on this forum keep bringing up!)

It does not prevent penile cancer (which is a VERY rare cancer anyway) and it does not make you more or less hygienic. At your age, you already know you must pull the foreskin back when you urinate, and in the shower you pull it back and wash the head and foreskin just as you do the rest of your body.

Some people may tell you that you have less risk of HIV infection if circumcised; that is true, but only if you have sex without a condom. In men who have sex with HIV infected people with a condom, there is no difference in transmission rates.

What will happen is that you will permanently lose thousands of nerve endings that increase your sexual pleasure; and with the foreskin gone, you will lose sensitivity in the head of your penis, which will develop a layer of inert keretin to protect itself.

I would strongly advise against circumcision; but you are right, it is your choice. Just remember you can't reverse the process. Once the nerve endings are cut off, you cannot grow them back.

Answer 3

Ok firstly I'm not Christian, but my mom and aunt are very religious (my mom became religious after I was grown) and circumcision is not a Christian practice. Jesus released the Christians from the need to circumcise as a sign of the covenant with God. I honestly think you should discuss this with your priest/minister/etc. My boys are not circumcised, my faith tells me that babies are born perfect. To me, a Down's Syndrome baby is perfect, so is the foreskin. I also believe that infant circumcision is child abuse, under the current laws girls are protected and boys are not. That is not allowable under the laws of most Western countries. ALL babies deserve protection from cosmetic surgery. There are no medical benefits to circumcision until the male becomes sexually active (and even then its pretty questionable, and certainly do not apply to those who marry as virgins -even penile cancer is STD caused so that risk doesn't apply). Circumcising an post-pubescent penis is much safer. You don't have to rip the foreskin off the glans (they are fused in babies) the area is bigger and easier to cut, and you know exactly how much skin to remove. In an infant you have to guess and removing too much and too little is common. Teens and men also have many more pain relievers available, and many more antibiotics. Because the wound is not in a diaper it is less likely to get infected, and because the teen/man can communicate infections can be found at the first sign. Caring for a circumcised baby is also more difficult. Even once the circumcision is healed any remaining skin must be retracted to prevent adhesions, and also to clean. The inside of an uncircumcised foreskin is self-cleaning, like under the eye lid and the inside of the vagina (yes if poop gets forced into either the vagina or foreskin then it would need to be cleaned but the infant foreskin is better sealed than the vagina) I can't answer you religious questions for you, but I can tell you that ethically I don't see how you can justify circumcision. And the health benefits certainly aren't there.

Answer 4

It will be your choice in a few years time... since this needs paying for. You will be more mature then anyway and able to properly assess your emotions.

I suggest you wait a few years..... your parents need even not know, then. By then however, I think you will probably feel more comfortable with your body and comparing yourself to others will be much less important. There are a lot of men who are circumcised who lament never knowing what it is like to have a foreskin. You are in the best situation of all... being able to make a decision by yourself without your parents involvement. In the intervening period, learn to enjoy it.

BTW Teenage girls do not know what they like, yet.... they would have you dress it up in a frock paint lipstick on it and jiggle it to make it dance... if you would let them. No idea... and no respect... so when they say ...."ewww get it cut" they are thinking of it as a fashion accessory, not a sex toy.

Answer 5

Jorge left out a word -- this operation is not reversible. Once it's gone, it's gone forever, and when you regret having it done in a few words, there's not much you can do about it.

Be grateful to your parents for leaving you intact. This is not a decision that should be made at age 15. Wait until you are 20 or so, and you will be extremely glad you didn't yield to the temptation to do the fashionable thing. Never make permanent changes to your body because of fads or other temporary circumstances.

Oh, by the way, it hurts -- a lot. Not while they are cutting, as they numb it, but for weeks afterwards. It hurts terribly for babies, too. Your parents didn't want to put you through that because they love you.

Answer 6

Why do you want to be circumcised??? The foreskin has the most nerve endings in the penis--uncurcumcised guys can recieve a lot more pleasure. There is no need for genital mutilation--the US is the last civilized country that largely practices it. Don't change your body.

Answer 7

Well, one thing I know is that insurance will not cover it for a kid your age, and the procedure is very expensive...so don't count on your parents to be able to afford it.

Also, in some cultures/families boys simply do not get circumsized. Perhaps that is how it is in your family.

Answer 8

i say its your choice to ask your parents, and their choice to let you go through with it.
And in response to what some people were saying above, one of the only good reasons to get circumcised is for health reasons, because stuff can build up between the penis and the foreskin. But that is not a big issue, if you shower daily(or close to daily). Circumcision makes only a small difference in sensitivity because most of the nerve endings are in the tip of the penis, not the foreskin.
But i agree that you should ask you dad, he might have gone through the same thing your're going through, you never know

Answer 9

Tell him that if that were the case, you could go off and have sex with girls ANYWAYS! you dont need to be circumsized to do that! just tell them that it'd make you feel better about yourself and more confident, not a religious thing.

Answer 10

Hmmm... they might not have a problem. its a very minor surgery, (but it will be painful after the fact). I would talk to your dad first and see what he says. if you give him a good reason why then he might understand more than your mom... or you can always wait till you're 18 and do it then.

circumcision isnt a big deal though, and its not a big deal to be uncircumcised either.... but only u know if its right for you and what your reasons are...