Circumcision?

Question

Did you guys have your sons circumcised or not? I always wanted to have my son circ. but once he got here I changed my mind...He was 100% perfect and I didn't feel like we needed to change anything about him. Anyone else go through the same thing?

Answer 1

I have 2 boys, ages almost 4 and 17 mo. and neither are circumcised. My husband IS, but he did not see a problem in them being different. We made our decision based on medical research, etc. My family doesn't agree with it, but from all the research I've done and since we don't live in a third world country, the health benefits of not having them circumcised definitely outweigh any possible risks. Teach him how to keep it clean and NEVER EVER pull the skin back, it will release on its own over time. Kudos to you for not doing something unnecessary to your son!!

Answer 2

It's funny how you ask a simple question about what people's choices were and the people who choose to get their son circumcised got tons of thumbs down. I chose to circumcise my son because I feel it is cleanier and overall a healthier thing. Not only that, it was part my boyfriend's choice as well and he felt, if he was raising our son and one day going to be teaching him how to pee, ect ect he's rather not have to explain why daddy's pee pee was different.
It was also my personal choice and my son's healed in one week and he had no redness or swelling. After the first day he didn't even cry ever. He barely even cried the first day.
I did have a hard time with it at first, but if my boyfriend wouldn't have been an active role in our lives, I probably wouldn't have gotten it done, because to me it doesn't really matter. But, I chose to and I am happy with my decision.

Answer 3

I'm in my early 30's and uncut. Now before you think I am just one of those weirdo's that goes posting everywhere, I really had never looked in to circumcision, before a few months ago when I found out I was having a son. I personally have never had any problems from my foreskin, actually I am rather happy to have it and rather happy my parents didn't do it to me. But when I found out I was having a son, I figured I should at least look in to circumcision to reassure myself that I am making the proper choice. I have read the anti and pro pages. I think they are both stretching the truth. I think the pro-circumcision website stretch the truth more and being intact I feel I am in a good position to call bullsh*t on subjects regarding intact.

For me the best reason not to, is it is not my penis. If you are truly unhappy being intact you have an option that someone who is unhappy being circumcised does not.

As I said I was never into the subject until recently. I am absolutly against infant circ now. I live in Arizona, the CDC reports 36 (43 % white, 21 % black 7% Mexicans) or so of infants are circ'd @ the hospital. But probably higher, adjusted for jewish bris and people that had to do it later because Arizona medicad does not pay for it. But never the less my son will be in good company in the locker room. Personally I don't remember ever being picked on about being intact.

Yet another reason not to, I have read several mothers here on this site saying they had to have their son redone. This actually came up recently my friends wife was telling me how their son is going to have to be redone and how her brother had to be redone at 10.

A positive for me being intact (Not something a mom wants to know), is that in my age group there are few intact men. From my experience, women when they found out I wasn't often wanted to see. They then see it is not dirty or stinky, and you are already at 3rd base. Seeing it often turned into oral sex.

Obviously I can not speak for a circumcised man, but I think that an intact man does have more senitivity. My only way I can justify that statement is, I could not imagine having my head rubbing underware all day.

Just my two cents. ok maybe 3, I wrote a lot.

Answer 4

I know this is common in mothers in the USA, and it's absolutely correct and a great instinct. One of the reasons circumcision rates are plummeting. Babies are perfect when they are born and removing healthy parts is bizarre, espcially considering the risks. Also if a child is born healthy and everything is fine then why put them through unnecessary surgery? So many people give birth to children who need surgery to survive, with healthy children, why put them through that?

There is no reason for newborn circumcision, medical or otherwise. If your son wants to get it done later (unlikely) he can.

I will never circumcise any sons I may have.

Answer 5

I'm the one with intact genitals in our family, so I got to make the decision.

I offered up the research to my husband, but he declined to read it. Why would we do something to intentionally hurt our baby?

Now, I'm to the point where i am appalled that parents even get to make this kind of choice. Why is there only this ONE piece of our baby's anatomy that is superfelous and allowed to be amputated at birth? Why only boys? I am ashamed that this repulsive custom persists outside of religion in the US, but not in any other 1st world nation.

Answer 6

Well, I'm an 18 year old pre-medicine student (looking into pediatrics) at university, and my parents didn't have me circumcised. Needless to say, I researched it and felt very satisfied over the choice they made. In fact, I know that I can always get cut if I choose to, but I doubt that'll ever be the case.

I'm against the surgery as it is permanent, while if left uncircumcised he can always choose to get circumcised himself. In addition to that, circumcision is no longer as common and it carries significant risks.

The USA is the last developed nation doing circumcision on a significant scale without medical or religious reasons. That means Europe and Japan (and Latin America and China, for that matter) don't circumcise. Circumcision rates in Australia and Canada are low, and in Africa... it varies by nation/tribe. Here's a worldwide map that gives you a general idea of where circumcision is common:
http://www.circumstitions.com/Maps.html

In the United States, circumcision rates vary by state, race... and other factors, like the year you were born. For the most part, the West Coast has the lowest circumcision rates, with some states as low as 14% now. Compare that to national circumcision rates being around 90% back in the 1960s and 70s. US data:
http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/staterates2004/

Risks of circumcision include:

In a medical study, it was found that females are more likely to hit orgasm with an uncircumcised man:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/60750.html

The lubricated foreskin (on the inside... like your eyelids) slides up and down during sex and masturbation to stimulate the head.
http://www.cirp.org/pages/anat/

Studies have found that circumcision reduces sensitivity (this article also mentions how it has lost popularity in the USA in recent times):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,285532,00.html

And despite being more sensitive, they still last in the same six minute range (average) that circumcised guys do:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.00070.x

Makes masturbation more difficult:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2006.06646.x

Which makes sense, that's how it was made popular in the USA:
http://english.pravda.ru/science/health/27-03-2006/77873-circumcision-0

Increases erectile dysfunction rates:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14979200&dopt=Abstract%7C

If too much skin is removed, it can make the penis smaller since the penis needs some skin to expand during an erection:
http://drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=1125
http://www.altermd.com/Penis%20and%20Scrotal%20Surgery/buried_penis.htm

And here are myths that doctors often use to get your kid circumcised:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/circumcision/protect-uncircson.html

Answer 7

I actually decided when I was 5 months pregnant that I would not have my son circumcised for many reasons, one of them being that he was born fine to begin with, and there was no reason to "fix what ain't broken."

He's a year old and has had no problems.

Answer 8

We opted not to have our son circumcised ... there's no medical reason for it and i personally don't care... people always have something bad to say about it but it never affected my decision ... as long as you clean it properly and teach them to clean it properly then you shouldn't have any problems out of it... i do know that 9 times out of 10 parents try to force back the skin *which is a big no no* and it can cause a bacterial infection but thats about then only bad thing that i've ever heard/seen... i hope that I was of some help!

Answer 9

Yep. My son is not circumcized. I didn't feel the need to do it. Besides its his body what do i have the right to cut him. I mean yeah people say its cleaner but as long as you keep the diaper area dry and when he gets older the forskin will retract on its own so dont mess with it and then you or his dad can just show him to keep good hygein by washing and keeping himself clean. Thats all. And if he was to get cut later well that wil be his dicision painful maybe but his. And this is your son and you know whats best for him. I just didnt feel the need to cuz i figured if he needed it then god would of created him that way.

Answer 10

I am with you on this one! I thought I was going to get it done but when he got here, I couldn't imagine doing that to him!

This is copy-pasted from someone else's answer about circumcision, I thought it was an excellent answer and it persuaded my husband not to get our son cut.

"
It is an indisputable FACT that the foreskin is the most nerve-rich portion of the male anatomy. Uncircumcised men enjoy sex more, and their partners enjoy sex more. One need only read surveys and research into the subject--where the partner had both experienced a cut and uncut penis. You cannot take surveys conducted in the United States, where nearly every boy is mutilated, seriously. THEY HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED AND UNCIRCUMCISED PENIS! They are answersing with question to NO KNOWLEDGE!

Of course the penis feels more sensation when the skin is pulled back. That's what the foreskin is for! To keep the mucous membrane (head of the penis) moist, supple, and sensitive, so that sex is extremely pleasurable. Men who lack a foreskin have enlarged, kerotinized heads, completely devoid of the sensitivity it used to have. Years of being exposed to air and rubbing against clothes dries it out and kills the nerves. The head enlarges because it's been scarred! That larger head on cut guys is scar tissue--nasty, carved out, mutilated, kerotinized leftovers of their manhood.

The idea that the uncut penis masturbates within itself is totally bogus--if a man's penis is 6 inches long and he inserts into his partner, she is receiving 6 inches whether it's covered in foreskin or not. She is receiving that length of pleasure whether the man is gliding in and out of his foreskin or not. The whole notion of "KY JELLY" is something invented in the US, for mutilated men, so they can have sex with their partners, as their dried out penises are incapable of producing their own lube. Sex with an intact man is 100 times better, no ifs ands or buts."