Thread: Circumcision - Do or Don't?

Saw this on another board and with my nephews birth just thought I would get some more opinions on this matter. I had a girl first time so this didn't even cross my mind until just recently.

I am pretty sure we are going to have Ryan circumcised at birth. I just feel personal trauma when I think about them ripping something off my childs body!! I know he isn't the first baby to have it done and he won't be the last either. DH and DSS are both circumcised and both of my nephews are/will be as well. I have no experience with an un-circumcised baby and I guess it's the fear of the unknown is what prompts me to do it. I know they say it isn't medically necessary, etc. I just thought I would get some input from BTDT Mommy's with boys and how the first time Mommy's of boys are going to handle this.

Interesting question. I was back and forth about this for the longest time (even though for now I don't have to worry about it). In many countries in the world, boys are not circumcised. I dated a guy for 4 years who was not circumcised and a younger version of myself would have said "no way" to circumcision. However, if I were having a boy right now, I would have him circumcised. Of course if you want the advantages/disadvantages I can tell you that an uncircumcised penis is a lot more sensitive to sexual stimulation (not really what you want to think about at this point, I'm sure), but they can be difficult to keep clean. You would have to be a lot more attentive to his hygiene in order to avoid infections. To me it would make a lot more sense to have him circumcised since his dad and step-brother both are..and since it is more the norm in our culture, it might save him some strange looks and embarrassing questions when he gets a little older.

This will be a highly opinionated and heated topic no doubt. I am sure you even heard about how in San Francisco they are trying to ban circumcisions! Now, while I don't think the gov't should dictate people's rights to choose, I do think it is unneccessary mutilation. A lot of mom's these days do it so they match daddy or because they don't want them to be the odd-man out when they go to school, but statistics show that these days only half or less are actually getting circumcised, so it won't be weird or abnormal for them to not be circumcised. And it depends on your region. In the western states, only about 1/3 or 30% get circumcised these days. The numbers are dropping.

If it isn't medically necessary, or if you aren't doing it for religious purposes, I have no idea why you would do it. To me, it is the equiv of getting a girls hood cut off... it is the same mutilation. As far as cleanliness or infections, that is all BS too. By the time you can pull back the skin to clean it, the boys will be in middle school and should be able to to this no problem by themselves. My son is not circumcised and we have never had an infection! And many of the boys he plays with on play dates or goes to daycare with aren't circumcised either.

They don't do this in Europe! Made me really think about it. We were moments away from doing it at the hospital when we changed our minds, and I'm so glad we never did it. There are 50 nerve endings there and it is extremely painful for them. And, they have more sensation there when not circumcised.

Just my opinion, of course.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n7048210.shtml

This is what I posted in January 2012:

This is always a heated topic....

I did NOT have Nicholas circumsized. My DH is circ but to do something "to make him look like daddy" isn't really a good reason in my book. We did a lot of research on the benefits and drawbacks of it and seperately and drew our own conclusions. I was against it and DH was wishy-washy.

It is not considered a medical necessity and in most of the world people do not circ. The Acadamy of Peds (I think that's the name?) does not recommend it and the benefits seemed so small. Penile cancer is very rare to begin with and it reduces some UTIs. Girls are more susceptable to UTIs because of their anatomy but you don't see us cutting of labias because of that. People can also have their appendix burst and it has no medical function but they aren't removed until it causes problems.

More and more people are choosing not to circ. In the south where we live, I am sure more people circ but just because "everyone is doing it" isn't really a valid reason to me either. I think the rate is something like 60% of people are around here. Nationally it is about 50/50. These are all stats from 2008 though when I did the research so it may have changed a little.

All of this being said, Nicholas was admitted to the hospital at 3 weeks old due to a fever. It turns out it was due to a UTI and some of the physicians were asking if I was going to circ but we didn't and he hasn't had a UTI since. We went through some testing to make sure it wasn't his kidneys and everything was fine. I asked the dr's if it was because of his circ and they said that 2% babies get UTIs this early and they can't say if he was circ that it wouldn't have happened. I wondered if I had made the right decision when we were going through all of that but looking back I am glad that we didn't. Now I can tell my son that we chose not to remove part of his body that he was born with just because of "what if's". Also, he should experience more sexual pleasure. I'm not worried about the cleaning. We will just teach him how to clean properly when his foreskin retracts (hasn't yet I don't think).

Take your time and do the research. Don't let other people's thinking sway an important decision that you make for YOUR son.

I had both of my boys circumcized. It's not the barbaric ritual that you might think it is. They numb the area, it's a quick snip, and you stick a bottle in their mouth. The crying is no different than piercing a baby girls' ears. I heals in a few days, and I have never had any problems with it. I plan on circumcizing Trystan, too. I've known three men that have had to go be circumcized in their adult lives due to infection, including DH's dad (at the age of 50!!). My whole view on it is that why have them need to clean it all their lives when you can not only spare them of that, but also spare them of (God forbid) them needing to have it done in adulthood, where it no doubt hurts 10x more than if they were a newborn. My pediatrician does this at eight days old, when a newborns pain threshold is at their highest. Again, this is just IMO!! To each their own when it comes to their son's "pee-pee" lol!

It doesn't have to be a heated topic - to each their own, right?

We circ'd DS and if this little one was a boy we would do it with him as well. I would suggest making sure that you and your DH are in agreement, no matter which way you decide to go. Know the different types of circ's that can be done and which one your hospital uses. Also you may want to ask if its done by the OB, pedi or someone else from the hospital

I don't really know about "it" getting infected either way - done or not so I can't really speak on that.

Wow...I never would have thought that this would be such a heated topic. 12 years ago, when I was studying in Europe, I learned that most of the world isn't circumcised, and I thought that the US was so backward in it's thinking and practices. I really assumed that most people were continuing to circumsize their sons and it surprises me to learn that it's changing. Not that that's a bad thing. I think it's good that people are researching it and making informed decisions based on their own beliefs, values, and family preferences. I agree with Angela that you should make the decision that's best for you. But honestly, I don't think that either decision will be as big a deal to the child as it is to the parent. A child who grows up circumcised will feel that is "normal" for him and a child who grows up uncircumcised will feel the same way.

I didn't mean for it to get heated. I don't think anyone is right or wrong. I think this is one of those personal decisions based on the research/feelings of an individual person.

Originally Posted by _Jessicah_

I didn't mean for it to get heated. I don't think anyone is right or wrong. I think this is one of those personal decisions based on the research/feelings of an individual person.

I don't think it's a bad thing for topics to get heated...so don't feel bad! My DH loves to talk about politics and sometimes it bugs me because it usually ends in a heated discussion. But he always points out that one of the reasons that there is such a strong division of opinion on most things is because people are afraid to talk about it and listen to each other. They just assume that the "other side" is wrong. And I have to say I agree with him on this. It's good for people to talk about their differences of opinion because everyone has had different experiences and it's how we learn from each other. As long as nobody is attacking anyone else and respecting everyone's thoughts (which I feel like we are) then I don't see the problem. I am interested in hearing what others have to say.

Originally Posted by mlle_carrie

As long as nobody is attacking anyone else and respecting everyone's thoughts (which I feel like we are) then I don't see the problem. I am interested in hearing what others have to say.

Yes! I only think it tends to be a heated topic bc it is highly opinionated and personal. I agree that the choice is individual!