Questions regarding circumcision...

[mommyj]

I've been reading a bunch of articles on circumcision, and they're either really slanted for or against it. I'm wondering if any of you know of some articles that are more neutral, or articles that aren't addressed to a total moron? So far I haven't found any.
Also, for those of you with boys, did you decide to have them circumcised? If so, why? If not, why not?
I'm still not sure if I'm having a boy or girl, but since the baby is due 5 weeks I want to make a decision about whether or not to circumcise if I have a boy.
I would appreciate any feedback you might have.

Thanks!

[mharling]

I was in your exact situation and was not comforted by the fact that I couldn't find balanced articles about circumcision. I did not have a strong feeling either way, so I let dh make the decision. We ended up having a boy and did have him circumcised.

A couple weeks a go, ds & I visited my grandfather and he brought the topic up. I learned that he was not circumcised as a baby and ended being circumcised at around 50!! He said it was one of the most painful things he's even been through.

I'm sure you will get a variety of responses on this one. Let's just hope that we can all have a civilized discussion so people like you trying to make a decision can get balanced information.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3237413c427 - New 6/18

[SeekerMage]

There was an article in Baby Talk magazine about three months ago that I thought was really good. It stated that while it wasnt medically necessary since it was a self cleaning organ, though they should clean it when they are older, and having it circumcised did provide some medical advantages. They mentioned there was a lower risk for cancer, urinary tract infections, hiv/stds, and even a lower risk for cervical cancer in your partner if it was "snipped" It mentioned other things as well that mainly it was done back in war times etc and that now adays it really wasnt neccessary. And not having it done shouldnt really cause a problem.

We personally looked at the possible advantages of lower cancer risk etc. Not only that but we personally think it looks better, and cant see constantly checking on my 4..5...etc year old making sure they cleaned under there! But that is just our personal opinion. We still dont know if we are having a boy or girl but in any case thats what we made our decision on. My sister in law on the other hand decided not to and everyone in the hospital couldnt understand why not, but it was her choice. It is all a matter of choice I guess. :)

[jojo2324]

I was opposed to having DS circumcised, but DH felt just as strongly about having it done. Like a previous poster stated, DH's uncle had to undergo a circumcision at the age of 50 after years of infections and problems, and he said it was one of the most painful experiences of his life. That was the deciding factor for DH.

He felt so strongly about it that we decided to have DS circumcised. It was so important to him, and wasn't really something we could compromise on, you know? :)

[KimberleyDawn]

My 11 year old isn't and we've never had a problem but I did have my 4 month old done and he got an infection after the procedure. I really don't know how I feel about the circ. now but at the time it was done I felt horrible and constantly second guessed our decision.
Kim

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We had a girl, but we didn't know what we were having before she was born, so we did the research. We had decided not to circumcize if it was a boy. When it came down to it, after all the hype from both sides, I realized that it is elective cosmetic surgery and I just couldn't subject a newborn to that, for that reason. I could not see any reason in my opinion that was compelling enough to have it done. My OB and the nurses at the hospital and the pediatrician all applauded our decision. My ped said he has given up trying to convince people not to do it, but he is always happy when they reach that conclusion.

My first son is circumcized, but I didn't know any better back then. I would not have it done to any future sons.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Momof3Labs]

We decided to do it. I was somewhat neutral (no strong feelings either way) so I let DH decide, and he decided to go with the circumcision. It was uneventful - Colin didn't cry (although he wailed when his heel was pricked for the blood work the next day) - and healed quickly and easily.

[lukkykatt]

I had looked into this alot before my first son was born. At that time (3+ years ago), the literature was pretty much split, with as many reasons for doing it as opposed to doing it. The AMA was not making a recommendation one way or the other, but leaving it up to the family to decide. So, I left it up to DH to decide, since it was more his area than mine, and since he would have the issue of being the same or different than our son.

Much to my surprise, he didn't even hesitate, or look into it at all, but said he wanted it done. Then with our second, we didn't even talk about it - just had it done. Interesting to note that the OB who delivered my second (the head of the OB practice at Hopkins) doesn't believe in circumcision and wouldn't perform the procedure - another doctor had to do it.

BTW, if you do decide to do it, something else that you should look into ahead of time is how your practice deals with the issue of pain relief for your baby at the time of the circumcision. There is a wide range of beliefs on that topic. Talk to your doctor about it ahead of time, and make sure that you are comfortable with his/her recommendation.

[nathansmom]

We had Nathan circumised. Dh was the person who made the choice. He wasn't and had to be circumised at 40, claims no one should have to live in through the pain he did. The doctor wouldn't do the circumcision in the hospital, Nathan was in NICU for a week. During his two week checkup is when we had it done. The doctor numbed Nathan so he wouldn't feel anything but Nathan screamed the whole time. I think it was because they had him pinned down. I watched but I wouldn't recommend being in the same room as it broke my heart listening to Nathan scream.

[kransden]

I have a friend whose father had penile cancer. Now he doesn't have a penis so there is no cancer. While penile cancer is rare, it is rarer if you are circumcised. So I would have it done, but I would make sure all the proper pain relief was in place. There is a large jewish community here, and I considered having it done by a "professional", but we had a girl so it wasn't an issue.
Karin
Katie 10/24/02

[sbaker]

We chose not to have DS circumcised. After much research we concluded that it really was not necessary. While we were in the hospital having DS we asked the nurses if most boys were still being circumsized. They told us that less than half of the infant boys born there were circumsized.
Here's a link to an unbiased article:
http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZJZMEMH4C&sub_cat=549


Just my two cents...
:) :+ :)
Sara
SAHM to Rayce
02/09/02

[candybomiller]

I was on the fence, so to speak, about having ds circumcised. After getting advice from everyone from our pediatrician to the guy who carried the groceries out to my car one day (don't ask), I made the decision to let dh decide! It wasn't my area of expertise.

DH, with no hesitation whatsoever, decided to have ds circumcised. We did have pain relief, he didn't have any problems, no infection, healed quickly, etc, so I suppose we did the right thing.

Oddly enough, this is one of the "Mommy" decisions I still question. I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer. I wish you the best of luck making this decision.

Candy
Mommy to Matt
5/22/02

[millerpjm]

We had our DS circumcised. My DH made the decision. We didn't look so much at the medical aspect, it was more of we wanted him to be like Dad. He did really well through the procedure (we did watch, through the nursery glass) and was out of sorts for about a day, but he seemed fine afterwards. It healed well and he is fine. I know at this age they don't remember it. We would do it again if we had another boy.

I don't know of any articles ( I know I read a whole bunch and they all seemed skewed, but DH had an opinion about it, so I respected it.)

Jen

Proud mama to Thomas (4 1/2 months)

[Karenn]

I also did not have strong feelings one way or another and essentially left the decision to DH. He wanted to have DS circumsized so that's what we did. I'm surprised, but I can't really remember DH's reasons behind the decision. We discovered later that our pediatrician was a sort of "circumcision specialist." (I hadn't realized such a thing existed until then!) It helped me to know that he had a great deal of experience in working with such a sensitive area and if I were to do over again, I think I might try to seek out a "specialist."

[brubeck]

We had our son circumcised. It was done by the OB in the hospital when he was about 30 hours old in a room especially set aside for it. I was next to my son the entire time and my face was literally only inches from the action, so I saw everything going on. They used a topical anestheic and then used a needle for another internal dose. My son did cry, but it began as they were strapping him down (before they did anything) and did not increase in volume/intensity as the procedure took place. He did not seem to be in any pain afterward and it was healed before the cord stump fell off.

We did it for 2 reasons:

1) Hygeine: we knew it would be a problem making sure it was kept clean, especially with a small child (5-10 years) who would probably enjoy getting into all kinds of dirt. There is also medical evidence that circumcised men have a smaller chance of getting certain diseases (as has been mentioned here).

2) Social: we wanted him to 'look like Dad' and also not to feel out of place in the locker room.

Whatever reason you might be thinking about, do not plan on doing it later. I have heard MANY stories of boys/men who had it done later and suffered horrible pain/memories. I think most people would agree that if you are giong to have it done it is best to do it on an infant.

[C99]

Despite the infintesimally small increased risk of cancer (which I am not entirely sure is related to a foreskin anyway), I couldn't really find a good reason to have it done. My husband really didn't want to talk about it and never really expressed an opinion one way or another. Consequently, we didn't have Nate circumsized. I couldn't find any article that wasn't biased in either direction and since there really wasn't a compelling reason to do it, I've been happy with our decision.

[sweetbasil]

MommyJ~
We had both boys circumsized- my grandfather wasn't and had infections/problems his whole life, and always said he wished he'd had some say. DS#1 has had no problems at all, and since it only takes 1-2 weeks to heal, it's a pretty easy procedure. DS#2 is one day post circumcision, and also doing well. It's nice not to have to push skin back to clean, worry about missing something, etc. Good luck in your decision, and in finishing out this pregnancy in a safe, but quick way ;)

[mharling]

I second the recommendation to research pain relief. Also, it's not necessarily consistent from ob to ob within the same practice.

In our case, the ob that delivered and the ob that performed the circ were different. The ob that delivered (my regular ob) does not use anesthesia. Luckily, ds was born late at night and it was the on-call ob who performed the circ the next day with anesthesia.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3237413c427 - New 6/18

[Melanie]

(fyi - I am posting this before reading any one else's reply)

We did NOT because I saw no reason. My son was born perfect and I'm not going to remove part of his body for the heck of it. If at some point in the future, he is unhappy with our decision, then this is one he can make for himself. If we circed him, there is no going back from that.

My husband is Jewish, after sending him a couple of links from nocirc and others there was no question in his mind that we were not going to circ. In our Western Culture, you would think circing a girl is barbaric, so why is it okay to circumcize a boy? I think that is the question that you and your husband need to have an answer to before you decide. You have to feel comfortable with your decision and I think the "because I want him to look like his father" justification will wear off quickly. So after all your research, you come to the informed decision to- or not to- circ, you will be okay with it.

Good luck with this difficult decision.

Melanie

PS -
I've got links to videos of circing if you want to see them before making your decision.

[Melanie]

Okay, so now I've read what others have to say...

And one theme seems to be that those who were circed later in life found it to be horrific pain so they advocated circing as a baby? This I am confused about. Babies can feel pain, too. I think I am not understanding the above posts on that point.

[muskiesusan]

This is a decision that I was obessed with for a while. I was very disapointed in the literature that was available b/c it was so pro or con. I talked to many people about it, to the point that dh wouldn't let me bring it up (I think he was afraid I was going to start asking the restaurant servers). I talked to men who said it hurt to have it done as an adult and men who said it wasn't that bad, friends whose babies had it done with no problems and some who had problems including on who had to have her son's re-done since the skin had reattached itself. I think b/c you are going to find conflicting information from other people, the best bet is to read up on it, like you are, and decide from that.

In the end, I left it up to my husband, since initially it was important to him that Nick to look like him, but I told him I wanted him to do research and not base it solely on that fact. After watching a video on how it is done, he decided that we would not circumcise. He didn't feel comforable putting a new baby through that and if Nick decided to have it done, it would be have to be his decision in the future.

Whatever you decide, make sure you talk to your ob and ped about it. We have a dr friend who does not use any pain meds during the procedure, which is wrong in my opinion. Also, our ped, who I thought knew what he was doing, began retracting the foreskin at a checkup, which is a major no-no.

Here are some links to some more info on the subject. The first has a copy of the AAP position, which goes into the risk of diseases, and the second is how to care for an intact penis. Despite what many think, it requires no "extra" cleaning until puberty, and it isn't any more complicated than a girl learning to clean herself. It is my understanding that most infections are caused by people trying to clean the area before it is necessary; until puberty, it is pretty much self cleaning.

Sorry so long. Good luck with your decision, and know that you aren't the only one who struggles with it, I think the circ rate is now 50/50, and you should feel comfortable with whatever you decide.

http://www.parentsplace.com/babies/newborn/articles/0,,244585_439981-1,00.html

http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap1999/

Susan
WAHM to Nicholas 10/01/01

[lisams]

If our next baby is a boy, we are not circ. even though my husband is. The chance of disease and infection later in life seem as great as a chance that there will be complications or infections because of the surgery (I have heard horror stories both ways). I went to an internet site that showed pictures of a newborn being circ. and I just couldn't do that to my baby, especially since it isn't a medically needed procedure. I always thought I would want my boy to be circ. just because of cosmetic reasons, but my DH convinced me that is not reason enough for us.

It's a hard decision to make, and I think a very personal one. There really is no right or wrong, in my opinion.

Lisa

ps You may want to check and see if your insurance covers circ. - some don't

[josephsmom]

This might be dumb, but I have a question for those of you who chose to circumcise one son but not another. How are you going to explain your decisions to them? Why did you "put one through it" and not the other, and why don't they look alike? You're bound to get those kinds of questions from your boys. Since the medical evidence is inconclusive, a lot of proponents of circumcision recommend that boys be made to look like their daddies (and most of the other boys in the locker room). So what do you say to two brothers who don't look alike? I'm not trying to stir things up here, or even play devil's advocate. I'm just truly curious as to how you might handle this.

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[farsk]

Hi!

Before finding out that we were having a girl, DH and I discussed at length about to circ or not to circ. Actually, the discussions were lengthy because we both had the same feeling...Not to do it. After reading and researching we based our decisions on the following information:
1. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not believe it is necessary
2. Historically, the foreskin was removed to prevent men from masturbating
3. Sexual feeling and satisfaction is much greater in uncirced men (my DH likes to equate it to keeping your hands in gloves with moisturizer on all day, every day....imagine how smooth and sensitive they would be)
4. Despite the fact that DH's grandfather was circed as an adult and agreed it was painful...you're talking about someone who lived without the medical advances of today.
5. DH is still pissed that his foreskin was removed without his say so. To quote from the movie "28 Days", "No one asked me before they took it, they just took it."

Good Luck!

-Shannon
Mom to Ellen (edd 7/28/2003)

[mama2be]

Julie...you sure must be doing great!!!!!
Hugs!!!!

[DDowning]

My son was circed this past Monday & had no problems. It was done while I was in the hospital & I was glad to have the extra 2 days for them to watch it so that it didnt heal wrong. The Ped that did it said that he did not cry at all during the procedure & actually pooped during it! LOL! I agree that its a personal decision - Our reasons for having it done are ours and we felt confident in our decision.

[gravymommy3]

I had Avery circumcised. Matter of fact, I insisted on being in the room when my OB performed it. I am sure that he felt pain but he was so mad about being held down that I doubt he was focused on the procedure. He calmed down as soon as he had free reign over his arms and legs. I am sure that he might have some loss of sensitivity, but honestly, it has not hindered his father in the least, if you know what I mean.

I did not want to worry about accidently retracting the foreskin, nor did I want him to look different from Daddy. DH also was for having it done, so I took that into consideration. Aves seems very happy with his "naked" at this stage in his life, so no regrets here. Good luck with your decision.

[muskiesusan]

"...it has not hindered his father in the least, if you know what I mean."

LOL! When friends "discover" that Nick is intact, my husband jokes that he is just trying to give Nick a few extra inches to make up for being his son. Dh does this to prevent us from having to get into a heated debate that will go no where, and it works everytime!


Susan
WAHM to Nicholas 10/01/01

[sbaker]

Shannon,

Thank you for saying all that! Those were exactly our reasons for not having DS circumsized. I was too much of a chicken to actually type it....My husband is still pissed too!

Just my two cents...
:) :+ :)
Sara
SAHM to Rayce
02/09/02

[flagger]

We made the decision on our birth plan that in the case that the U/S was wrong we would circumcise an infant boy. We are not fanatical either way about it, we just felt it was right for us.

We do find it ironic that several of those vehemently against male circumcision have no problem piercing the ears of their infant daughters.

By the way, I know a cheap mohel who only works for tips. ;)

Sorry I couldn't resist.

[Melanie]

>We do find it ironic that several of those vehemently
>against male circumcision have no problem piercing the ears
>of their infant daughters.
>

For the record, I feel the same way about piercing baby's ears, too. Girls will beg for this when they are old enough...


Mommy to Jonah

[mommyj]

Thank you so much for all the opinions, info, and links! It's especially helpful to read through the various reasons you made your decisions. Now I just need to read through this and the other info with DH so we can figure out what will be best.
Thanks again!!!

[mommyj]

I loved your line!

[KimberleyDawn]

Josephsmom,
There is an 11 year gap between my two children and different father's. Christopher wasn't circ. because his dad wasn't and I didn't care either way at the time (18 yrs old). William was circ. because dh is and wanted it done. I did resist this decision until the last minute because I didn't see why it was necessary and then agreed when I realized just how much dh wanted it. I did not agree to this procedure because I thought it was a better medical decision but only because it was what my dh wanted. I do admit that I regret having given in because William was one of the few that did develop an infection and the procedure was ELECTIVE.
Kim

[mom2kandj]

Like a lot of the other posts, I was sitting on the fence. Decreased cancer risks vs pain and infection risks. I thought I had up my mind (pro circ)when DH jumped in and decided he wanted to do some research, too. When it finally came down to it, it was pretty much 50/50. The deciding factor because it was soooo even was the "I want his to look like mine" factor. So we had it done. DS had a bit of numbing local and was strapped down. He howled for about a minute and that was it. No problems. Fast forward one year. SIL asked me if DS was circed. It turns out that her DS(two months older than mine) was not circed because she didn't want him in pain and she wanted know my reasoning. I explained how we were on the fence and what it finally came down to. Then believe it or not, she says, "WELL, I CAN HAVE IT DONE NOW, RIGHT?" Keep in mind, her DS was now 14 months old and has nothing wrong with him. I told her that for me it was ok to do it while we were in the hospital immediately after delivery and would be monitored, but to do an elective surgery for a 14 month old who can now associate pain with a doctor just because his mom couldn't make up her mind was not cool. I told her that she should just teach her son how to take care of himself and let him decide when he got older. Didn't mean to vent, but I'm glad that we were able to make a decision and our outcome was okay.

Rose
mom 2 Katie(30 months)
& Jack (14 months)

[ham1299]

I just wanted to add my two cents in. Our baby isn't here yet, and we don't know what we have coming, but I have read up a bit on the issue. Not a lot, but enough to see that everyone seems to be either very pro-circ, or very anti-circ. As such, I decided that it's dh's call. I don't have the equipment, so who am I to decide? Dh says he wants the baby cicrcumcised, if it's a boy. So, that settles it. If it's a boy, we'll have him circumcised. HTH

Heather
Expecting #1
edd 6-16-2003
Baby still not here - induction 6/25

[daisymommy]

I totally agree, that if you are going to have it done, get your baby boy some pain relief--as it does hurt. There's no way of getting around that fact. We had Joshua circumcised, but struggled with the decision up until it was done. We knew there were possible some medical benefits, and were also afraid of the ridicule and taunting he may receive later on by other boys when he was older. My uncle was not circumcised, and got was so made fun of in the guys locker room in school that when he was in college he chose to be circumcised (which he agreed was horrible). We know that the when babies are smaller there is less skin, and the skin is softer, and the whole procedure is less painful (or so I've heard). So, we elected to have it done.
That said, the only time Josh cried was when he was strapped to the table (he hated being unswaddled). We gave him his pacifier, and he calmed right down. He was given a shot of local anesthetic in the base of his penis (didn't cry), and then the procedure was done (no crying then either). It wasn't until we were on our way home that he wet his diaper, and the urine stung the wound. He howled like he was being tortured! We thought something had gone horribly wrong with the surgery and almost took him to the ER because he was screaming so bad! Luckily my mother, who is a nurse, was staying with us after Josh's birth, and said it was probably the urine burning the wound. She used a peri-spray bottle from the hospital to rinse him off, and put fresh Vaseline and gauze on him, and he was fine after that. It sure was a scary experience that during the time made me second guess my decision. I will probably still do it with any future boys, since the procedure itself never seemed to bother Josh. I'll just have some water ready to rinse him off for the first time he pees afterwards!

[C99]

Flagger,

I've heard this argument before and it really irks me. For one thing, do you KNOW anyone who is anti-circ and pro-piercing of infants? I've yet to meet someone who is. And the other thing is that 1 procedure is one that is permanent & irreversible; the other is not.

[lisams]

As I posted above, we will not circ. if we have a boy and our DD will not have her ears pierced until she is old enough to make the decision for herself. It's her body. I think most people who decide not to circ. also decide NOT to pierce for the same reasons (pain, not medically needed, it's her body to make the decision). I have never known someone to be pro-piercing, but anti-circ.

Lisa

[josephsmom]

Thanks, Kim. I was just curious about how this could be handled...

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[kransden]

Some sects of Islam have the boys circumcised around 2 or 3. They wear a red belt or cloth. As my male friend said "...that is how you know they just got their buddy cut." So you are extra careful with them. So 14 months isn't a problem, but it sounds like your SIL shouldn't be told that. lol

Karin
Katie 10/24/02

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We considered this aspect as we were researching or decision. (we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, so we had to be ready.)

We actually involved my 12 year old son in the decision. We explained that there is more known about it now, just like there are more vaccines now and babies sleep on their backs now, etc. We parents want to do the best for our children and that means we change our minds as we have more information available to us.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

My husband watched the videos of a circ being done and then said "I can't believe my mother let that happen to me". He was adamant that we would not do it to a son, especially since there is no benefit to it.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[mom2huskies]

Please be aware that the medical studies about increased risks to uncircumcized men and their partners are most often taken out of context.

"The circumcised male also may be somewhat less susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and certain sexually transmissible diseases, but behavioral factors are far more important in preventing these infections than the presence or absence of a foreskin." From: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/2036-2382.html

So...uncircumcized boys who are smart are far less of threat/risk, than wild circumsized boys, if you catch my drift.

The AMA, instead of recommending one thing or the other, says the decision is social instead of medical. I would urge everyone, when they make this very personal decision, to do some research instead of just going along with the crowd.

Cate
ttc 03?

[Melanie]

I just happened upon this and immediately thought of this thread...

http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-1-0/10-1-protectuncircson103.shtml

It addresses a lot of the health issues that are given FOR circing.

[Rachels]

That's a good article-- clear, not hostile or patronizing, just facts. Thanks for the link.

We went in circles about this. Clay, who is Jewish, felt strongly that we should circumcise, and I felt equally strongly that we should not. We never resolved it. Despite our commitment to honoring each others' religions, I could not get my brain around the idea of cutting off a body part for religious reasons. If it were fingers we were amputating rather than foreskins, I think there would be a lot of outrage. The other arguments didn't work for me, either. Here were my general thoughts:

The medical "benefits" are tiny and debatable. I have a big problem with the basic premise that we should be improving on nature as a matter of course. Human males were designed with a foreskin, and through most of human history and in most cultures, they have been allowed to keep it. It's clear that babies feel pain. Research shows that they actually feel it more acutely than adults. A baby's crying isn't a good indicator of pain perception. Some newborns scream frantically at diaper changes but don't cry when their heels are punctured with a lancet-- an obviously painful procedure. If circumcision is horrifically painful for adults, it is horrifically painful for infants. I wouldn't want that to be my child's introduction to the world. At any rate, the World Health Organization, which is research-based, recommends against routine circumcision.

The locker room argument also doesn't work for me, nor does the looking-like-dad argument. For one thing, the circ rate in the US has dropped to 60%, so an uncircumcised boy will have plenty of company in the locker room if he and his friends really do choose to stand around and take a penis inventory. And there are lots of ways that children do and do not resemble their parents. If my daughter happens to grow up to have larger breasts than mine, I can't imagine thinking that she should have a surgery to reduce their size so that we match. If a father's face is scarred by burns, he would hardly feel the need to turn a blowtorch on his infant son. I'm honestly baffled by the insistence on lookalike penises.

I also don't think this should necessarily be left up to husbands just because they're the penis-carriers in the family. For me, as with all of my decisions about the process of having a baby, it's more important to read the research and to make a decision based on education, not habit. And on this issue, the research just doesn't convince me that routinely amputating part of a newborn baby's body makes sense.


-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[MartiesMom2B]

Rachel:

I must agree with you re: the religious aspect. I have attended the bris for both of my nephews and could not even be in the same room as the first one and my heart broke during the second, in which I am the Godmother of and had to stay and even had to present him during the ceremony. Just to remember the happy gleam in my MIL eye while she was hovering while the procedure was being done, on the kitchen table, is still disturbing to me.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[cvharris]

We had our little guy circumcised. He was completely healed within a week and it looks great.

I was on the fence about it and all the articles I read about circumcision made me even more confused about it - you are right, it is hard to find an article that is not slanted one way or the other. So I let my DH decide. DH felt strongly about getting it done.

I think there are good reasons either way, and it is a personal decision, so good luck to you!

[votre_ami03]

Rachel, I am sure this was not your intention, but your post had me laughing out loud, especially the "penis ineventory" line. I myself have never understood that arguement, I want him to look like his father or the other boys in the locker room. How often are we comparing?

Christy
EDD - 7/26
Boy! Nolan

[josephsmom]

Thanks for the insight, Karen.

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[Rachels]

:)

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[dogmom]

I'm sorry, I just can't resist making a comment. I keep seeing the reason that having it done as an adult was so painful and they would never want to put their son through it. Now, it is a decent reason, but was any one else out their lacking in sympathy? I mean, they get pain medication. I'm supposed to have a baby without anything or with very little. I looked at my self after the baby, the bruising, the stitches, the complete rearrangement of my anatomy. I got to think it was about as uncomfortable. I checked with DH, he just kept saying "It's not the same!" Makes be want to borrow a penis for a day to see what all the fuss is about. I think men whine too much. There have actually been studies that men request pain control meds more often and get them, yet woman are perceived as "weaker" and less able to stand pain, and they get pain meds less. OK, that's it. I realize this was from out in left feild. The heat must be making me cranky.

[COElizabeth]

The article is interesting. I don't know all the medical facts touched upon, but I did notice at least one error. The author claims that doctors almost never use either anesthesia or post-operative pain relief, and I know that to be untrue. At the hospital where I delivered, all babies circumcized babies had anesthesia, and I believe they all had post-operative pain relief. It is my understanding that the AAP recommends anesthesia in all cicumcision cases.

Elizabeth
Mom to James
9-20-02

[gour0]

I thought the Jewish faith was handed down by the MOTHER.... :)

BTW... another big nocirc mom here.

[lisams]

I agree, Rachel. Along the lines of doing it so that the child looks like his father, he won't until he reaches puberty no matter what. Children do not have pubic hair, and by the time he does, he won't be interested in comparing his penis with his father.

Lisa

[amp]

I have not read the other replies, but I know this is a sensitive issue. DH and I did not have our son circumsized. DH isn't and didn't have a problem with this in his life, and felt he could NOT put our son through it. I was fine with that decision since all of the reading I had done led me to conclude that there wasn't a medical reason to go one way or the other. My OB and my ped also said that the numbers of people choosing not to have it done are pretty close to equaling those who do.

[trumansmom]

Wow. Apparently I was on vacation when this post was started.

Just last week I got a call from a reporter doing a story on circumcision for our local newspaper. Apparently the statistics vary greatly based on region. Here in the midwest 8 out of 10 boys are, but on the west coast the numbers are something like 3 out of 10. I'll post the link to the article when it runs. I'm quoted in it and there will be a picture of DS! He is soooo going to need therapy if any of his friends get a hold of this article later!!

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01

[heva]

OK, not to further charge this issue, but as a physician, I'm having a terrible time deciding about this. While I agree that by and large, this practice has been either a religious or cosmetic/social procedure in search of medical justifications, in the last several years there has been a growing amount of research that links Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) as the cause of cervical cancer, and that men who are uncircumcised are 1) more likely to carry HPV and 2) have partners with a higher incidence of cervical cancer (see attached article).

I should point out that this is only ONE study, and there are some important limitations to the conclusions: uncircumcized men in this study were more likely to have multiple partners, and it was nearly impossible to qualify/quantify hygiene in either group, so make of it what you will... Cervical cancer is imminently treatable if detected early, but that assumes that your son's future partners will have good preventive health care - and unfortunately in our country, that's a big assumption.

Sorry to fan the flames - but I share the indecision out there!