I have never thought that I have had a right to have a major position on circumcision…I am not “equipped”. So when Collin was born I went with Todd’s feelings and we got Collin circumcised. I have had a lot of friends who have VERY strong opinions about this (usually they are not to circumcise)…Well I now feel I have a right to proclaim my opinion for the world (or for my friends who read this blog) to hear! I LOVE circumcision!
When Tristan came home (being from a Latino culture) he was not circumcised. When I spoke to Todd about it he said he preferred him to get circumcised. When I spoke to my ped. he said…why put him through that…he just came home…and he will need to be put out. So I did not push it. Well a couple of days ago we noticed that he had gotten a rather nasty infection (Collin has never had such an infection). I took him to the docs because the poor kid is in some serious pain and they gave him some meds (after taking a sample…shudder)…and it should clear up in a few days to a week. So I decided to ask around to see if this was a common thing….well all those friends who have those great opinions said that it had happened (often) to almost all of them! Well frankly I am just a little shocked…Collin’s circumcision was really no big deal it did not even seem to bother he much after the first few hours (done at birth)…this on the other hand has bother Tristan a GREAT DEAL (not that I blame him)…so to make a fairly long storey short we have decided that we will just go ahead and schedule the procedure…I don’t want him to live through this…so I proclaim that circumcision is truly a wonderful thing!
Edited to read: I understand that I did not give all info in this post and that some people do not know me….however I am aware that the foreskin should not be pushed back to clean (we come from a medical family)…and before it is asked I grew up on a commune until I was 8 and alternative medicine was a huge part of my upbringing. I think that a major problem in this society is that people think that if you do not come to the same conclusion you are uneducated on the issue. I was very educated on circumcision (watched the videos and read the literature). I take ALL decisions about my children seriously. Initially after reading the studies in abstract I did not have a strong feeling that the pros out-weight the cons or vise versa but my husband did. So we did what all married couples should do and compromised. Based on my experience I now have another opinion. I do feel that I am total justified to proclaim in my own blog what *I* feel about the procedure. If you feel differently feel free to proclaim that on your blog!
Edited to Read: Thank-you so much for your wealth of information and your broad assumption that I do not know what the best coarse of action is for my child. I guess you can make whatever decision you feel is best for your own child but I do not have the same right. Please feel free not to read further about this if it offends your sensibilities so much as I have made my decision thank-you-very-much.
Edited to Read: This discussion is now closed. I will not post another thing written about this who does not know our family personally. I do not want any more information as my husband and I have made our decision based on our personal beliefs and our concern for our child. Unless you know us you would have no idea what thought and consideration we put into any decision about our children.
The commonest reason for this is that someone forcibly retracted his foreskin “to clean under it”. It should be left alone, because it does not normally separate for years, sometimes not until puberty. Tearing it prematurely opens the way for infection. As far as stories go, you will hear plenty of stories as bad or worse about bad effects from circumcision. I suggest you watch a video of a circumcision, and stay with him right through the procedure, before you “proclaim that circumcision is truly a wonderful thing”. It does not even prevent all infections.
You claim to be “very educated on circumcision”, so you’re presumably aware that you’ve had the most sensitive part of your son’s penis cut off, and you’re about to have it done to someone else.
Girls get urinary tract infections about four times as often as boys, but we don’t cut parts of their genitals off. Circumcised boys get UTI’s too, but we don’t look for other parts to cut off. UTI’s are quite rare anyway btw – you have to circumcise about 90 boys to prevent one UTI.
It’s worth remembering that we wouldn’t even be having this discussion if it weren’t for the fact that 19th century doctors thought that :
a) masturbation caused various physical and mental problems (including epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, tubercolosis etc), and
b) circumcision stopped masturbation.
Both of those sound ridiculous today I know, but if you don’t believe me, then check out this link:
http://www.noharmm.org/docswords.htm
Over a hundred years later, circumcised men keep looking for new ways to defend the practice.
You may also be interested in this:
http://www.canadiancrc.com/Circumcision_Genital_Mutilation_Male-Female_Children.aspx
Drops in male circumcision:
USA: from 90% to 57%
Canada: from 47% to 14%
UK: from 35% to about 3% (less than 1% among non-Muslims)
Australia: 90% to 12.6% (“routine” circumcision has recently been banned in public hospitals in all states except one, so the rate will now be a lot lower)
New Zealand: 95% to below 3% (mostly Samoans and Tongans)
South America and Europe: never above 5%
Please please please please please hold off on having Tristan circumcised until you know more about circumcision. I honestly don’t think you know nearly as much as you think.
What will this circumcision mean to Tristan, a Latino, when it goes against his culture, his roots? There is more going on here than meets the eye. Please research the ethics of circumcision. I would suggest that it is unethical on grounds that every human has a right to bodily integrity. By that I mean to say a cutting of any part of the body, which by it’s presence is not posing an immediate threat to the life of the individual (as a gangrenous foot, for example), is a breach of another person’s right to bodily integrity. Medically known as penile reduction, circumcision also kills brain cells because they atrophy from not receiving neuron impulses from the now gone foreskin. Do you think this is good? Have you researched how the body armors itself from circumcision? Have you read the Sorrell’s et al. study on sensitivity? Circumcised men do not feel full body toes curling orgasms. They are felt locally only. You may want to join a foreskin restoration group to understand what pain men really go through in coming to terms and in trying to heal having more than half their penises cut off. The foreskin is not the wrapper but is the candy. Appreciate the value of each body part, as well as to value the person to whom those valuable body parts are attached.