SO how did you learn? - Page 3

[Tangled Hill]

I was lucky enough to be part of a non-circing family (in the US!). So, when I had my son, it wasn't even something I considered. My father and brothers were obviously fine without having anyone cut off part of their penises. Why would I do it to my son? Seemed unnecessary and callous. Well, to put it bluntly, it seemed stupid and cruel.)

If only everyone were so lucky.... One day....

[Nandi]

I went to what I thought would be an anti FGM talk while still in highschool, it was at a barnes and noble by this American academic. She totally threw me by saying FGM was perfectly acceptable from a cultural relativism view. I see this as totally invalid because MGM is such a huge part of my culture and it is obviously wrong. Things can be wrong no matter what, and FGM and MGM are some of those things.

[mystiquesmom]

An ex-boyfriend was intact and he explained to me how his mother(who was a nurse) insisted that he stayed that way as it was unnecessary. My husband is also intact, so there was no argument to be had whether DS would be or not. Then I saw the procedure and that solidified that DS and our future DS will not be getting it done unless they were an adult and were making the decision themselves.

[MamaJenese]

When I was pregnant with my first I was researching everything. I would read and read, and then book mark or print stuff for Dh to read so we could figure it all out together. He decided he was wanting in on the research and asked me for a topic I had yet to get to. I thought and said you have a penis you do the leg work on circing. He came home the next day, handed me a pile fo stuff and said that there was no way in h### We were circing. Told me I was welcome to read but he wasn't budging. I read it and agreed.

[Dera]

My husband and family are from a different country with no circing. I thought we should and he said, no way, no point. I just kind of went along with it and felt a little relieved that we wouldn't do this to our baby boy. I read up on the facts after he was several months old and I am so relieved and grateful. Now I have 2 intact boys and share my knowledge with whoever (whomever?) wants to listen!

[Tangled Hill]

Originally Posted by MamaJenese

When I was pregnant with my first I was researching everything. I would read and read, and then book mark or print stuff for Dh to read so we could figure it all out together. He decided he was wanting in on the research and asked me for a topic I had yet to get to. I thought and said you have a penis you do the leg work on circing. He came home the next day, handed me a pile fo stuff and said that there was no way in h### We were circing. Told me I was welcome to read but he wasn't budging. I read it and agreed.

Sounds like a very cool guy!

[Luv2Skydive]

I happened upon having intact sons on accident. My 13-year-old was born in a hospital (Native American) that did not offer circ'ing at all. We were young and poor and could not afford to take him elsewhere so he was never cut, thank Goodness. Fast forward to my second marriage and my second son. I played the "I don't want him to look different from DS1" card and my DH was 100% fine with it after a little research. So fast forward to DS3 and again we thought, why ruin a good thing, we have done the researach, there is no reason for the procedure, so now we have 3 boys, all intact, no problems or complications ever and we don't regret our decisions at all. I'm opened-minded about a lot of things but not about this. His body, His decision!!! It seems insane to me that there women that act like they are all about human rights (such as natural birth, homebirth, etc.) but think circ'ing is a "personal" decision. I say this from personal experience and the hypocracy still astounds me. So he should come into this world with dignity and respect but after he is born, we have the right to take that away? No thanks, keep your $1600, and I will make sure to not recommend you to anyone who asks!

[leighi123]

I never thought about it while I was pregnant. We didnt find out the sex until he was born.
When he was just a few hours old a nurse came in and asked 'are we going to circumcise him?' I said 'no' because I hadnt even thought about it.
They asked me several different times, and I just kept saying 'no' without knowing why really. Mainly I didnt want him taken away from me at all, I was able to keep him in the bed with me the entire time I was at the hospital, any exams for him were done with me holding him (like the hearing test).

So when we got home I looked it up to see how the procedure was done and jeeze there was NO WAY I would do that to my perfect little boy and I was soooo glad I trusted my instinct and just said no.
My dad told me 'I better get it done before he gets too old' and I showed him a circ video and he shut up about it.
None of my family has asked me about it for a long time until a few weeks ago when my sister said something about it - I explained to her some of my research and she went 'ewww' when I told her how they did it and said 'thats dumb that people do that to their babies then' (she is 19...usually she rolls her eyes when I get to into advocacy stuff)