What was your first thought on circumcision?

[smeep]

What was the first thought you had on circumcision when you found out you were pregnant and/or having a boy (whenever you thought about it first)?

[smeep]

Before I found out I was having a boy my first thought was that I would (since "everyone else was and they seemed just fine") but I wanted to research it since it was a big decision to make without anything to back it up. My brothers were intact but died before I was born and I didn't even know they were intact until I brought up circumcision with my parents (they were against it). My dad was circ'd and the guys I'd been with were so I figured it was "normal." In fact, it turned out one of my ex's was, in fact, intact! I never noticed the difference. I found out when we were discussing it (he also was expecting a baby boy with his girlfriend). After doing a bit of research everything I read said it was equal either way so I figured I'd leave the decision up to DS when he was older but I wasn't too pleased and wanted some big confirmation one way or the other...then I found MDC and am pleased to say DS is intact and so will all my future babies.

[MyBoysBlue]

I thought Cirucumcision was something only certian religious groups did and occasionally done for medical reasons. It was not something I even contimplated doing.

[Drummer's Wife]

I never even considered circumcision because to me, intact was always what was normal. My brother's are not circ'd and neither is DH, so it was not an issue I gave much thought to. My mom was always anti-circ so that helped form my opinion early on.

[onelilguysmommy]

when i found out i was pregnant with my first it was kinda a thing, everyone i knew did it and i didnt see a reason not to...then ironically on a rather mainstream site i found the circ board and researched there and here and decided not to

[ilovebabies]

I put "other" because I didn't really think it was an option! It was just something that boys had to have done. Dh and I never even considered *not* circ'ing. That would have been "weird" and "wrong". To us it was just something that all baby boys had to go through, even though it was unpleasant (like getting the PKU or something). We felt the same about vaccines. I was only 22 when my first was born (a son). Totally mainstream, absolutely clueless. If I had *ANY* idea what my son was really going through when he was circ'd and that I actually had a choice and it was okay not to, I wouldn't have. This was back in 1993. I regret it terribly, but I don't beat myself up over it. I know differently now and so make different choices.

[milkmamamerina]

I wanted to let my husband decide, but I wanted him to decide to leave my son intact! I did give him the final say and then presented him with loads of info. In the end, my son was having such a hard time with nursing during the first week that my husband agreed it was not wise to give him another hurdle.

Thank goodness our hospital doesn't circumcise or my poor baby probably would have been cut

[St. Margaret]

We didn't know what we were having but we kind of figured we would circ b/c DH is and I thought everyone did... but I saw this forum and finally worked up the courage to look... and of course before long I was staunchly against it. I was all worked up to convince DH to not do it and he was right on board with me w/o my even presenting the research .

[jess_paez]

i remember my now hubby telling me that he was intact. this was before i had you know, "seen it". I was not wierded out at all, but was curious as to how it looked. I had never seen one. Anyhow, he seemed kind of embarrassed to tell me about it. I guess he had heard of women saying things. I doubt any of those women had ever seen one anyways. So, I thought why do that to our son (when we were TTC later). Why allow him to be embarrassed? I thought a lot about it and when hubby told me that you should NOT retract your sons penis to clean it and that it would retract on it's own later in life I was sold.For some reason at the time I was worried about cleanliness with a baby. You know..the diaper and skin fold deal. We agreed not to circ. And I'm so glad we came to that conclusion!!!!! We ended up having a girl, but for the future.....if we have a boy-he will remain intact.

[minkajane]

I never thought about it, honestly. I only remember thinking about it once before trying to conceive DS, when I heard that somebody I knew might have been intact. "Oh really? Huh, that's unusual." That was it. It never crossed my mind again till I came across the topic in "Having a Baby Naturally" and I told XH that I didn't think we should have the baby circumcised if it was a boy and gave him a couple of quick reasons. His response was "Oh, ok." End of discussion.

The rabid anti-circ attitude I have now developed over the next couple of years and really blossomed when I saw my beautiful, perfect DS and realized that the doctors wanted to take him out of my arms, strap him to a board, and start cutting. *shudder*

[Bea]

It was a non thought other than to say 'NO!' if the subject was brought up by medical personnel.

My husband is an American, I'm not and RIC is akin to to me as recommending I tattoo "Mommy's little cutie' on my sons forehead at birth or any time thereafter.

Long before we were married never mind expecting our son, my husband was of the same mind.

BTW, our dogs wont have their tails docked either That's how the conversation originally evolved when we were dating

[mntnmom]

The AAP didn't even have a position on it, so I figuered why do it if there's no clear benefit. Then my DH explained to me what circ is, and I said no way! SO glad we didn't have to fight on that one. We now have 2 intact boys.

[beru]

I didn't want to do it. But I actually think it's strange that I didn't want to. All my family were circumcised. Every boy I babysat, every man I was intimate with-all circumcised. I am not sure how I escaped the cultural brainwashing. When I got pregnant, circumcision came up in the baby books and I just thought, of course I am not cutting off a normal body part. I didn't even consider the "risks and benefits". The same way I wouldn't consider the risks and benefits of removing my children's toenails.

I have tried to think back on why I thought this way and the only thing I can think of is that I saw an anticircumcision student group tabling once. I really didn't think it made an impression on me but it must have. I didn't care about it then because I was so far from children. But I looked at one pamphlet and it just seemed like common sense to leave your kid intact. I don't remember it being some revelation.

Anyway, it makes me very hopeful that intactivism can make a real difference. I often wonder if intact information is more "effective" when people are far from having children as I was. You're just learning info that you don't have to think about how it impacts you. You don't have to feel defensive because you have considered it as an option, etc.

Oh, and I did research it, soley to collect ammunition against my super pro-circ FIL. It worked. The facts persuaded him somewhat even though he still thinks circing is a reasonable option. At least he doesn't think my DS's foreskin is going to fall off someday or something. I think my MIL probably thinks it will, however. She once asked me if my son's potty training problems were due to him having a foreskin...weird.

[3pink1blue]

i didn't want to, because i didn't want to hurt my baby. but i had no idea all the other reasons to leave a child intact. I ended up having 3 girls so it was a moot point, but by the time DS came along i had researched more and was 100% against circ. My DH was not convinced but he was pretty easy to convert. We just found out we are expecting agian and regrdless of gender this child will be left intact.

[rmzbm]

My FIRST thought was "I don't want to hurt my little boy!" And that was replaced with "...but it's medically needed." (Hu? ) So we did it with both. And I learned something about listening to my inner voice. Too late it would turn out but lesson learned nontheless.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I first heard of circ in my early teens didnt know exactly what was done but knew it had to do with cutting on the penis. I immediatly thought no way would I do that to a baby.

[RJones1204]

My very first thought (lasted a few weeks at most after we learned the gender) was "like father, like son". In other words, since DH was DS would be circed also. But as I started to think things through, I realized how painful it could and probably would be. That was my deciding factor right then and there. Also I had a hard time BFing my DD (first born) and I didn't want to hinder anything with DS. But then months after he was born I learned all the facts and all the functions of the foreskin. So I know I made the best choice. I am proud of me and DH for the choice we made. I am also very proud that DH never pushed the issue. To him our little boy was perfect and he loved him as he was.

[JamieB]

I put that I wanted to do it because I did, but DH didn't.

This is an exact quote from me while I was pregnant:
"I wish DH wanted to have this baby circumcised because it's so much cleaner and easier to take care of" Ugh. I didn't even know whether or not Dh was intact, I had to ask him. So I never did any research because DH didn't want it done anyway. Boy am I thankful now!

[In Exile]

I said to my husband "over my dead body, never!" and I am not embellishing this.

I never ever would have done this to a child. There was not a single doubt on my mind, ever. (I'm European, so that might be an explanation)

If my husband ever truly wanted that- though luck, would have never happened.

Circumcision is one of the most barbaric things mankind ever came up with and it is the one thing I will never miss back in Europe- you don't really have to wonder whether a friend of your's mutilated a child, it is done pretty much only in religious circles or after bad medical advice. I never thought about it back in Europe and was HORRIFIED here.

[doctormom]

Not MY child, no one is doing that to MY baby!

I had already developed a strong dislike for circ by that point in my training. As a newly minted intern, I was required to do the circs on all the babies we delivered. The more I did, the more horrified I was at the trauma of it, and the more actively I began persuading parents to leave their sons intact. By the time I got pregnant, I was pretty good at talking people out of it - and NC Medicaid dropped circ coverage around that time, so fortunately, the demand for them virtually disappeared and I had totally stopped doing them. I am still grieving the babies I injured. I didn't know better at the time, but that doesn't heal them or undo the damage.

Even given my overall distaste for the barbaric nature of the procedure, I was surprised at how strongly my maternal instinct kicked in to protect my child at all costs. I refused to let him be taken to the nursery because they put him on the "circ list" by mistake and I was scared to death they would cut him without permission.