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Post here if you're from the Midwest (or other high circ area) and have an intact son!

post #1 of 142
4/6/09 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
Just wanted to know that I'm not alone. I'm in Michigan and have an intact baby son, 5 1/2 weeks old, born on February 27th!

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post #2 of 142
4/6/09 at 10:23pm
Well, we don't yet...But we will come August! I know what you mean about the high circ rate here in MI.
I've butted heads with EVERYONE in my fam that heard we weren't going to do it (the only exception was my FIL and his wife.) I've definitely heard it all from my VERY OLD Fashioned grandparents (grandfather was in the Navy) about how he will just be dirty etc. etc.
I just had to keep telling him, "well, it is my child, and therefore I will make the decisions regarding his genitals, and it really isn't any of your concern." After bout the 10th time my grandmother told him to cool it, and leave it alone.
post #3 of 142
4/6/09 at 10:28pm
Thread Starter 
Congratulations on your son! It's sure a pro-circ climate here, isn't it? Hopefully the state will stop offering medicaid coverage for circs and the number will go down.

To be honest, I cringe each time someone is pregnant at my church and hope that they have a girl because the myths about circ are so entrenched around here I'm afraid that even if I could work up the courage to talk to them, they'll circ anyway.

There were four pregnant women in my church this year and I prayed that I would have a boy and they would have girls--not only because I really wanted a boy but also because I knew that he would be safe from circ by being born into our home! Out of the other women, I'm pretty sure that one of them had already circ'ed her older sons, so if this baby was a boy it probably would've gotten cut too. But the other three are all having girls and I got my boy.
post #4 of 142
4/6/09 at 10:34pm
I'm in MI and personally know 3 intact boys besides my ds
post #5 of 142
4/6/09 at 10:44pm

Midwest no-circ mommy here!

So IL mom here and I don't know anyone near me who left their son(s) intact (aside from my mw who lives an hr away from me )
I actually tell people anytime I get a chance too (just because I'm curious about their own sons) and usually end up getting looked at like I'm somewhat crazy for not chopping my son
Almost always I get the response about it "just being so much easier/cleaner"
Everyone I talk to seems to think that you have to go through the extra effort of pulling things back at every butt change "so it doesn't get infected"
I acutally don't mind them responding that way because I'm ALWAYS quick to point out the err in that assumption
It's no wonder the US has such a large number of "medically necessary" circumcisions with so many parents/caregivers pulling on parts they should simply leave alone
post #6 of 142
4/6/09 at 10:48pm
You are certainly not alone. I have 2 intact boys and honestly, know of very few circ'ed boys in my social circle ( I think there is a pair of brothers from one family and that is it).

My social circle is certainly not the majority of my community, but there is a significant minority of intact boys here (SW MI).
post #7 of 142
4/6/09 at 11:16pm
I no longer live in the Midwest, but I did when my son was born, and he is intact! I lived in Iowa at the time.
post #8 of 142
4/6/09 at 11:21pm
my 3 yr old is keepin it real, AND intact, in Ohio
post #9 of 142
4/6/09 at 11:37pm
I'm from circ central - Kansas.

We have one intact little boy and another on the way! Woohoo!
post #10 of 142
4/6/09 at 11:57pm
We're in North Central Ohio (about the same distance from both Cleveland and Akron-Canton) and have an 11 month old intact son.

-Astrid
post #11 of 142
4/6/09 at 11:58pm
De-lurking to add, central IL here. I dont know anyone personally who hasn't circ'd their boys. It is so frustrating. A friend of dh's is having a boy in June and I gave her a copy of What Your Dr May Not Tell You about Circ, and I am hoping she reads it. I really want to be happy for them, and I dont think I can be if they hurt their baby kwim?
post #12 of 142
4/7/09 at 7:40am
I have 3 boys, the oldest one born in Germany, the 2 younger ones born in MI. They are all intact, but then, with my first son this wasn't "intactivism" - it was just normal. We don't do routine "medical" circumcision in Germany.
So, when I lived in MI, I had the pediatrician take a note in our file that I didn't want my sons circumsized.
I was really shocked back then, I will never forget when I changed a friend's son's diaper.
post #13 of 142
4/7/09 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sadean View Post
You are certainly not alone. I have 2 intact boys and honestly, know of very few circ'ed boys in my social circle ( I think there is a pair of brothers from one family and that is it).

My social circle is certainly not the majority of my community, but there is a significant minority of intact boys here (SW MI).
That's fantastic! I live in South-central MI, about 30 minutes from the Indiana border.

It's good to hear from other mamas with intact boys. Sometimes it feels like almost everybody circ's their boys around here. My son's doctor said that he sees mostly circ'ed.
post #14 of 142
4/7/09 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicole B View Post
So IL mom here and I don't know anyone near me who left their son(s) intact (aside from my mw who lives an hr away from me )
I actually tell people anytime I get a chance too (just because I'm curious about their own sons) and usually end up getting looked at like I'm somewhat crazy for not chopping my son
Almost always I get the response about it "just being so much easier/cleaner"
Everyone I talk to seems to think that you have to go through the extra effort of pulling things back at every butt change "so it doesn't get infected"
I acutally don't mind them responding that way because I'm ALWAYS quick to point out the err in that assumption
It's no wonder the US has such a large number of "medically necessary" circumcisions with so many parents/caregivers pulling on parts they should simply leave alone
Yeah, no kidding. My mom and my MIL both didn't know that you're not supposed to retract and clean it. Of course, my mom had only girls and my MIL circ'ed her boys.

I hate it, though, to think that people circ based on the assumption that intact care is so hard, when it's not, kwim?
post #15 of 142
4/7/09 at 8:45am
Iowa here. I have two grown intact sons.
post #16 of 142
4/7/09 at 8:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlessedMommy2006 View Post
Yeah, no kidding. My mom and my MIL both didn't know that you're not supposed to retract and clean it. Of course, my mom had only girls and my MIL circ'ed her boys.

I hate it, though, to think that people circ based on the assumption that intact care is so hard, when it's not, kwim?
Keep in mind how hard it was to get good information then. I mean it should seem obvious (especially to the Doctors) but we are looking at it with a better perspective.
post #17 of 142
4/7/09 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwhispers View Post
Keep in mind how hard it was to get good information then. I mean it should seem obvious (especially to the Doctors) but we are looking at it with a better perspective.
Yeah, you're right. Too bad the doctors didn't give out better information. I mean, I might be tempted to circ too, if I thought that intact care was as laborious as they describe. It tires me out just hearing people talk about pulling back the foreskin at every diaper change.

I think that part of the reason why I didn't circ my son (other than all the classic reasons) is that I am lazy. I mean really, dealing with post-op care when I'm already irrational and sleep deprived, preventing adhesions for possibly years on end, and possibly dealing with meatal stenosis and all the headache that entails. ROFL.
post #18 of 142
4/7/09 at 11:10am
I live in Tulsa, OK. I ~know~ it's generally put into the Southern stats, but honestly I don't see how. I don't know anyone my kids ages that is intact (except my MW's ds). I know that ds's dad's family circs. My brothers all are My sons: intact. Now, I know 1 man (xh) who is, and know of one other who I was told was (girl talk )

I'm from TN, and from what I know of boys there, it's very common. All my nephews are.
post #19 of 142
4/7/09 at 11:47am

We are in MN

Not close to you but still midwest. The circ rate is high here My only consolation at the moment is that a few years back the local NOCIRC was successfull in getting circ removed as a covered surgery for Medicare (or whatever the state's health assistance plan is called).

To give you another inkling of how pro-circ it is here, I am the local office for the MGM bill. I sent letters to all my reps in January for the bill and have not had one response from any of them.
post #20 of 142
4/7/09 at 11:49am
I'm in MN with 2 intact sons. My cousin has an intact boy, too.
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Circumcision › Post here if you're from the Midwest (or other high circ area) and have an intact son!