Help making the decision, please! - Page 3

[eepster]

- Cleaning: Yeast infection?! (he was very alarmed at that)
Circ'd men can still get yeast infections, they just call it "jock itch."

- Complications with the foreskin, such as penile strangulation: foreskin accidentally gets pulled back and strangles end of penis?!
This is very rare problem (paraphimosis,) which can be prevented by never forcibly retracting a nonretarctable foreskin and can easily be fixed. The chances of paraphimosis causing permanent damge are slim.


Remember that there is a chance of the glans (end of the penis) being amputated during the circumcision proceedure. Since accurate statistics on both these risks are hard to obtain, I can't say for sure which is more likely, but another discusion we are having makes me suspect that the risk of loosing the glans during circumcision is greater than the risk of loosing it from uncorrected paraphimosis.

- Aesthetics: It looks better right? Will girls make fun of him or think it's ugly?
Only to people who are used to it. My dad was born in Ireland, so he's intact. The anatomically correct doll I had as a kid was Swedish, so he was intact. So, I never saw a circ'd one till I was in highschool. If you are used to intact circ'd is quite shocking. It looks strangely exposed, and like something is missing.

- Psychological: will he feel like he's weird or different? What will people think if he's running around naked as a little one? Will people question us or think we're weird?
Nation wide almost half the boys born are not being circ'd. I live just a little ways from Rockland county (in Bergen county, NJ) and no one ever seems to think twice when I used to change DS. Though I'm not sure how many people have seen him, since I'm not in the habbit of parading him around naked.

[Greg B]

Originally Posted by rclaz

- Cleaning: Yeast infection?! (he was very alarmed at that)
- Complications with the foreskin, such as penile strangulation: foreskin accidentally gets pulled back and strangles end of penis?!
- Aesthetics: It looks better right? Will girls make fun of him or think it's ugly?
- Psychological: will he feel like he's weird or different? What will people think if he's running around naked as a little one? Will people question us or think we're weird?

Thoughts??
Thanks!!

Everyone has already given good answers, I will just add a few more thoughts to the mix.

Women get yeast infections a lot, relative to men. No one gets alarmed by that, no one advocates for removing their labia to prevent it, at least in the US. Interesting why there is such a difference in feelings....

The foreskin is designed to move back and forth over the glans. It would be very rare for this to be a problem. Even if it turns out to be a problem, there are treatments that can stretch it so that it functions normally. Not a reason to circumcise. Much more likely he will not have this problem.

Some people will make fun of him for many things. The way he walks, talks, his height, weight, body shape, facial hair, length of his hair, color of his hair, etc. The list goes on and on. Many others will not make fun of him. some women will prefer him with his foreskin. Some may not at first, but will when they feel how much better sex is with a foreskin. Irregardless, he can always choose to have his foreskin removed if he feels it is something he wants to do. But the reverse (if you have it cut off) is not true. So it makes little sense to remove his foreskin based on some idea that he might find a woman that he likes and who doesn't like his foreskin and he decides she is worth more than his foreskin. Someone said, a foreskin is a good shallow woman repellent...

Everyone feels odd, different, weird at times. I am too tall, too fat, too skinny, too round, too hairy, too short, too unproportional, etc. The list goes on and on. Most people feel that in most cases it is extreme and unreasonable to cut body parts off because you feel insecure temporarily. Should I cut off my ears because they stick out too far? It seems very extreme to cut off your son's foreskin before he even has a chance to become insecure about it, just because you think there is some chance that he might possible be insecure about it. There are much better ways to deal with it, but it is highly unlikely to occur, arguably.

Yes, some people will question you. People are very judgmental. that doesn't make them right. Nor does it justify cutting off his foreskin. why should you cut off his foreskin because some other judgmental person you haven't even met might look at him or you as failing in some way? would you begin electrolysis or laser hair removal in order to prevent people who can't deal with hair from looking down at him or you?

Regards

[Fyrestorm]

Bottom line....you don't have to decide...let your son decide...after all, it's his penis.

[nerdymom]

I dont think i can address any of your concerns better than pp's. It comes down to this: circumcision is a cosmetic procedure. the decision to have this elective, cosmetic surgery should be your son's, and not yours.

my dh is intact, as aremost everyone in his family. dh is european. and guess what? most have never had any sort of infection or problem with their foreskins. the ones that do get the occasional uti or other issue get treatment, just as women do. would you amputate your ds's earlobe to prevent an ear infection? no. you'd treat any illnesses as they occur. a penis is no different. human's don't come with spare parts.

[homeschoolingmama]

Check out my circ blog.

www.circumcisionwhataripoff.blogspot.com