I think I'm going to be sick

[true2Him]

In the past 18 hours, I have read more about circumcision than I have ever wanted to know......and I don't even know what I'm having!!! The past 2 months have been just packed with information. I decided to start homeschooling. Then I started questioning vaccines when an autistic relative attempted suicide. I'm in the middle of converting our food to primarily organic.

....and now....I'm about to do a 180 on circumcising.: To save time, I tried to pull up video commentaries with views against circumcision and was horrified to find out I needed to pause to video to prevent myself from watching the actual process! I had no idea it would be in the commentary. I scrolled down to read comments, and all I saw were comments of torture, monsters, and people cursing the people performing it.

I was always under the impression it was a small cut that barely made any difference. I've never gone looking to compare penises, so I didn't think about it. My first boyfriend was so proud of being circumcised. He talked about how much more beneficial it was to be circumcised over uncircumcised. I took his word for it. What did I know? I've never had a penis! After a tour of the hospital for my 2nd dd, my dss asked me about circumcision. (I was hoping he'd ask his father, but he asked me all the questions, especially regarding sex.) He asked if he'd been circumcised, and I offered him a dictionary to look up the definition (I met him when he was in preschool, so I had no clue) then went to hide in the shower hoping he'd get his answer or go talk to his father. As soon as I got out, he told me he was and asked if it hurt or if he bled. I told him what I had been told by medical experts...it's a small cut, so there was a little bleeding, but it might have only hurt for a little while.

After watching, I feel like I lied to him! I had no idea what was removed, how much, how long it took and that it sometimes didn't involve any method to dull the pain....much less ever considered how long it would take to attempt to heal or the permanent side effects. They made it sound like a tiny band-aid was all that was necessary to stop the bleeding. Die? DIE?!?!?! No one told me any child could DIE from it!!! Who enjoys this?!?! How do you condition yourself to tune out someone pleading for you to stop? Snip? This is not a snip!

I don't think I can take any more today........

[Marnica]

It is rough when you discover the truth about things isn't it??

Glad you are educating yourself though

[BlessedMommy2006]

Hugs mama. When you know better, you do better. Unfortunately circumcision is one of those things that the more you know, the worse it is.

I feel sick too when I think about it. So many medical professionals lie to moms and say that it's just a little "snip" or that the baby won't feel any pain.

Good for you for researching and learning the facts about how it's actually done. If this baby is a boy, you now have the knowledge to protect him from that procedure.

Oh, and foreskin care is very simple too, not the complex thing that we have been led to believe. The advice my midwife gave me was, "Just leave it alone."

Congrats on your pregnancy!

[lilli'smom]

That's how I felt.

I only found out when my youngest DS was a few months old and I was looking for info because his foreskin had reattached and the doc forcefully pulled it back off. needless to say, I was horrorfied at myself for ever having allowed it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

it is horrible mama and by no means a small cut. I hope that you keep the feeling you have now and if you have a boy he will remain intact.

[knitted_in_the_wom]

Hugs!

I urge you to discuss this with your husband of course.

Once you get him on board with not circing, then of course I would broach the subject of him talking to DSS. He needs to apologize to DSS, explain that he didn't know any better, and be totally honest about what was done. This needs to be done to stop the chain of abuse that may go into the next generation if you don't start passing on your values to your DSS now.

I really do think that routine infant circ is abuse. It turns my stomach. One of my doula clients had a boy today, and my heart breaks with the knowledge that tomorrow or Friday that precious little boy will be strapped to a board and tortured. But I couldn't get the parents to change their minds.

I blogged about circ here: http://knittedinthewomb.com/wp/?p=455

Jenn

[true2Him]

Thanks for the support! I think I introduced the subject wrong, but dh seems to support me for now. I told him I researched and didn't find a medical or Biblical reason for the procedure, especially as it's performed now, so I can't see doing an unnecessary surgery. I think watching a baby go into shock really threw me.

With the way things are now, I don't see having another circ discussion with dss soon. Dh was actually kept from his son for the first couple years of his life, so he had no say in what was done or input in how dss was reared. It's been a difficult road for both of them, so I try to avoid discussing certain topics unless one of them brings it up.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I was right there with you when I found out what was involved with circumcision. I was horrified, angry beyond belief and so, so, so sad for all of the baby boys who have been mutilated in the world. Once I got pregnant, I pretty much decided that if anyone came at my son with a knife, they would have to do it over my dead body. When I had my son after a very traumatic birth, the only thing I could think to scream as they whisked him away from me was DON'T CIRCUMCISE HIM!!!!!!!! Needless to say, he is intact, and completely healthy. I am so happy that you are researching this and that you are thinking you will also keep your child whole. It is horrifying to see, but so important to have the knowledge that these graphic images provide.