to circumcise or not to circumcise?

[beep]

Ever since we found out we are having a boy, I've been kicking the question of whether or not to circumcise around in my head. I lean towards not doing it, but am still thinking. My partner doesn't have a strong feeling and is willing to leave the decision up to me. What are your thoughts on this issue, and why?

[lalemma]

You are going to get a very specific kind of reply by asking this question on MDC.

If we have a boy, we aren't circumcising. But not because I necessarily buy into the various theories that circumcision is the absolute worst thing I could ever do to a child, bar none.

I'm not going to have a baby circumcised because I don't feel comfortable making choices about permanently modifying someone else's body long before they have the ability to decide for themselves, and - unlike various other medical interventions - there's no statistically significant value to it.

But, and this is where I differ from a lot of MDC people, if my son came to me at 17 and said he wanted to be circumcised, I'd feel like that was his decision to make and not automatically debilitating and crushing and going to ruin his life forever.

[mysticmomma]

NOT.

Please visit the Case against Circumcision.

[ithappened]

Originally Posted by lalemma

I'm not going to have a baby circumcised because I don't feel comfortable making choices about permanently modifying someone else's...

But, and this is where I differ from a lot of MDC people, if my son came to me at 17 and said he wanted to be circumcised, I'd feel like that was his decision to make and not automatically debilitating and crushing and going to ruin his life forever.

::

[MamaMonica]

Moved to TCAC. Circumcision discussions aren't hosted in the DDCs, please see the forum guidelines if you have questions about where to post.

[leila1213]

I'm not going to have it done if this baby's a boy.

Why would you have it done?

[kawa kamuri]

absolutely do not do it

[beep]

Sorry about posting in the wrong place--must have missed this while skimming through the guidelines.

[earthmama369]

What would be the benefit in putting my newborn son through cosmetic surgery and having an open wound in his diaper until it heals? Knowing that circumcision impairs later sexual function by removing healthy, functioning tissue and greatly increases the chances of him experiencing impotency later in life, and that while it's a small chance, there are baby boys who have died from blood loss and infection due to circumcision, I just don't see the benefit of putting him through unnecessary surgery.

My son is intact and we have experienced no problems with leaving him intact, which isn't surprising, I suppose, given that we left our daughter and experienced no problems with her, either. It's the normal, natural state of being.

[knucklehead]

First of all, thank you for questioning circumcision instead of just blindly going along like so many do.

I have one question for you. If you had a baby girl would you allow her to be strapped down and have someone slice off her clitoral hood after she is born? If the answer is "NO" than don't do it to your boy. The foreskin is a NORMAL, functioning, sensitive, part of your boy's penis. Please don't alter his genitals. They're his.

Please read through this forum, there is a wealth of information and answers here.

[Fyrestorm]

You could always leave the body modification decision up to the person who's body it is...

[Ericka1999]

Well I don't have a son but I have a 8yr old nephew that has gotten circumzied when he was a newborn.My brother in law and my sister had decided to have her son cirumsized not for religious reasons but for hygene reasons.

[mysticmomma]

hygeine?

[l_olive]

Originally Posted by Ericka1999

Well I don't have a son but I have a 8yr old nephew that has gotten circumzied when he was a newborn.My brother in law and my sister had decided to have her son cirumsized not for religious reasons but for hygene reasons.

Then, I'm sorry to say, your sister and her husband were sadly uninformed. There is nothing unhygienic about an intact penis.

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by l_olive

Then, I'm sorry to say, your sister and her husband were sadly uninformed. There is nothing unhygienic about an intact penis.

and...an open bloody wound in a diaper certainly isn't anywhere near hygienic! Not to mention all the infections that are lurking in a hospital, just looking for an open wound.

[BamaDude]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

You could always leave the body modification decision up to the person who's body it is...

Exactly. As an adult I wouldn't think of leaving a decision as inconsequential and easily-changed as what clothes I'm going to wear up to either of my parents, yet they made a decision to permanently alter the appearance and function of my genitals when I was just a few days old without a thought as to whether this alteration was something I'd want for myself once I became an adult. Then as now it was "my body", but I never got a chance to make "MY choice".

[Fyrestorm]

Beep - Perhaps you can give us a list of reasons that you are considering doing this to your son and we can help dispel those myths for you.

[texmati]

Circumcision is not just unnecessary, but it does impair function. It actually harms the baby. Please don't do it to your son.

[Fellow Traveler]

Welcome to the forum beep, how about we turn the question around. What reasons do you believe exist that support circumcision?

[beep]

The big reasons I have come across for circumcision are:

- decreased risk of penile cancer
- decreased risk of getting HIV (this child is likely to spend some of his life in developing countries where the risk is higher than in the US or Europe)
- decreased risk of childhood UTIs
- dad, who is not circumcised, feels that it is a lot of effort to keep his penis clean and not smelly as well as that the foreskin sometimes decreases sexual sensation when the hood slips up during intercourse; he leans towards circumcision but doesn't feel very strongly and will leave the ultimate decision up to me

Thoughts, anyone?

P.S. For those who did not see my original post, this is not a "talk me out of it" situation--I am leaning against doing it, but trying to gather all information.