Do others feel the same way?

[BlessedMommy2006]

I have to say that there are very few decisions that I've made as a parent that make me feel as happy as leaving my son intact.

My son is 6 months old and I still feel profound joy and relief that I learned the information in time to keep him whole and protect him.

Sometimes I wonder what if. Like what if I had gotten married to someone who really pushed for circ or what if I had a hospital birth and circ was more of a routine and I was pressured into it or something. (We're in the Midwest where you're a severe minority if you don't circ)

Every time I change his diaper I feel really really happy about leaving him intact. It's like a visible reminder to make me feel happy about the decision. I knew that leaving him intact was the best thing, but wow, I don't know that I expected to feel this great about it.

Just wanted to encourage anybody lurking around out there, you will not regret leaving your son intact!

[So-Called]

I have to admit that it took me a little while to get used to the way DS's penis looks. I never found it unpleasant or anything, just different (and maybe a little worrisome at times when it looked like his foreskin was getting twisted around or stuck to his scrotum, yikes). No matter how bizarre I find circumcision as a practice, I can't help the fact that I'm accustomed to seeing nothing but circ'ed boys and men.

However, I've never once felt anything but happiness and pride at the reminder that we didn't subject DS to what I consider genital mutilation, even though there's so much pressure in our society, our area, and our family's expectations to do so. I'm so pleased that DS has his whole penis, that he's just as he was intended to be, and that he will never have to wonder (as his father does) how things might have been had his choice not been taken from him.

Honestly, I expected to feel really good about leaving our son intact. What I didn't expect was how ingenious I'd find the design of an intact penis, and how starkly the functional effects of circumcision would stand out to me. I thought my experience with my DH in particular had thoroughly illustrated the harms and losses of circumcision, but I don't think either of us truly grasped the full implications until DS arrived.

I agree that there are no regrets, no matter how deep the cultural conditioning runs. There's a clarity that comes when you look at your child and realize that he's a person in his own right, and frankly, I think that's why there's such a now-or-never attitude about circ'ing newborns.

[MommytoB]

I feel the same way and I don't know what I would have done if I had my son with a circ-ed male instead of an intact male .

It took me awhile to realize my ex was intact because I grew up in a circ'ed family . Even though I remember only seeing discussions about circ on Seinfeld & Cheers.

Seinfeld with the bloody thumb really got to me .

I had been known to read medical books continously & never came across foreskin because I hadn't been looking for tha word .

All circumcision in our medical books would say Remove skin from the penis . Didn't even call it foreskin.

So I thank god every day for my son's father even though he's my ex because my son is intact because of him.

I didnt find out the truth about circumcision until i was research how to clean a intact penis even at the beginning I put uncircumcized now I use intact .

[lovemybubus]

I am also so glad that we left our son intact. My dh is having some serious issues with his own parents right now (at 32) for having made the decision to circumcise him without his consent. I think as parents, we have to understand that many decisions we make we might have to answer for in the future, but especially a decision that involves sexuality.

[BlessedMommy2006]

Originally Posted by So-Called

Honestly, I expected to feel really good about leaving our son intact. What I didn't expect was how ingenious I'd find the design of an intact penis, and how starkly the functional effects of circumcision would stand out to me. I thought my experience with my DH in particular had thoroughly illustrated the harms and losses of circumcision, but I don't think either of us truly grasped the full implications until DS arrived.

I agree, I really saw what the function and purpose of a foreskin was after having my son. (My DH is circ'ed, so I had never seen a foreskin in person before)

After having our son, my DH really really saw how neat and cool a foreskin is--and how much sense it makes to leave it there.

[lily88]

I totally feel the same way. My ds is only 6 weeks old, and this whole CDC thing has put the whole issue in a much stronger light for me recently and made me turn into a bit of an intactivist overnight. I admit that I never really looked into it that deeply b/c I always knew that I didn't want to circumcise if I had a son, and dh is totally in support (even though he's circumcised). So we just decided no, and that was it. Now that I'm reading the articles I'm just horrified that this is even being discussed with this much attention. I feel like it's some kind of cruel joke. I really didn't know what exactly the procedure involved, and now that I do, I feel that it is clearly a violation of the child's rights, much in the way that FGM is. I just can't fathom that there could be anything wrong with ds's penis the way it is--every time I change his diaper (and at other times as well I'm thankful that we made the choice that we did.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I was actually thinking about this yesterday. Was having a really hard time dealing with my kids and I was thinking about how much I stink at parenting and the thought popped into my head that at least I have done 2 things that I have no regrets about.
1) nursing both kids
2) leaving ds intact

[LavenderMae]

Leaving my two boys intact is one thing I know with out a doubt I did right (and really with parenting that's saying a lot imo).

I am incredibly grateful I knew the truth about circumcision before my first son was born.