Post here if you have an intact son and have a great doctor!

[BlessedMommy2006]

So I've been thinking...with all the threads that people post about doctors retracting or giving poor advice, some people may be getting an unbalanced view of the medical profession and may get discouraged about finding a great doctor for their intact son.

So here's a thread for you to post about your great pediatricians or family practice doctors (or whoever sees your intact son for healthcare for that matter!).

I take my son to a family practice doctor. The doctor is very hands off and has never retracted or attempted to. I saw the PA yesterday and it was the first time, so I said, "I imagine that you already know this because you're a doctor, but he is intact--not circumcised, and the foreskin is not supposed to be retracted." She said, "Oh no problem, I know not to do that. All I'm going to do is look at the diaper rash so that I can prescribe treatment."

Afterward we discussed crunchy living such as CD'ing, homebirthing, etc.

This practice has also NEVER lectured me for not vaxing either. I them!

So what's your happy doctor story?

[tutucrazy]

My old pedi in PR is a member of DOC and refuses to perform circs. He refuses any new parents who intend to circumcise their newborn. His office is always packed b/c he is also very pro-natural birth and he is a certified lactation educator. He used to be the head of pediatrics at one of the hospitals and during his time there the circ rate dropped below 15 %.

[Llyra]

Ours is great. I asked, before DS was born, for the doc's opinion on circ, as if I was having trouble making up my mind. She looked hesitant, as if she was afraid to start trouble, and then said, "well, it's up to you, of course, and I'll recommend someone in our practice who can do it if you decide you want it, but there's really no medical benefit that would make me recommend it." Then she looked relieved when I said I had decided against it.

The ped practice distributed fliers on correct intact care when we were discharged (DS was born in the hospital.)

She's been very careful, every time we've seen her, to mention correct care of the intact penis, as if she was worried I wouldn't know what to do, and worried that I might attempt to retract.

She's not perfect, but on the issue of circumcision, she's been awesome.

[Night_Nurse]

We live in the US but our pedi is from India where circ is rarely performed. He never once suggested circ, tried to retract or ever suggested improper care.

[frontierpsych]

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse

We live in the US but our pedi is from India where circ is rarely performed. He never once suggested circ, tried to retract or ever suggested improper care.

same here. The only circ-related question was if we'd had him circumcised. We said no, and nothing beyond that was discussed.

[mcgee]

We love our pediatrician! Before DS was born, we told him we planned to homebirth, and he was very enthusiastic about it. He brought up circumcision and said that since we weren't delivering in a hospital, we'd have to make arrangements for it if we wanted it done. He then quickly added that he didn't recommend it and it wasn't medically necessary. We've never had issues with him trying to retract DS's foreskin. He's also fine with us delaying vaccination or not vaxing at all.

[kai28]

Our pedi is great. Non circ hasn't been an issue. The only mention made of it was just to leave his penis alone - don't go cleaning it or peeling it back or anything.

Interestingly, we went to the er on Monday. The er doc asked us what we were doing to care for his foreskin. We said "uh, nothing. We don't really touch it at all except to wipe it off" his answer:"good, keep doing that". I was surprised that the er doc was in line.

[rissierae]

Ours is great too. When I told him ds was intact, he said "Oh good, I don't have to worry about anything then."

He also is very supportive of not vaxing too

[pammysue]

Our family practice doctor has never said a word about it. Even the PA we saw recently who recommended ice cream to increase DS's weight and was aghast that we were not serving our dairy allergic son milk did not blink an eye.

In the hospital, the ped who did DS's newborn check asked if we were circing. I said 'no" and he said "good" and talked briefly about how it is not medically necessary.

[fruitful womb]

Originally Posted by pammysue

Our family practice doctor has never said a word about it. Even the PA we saw recently who recommended ice cream to increase DS's weight and was aghast that we were not serving our dairy allergic son milk did not blink an eye.

In the hospital, the ped who did DS's newborn check asked if we were circing. I said 'no" and he said "good" and talked briefly about how it is not medically necessary.

I hear this a lot! I even hear doctors and nurses filling the room with cheers, "YAY!!!!! What a LUCKY boy to have such smart parents!!!"

but they first solicit the arbitrary genital cutting???

Wouldn't it be easier to instruct the parent on proper care of their son's complete set of male genitals rather than making the intact foreskin a mystery?

"Wipe from base to tip. Do not attempt retraction because the prepuce is naturally adhered to the glans. Average age of natural separation of the synechia, (same material that holds the fingernail to the finger) which bonds the foreskin to the glans as an important protective mechanism to preserve the integrity of the male reproductive organ, is 10.5yrs at which time the boy can Retract, Rinse, Replace."

As the default, HCPs instruct parents on the proper care of their daughters. Our sons deserves the same respect.

[eepster]

There is a whole level of Drs between great and horrible.

Mine is fine. She knows the basics of intact care, and listens to me about not trying to test retract DS.

However, I wouldn't put her in the great category. She does buy into the UTI reduction theory, and fully supports cultural circ (for reason I can't get into, it is nearly impossible to find Drs in my area who don't.)

The reason I like her and stick with her as a Dr isn't b/c she always agrees with me, but b/c she is always willing to listen to me and considers information carefully whether or not she agrees with me. I'd rather have a Dr who only agrees with me 75% of the time but will listen to me 100%, than a Dr who agrees with me 90% of the time but argues about the last 10%.

[jessafina]

ds was born in the birth center withing a hospital which is completely against circ. we couldn't have circ'd him in there even if we'd wanted to. i love that becuase it at least (hopefully) makes everybody think "hmmm... why don't they support circumcision".
our pediatrician has never even mentioned it. she just feels his testicles, checks for diaper rash and that's it. she's never touched his penis for any reason.
also, we went for a well-baby today (ds is 5 months) and she said "and we're still not doing any shots today?" and I said no and she said ok. didn't phase her at all; in fact i was the one who expanded just a little on my thinking just to let her know that I don't take the decision lightly and she was totally cool. it was such a nice visit!

[MLA]

It's so weird to me that there are peds who still try to retract foreskins. The status of my son's foreskin has never come up w/my ped (as there's never been anything wrong with it), and he's NEVER tried to retract it. He just checks out the area as quickly as possible, in the hopes of not being peed on.

[blizzard_babe]

Our Family Practice Nurse Practitioner. She rocks. Totally supportive of extended nursing (warned me that he might taper off a bit around two years of age and not to take it personally ), complimented me on our use of soft-soled shoes, and when she saw he was uncircumsized, she said...

"Oh, he's not circumsized. Don't ever, ever pull it back. It'll go back by itself sometime during childhood. Don't let any other doctors or nurses pull it back, either."

Now, maybe I should have been offended that she assumed I didn't know all that, but... nah.

Except I forget her name. I'll have to look on our most recent bill so I know who to ask for next time. She's officially "our" provider.

Also, she farted unabashedly. I have to respect someone who can pass gas and remain professional.

[AllyRae]

After several bad experiences with other peds trying to retract DS, we have a ped who says that intact is normal (and so is extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and parents having a choice in their child's medical care). It's nice to find a doctor that treats natural parenting as NORMAL and INSTINCTUAL instead of something wacked out and rare.

[EviesMom]

Our ped rocks. Circ was one of my questions, along with our delayed vax schedule, and less antibiotics in general. She said half her boy patients are non-circ, so she's used to it.

[pammysue]

Originally Posted by eepster

The reason I like her and stick with her as a Dr isn't b/c she always agrees with me, but b/c she is always willing to listen to me and considers information carefully whether or not she agrees with me. I'd rather have a Dr who only agrees with me 75% of the time but will listen to me 100%, than a Dr who agrees with me 90% of the time but argues about the last 10%.

I totally agree. Our Dr. does not agree with us 100% on vaxes, but she knows I have done a lot of research and (more importantly) she respects our rights as parents to make that decision with a minimum of input from her.

[ShadowMoon]

We've been very lucky. Our ped is great. He's hands-off the foreskin, perfectly ok with our selective, very-delayed vax schedule, encourages parents to do research on vaxes, etc, pro extended bf'ing, and is very comfortable with our vegan diet. It's nice to know there are some great docs out there!

[Xavismom]

DS has a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, and she is great!

She is anti-circ, and happy that we did not circ DS. She has never touched his penis, and even though we told her we knew how to care for his penis (by leaving it ALONE) she still wanted to go over that with us anyways on his first visit, to make it very clear that we not retract it.

She is also pro-extended BF, and BF all her kids 2+ years.
She does support a selective Vax schedule, but she is still supportive of our decision not to Vax at all.
I really feel lucky that we found her!

[CookAMH]

My son's doc back in Pittsburgh was great, he signed the agreement form my DH got online for agreeing to never retract, etc. Now, in Seattle, my son's ND passed the test when DH asked what is needed to be done for an intact penis. She said nothing really, let him play with it if he wants.

She's cool with not vaxing too, but she said she has to ask each visit what we are doing but she just says, ok, good!