Ugh! I am so mad right now. 
I accidentally butted myself into another thread here about coming to a decision with one's dh. As I stated there, we are having a son in about two weeks and my dh has come around incredibly and has really done a lot of soul searching over the issue of circumcision. He still can't bring himself to be against it, but he realizes that the arguments are crumbling under his feet. In any case, I had to take dd into the pedi today to have a nasty cough checked out. Dh asked me to humor him while I was there, and ask the pedi about how they council parents and how many intact penises he sees in their (huge... the most popular one in our area with 6 doctors) practice.
I saw one of the senior members, a dr in his upper 50s (my daughters usual pedi is closer to my age, and I have been very happy with her thus far but haven't talked circ yet) I went to the trouble to explain to him that I was already informed that there was no medical reason, and that I wanted to help dh feel more reassured. The doc then proceded to completely ignore that part of the question, and launched into what I could tell what his shtick " Well, I tell parents who are on the fence to err on the side of just gettin it done, because really, what mom wants to have to remind her 4 year old to clean his penis, and I have to see the poor kids with phimosis that have adhesions and it prevents HIV and blah blah blah. The vast majority of the kids here are circed and I rarely see one that isn't ..."(to that I say bullsh*t. We are a mere 45 minutes from NYC with a population of varied cultures, I'm sure there is no "vast" majority) I was completely floored that this blather came out of the mouth of an educated doctor and it completely made me question whether I want my ds (due in 2 weeks) to ever see one of these doctors again! Now I should see my regular pedi in fairness, just to check. I'm hoping it was because I saw the old school guy. When I mentioned the AAP's stance, he called it an "ivory tower" organization and said they make decisions but he sees the patients. When I then shot down his cleanliness argument by pointing out that I had a baby girl, who was not easy to keep clean, he started backpeddling.... but "when in doubt, err on the side of surgery???" I know this is not news to most of you, but I am soo shocked at the ignorance!
Thankfully, our GP is from India, so I decided to go talk to him. He is not circ'ed, and neither are his sons. He pointed out that the men in India are not circ'ed, and don't suffer for it and are not dirty. He did admit that he wanted it done for his first son (immigrant mentality of wanting him to "fit in" but wife put her foot down and he, being a reasonable guy, and knowing there was not a medical reason for it, backed down. He said he has no regrets and his sons are fine with it) We talked at length, and he talked about not retracting and generally leaving it alone, etc. He told me that there are absolutely no medical reasons to circ (which I knew, but it was nice to hear). He also said that he sees more and more intact teens (since he is GP, he doesn't do pediatric, much to my chagrin!) and thinks that a lot of American mothers in our area are chosing not to circ. He gave me the name of his kids' pedi, who has two sons who are also not circ'ed. I might give them a call, but am not sure because I do like the woman I have been going to for dd.
Sorry this is so long! I realize you have all been there, done that, but I was so shocked and angered by the ignorance of the pediatrician, and of American culture in general. I'm tired of arguing the logical side of things and being made to feel like I'm being weird for it. If I lived in a more intelligent country perhaps (like, most of the rest of them?) this would not be even a slight issue. Ugh Ugh Ugh
I accidentally butted myself into another thread here about coming to a decision with one's dh. As I stated there, we are having a son in about two weeks and my dh has come around incredibly and has really done a lot of soul searching over the issue of circumcision. He still can't bring himself to be against it, but he realizes that the arguments are crumbling under his feet. In any case, I had to take dd into the pedi today to have a nasty cough checked out. Dh asked me to humor him while I was there, and ask the pedi about how they council parents and how many intact penises he sees in their (huge... the most popular one in our area with 6 doctors) practice.I saw one of the senior members, a dr in his upper 50s (my daughters usual pedi is closer to my age, and I have been very happy with her thus far but haven't talked circ yet) I went to the trouble to explain to him that I was already informed that there was no medical reason, and that I wanted to help dh feel more reassured. The doc then proceded to completely ignore that part of the question, and launched into what I could tell what his shtick " Well, I tell parents who are on the fence to err on the side of just gettin it done, because really, what mom wants to have to remind her 4 year old to clean his penis, and I have to see the poor kids with phimosis that have adhesions and it prevents HIV and blah blah blah. The vast majority of the kids here are circed and I rarely see one that isn't ..."(to that I say bullsh*t. We are a mere 45 minutes from NYC with a population of varied cultures, I'm sure there is no "vast" majority) I was completely floored that this blather came out of the mouth of an educated doctor and it completely made me question whether I want my ds (due in 2 weeks) to ever see one of these doctors again! Now I should see my regular pedi in fairness, just to check. I'm hoping it was because I saw the old school guy. When I mentioned the AAP's stance, he called it an "ivory tower" organization and said they make decisions but he sees the patients. When I then shot down his cleanliness argument by pointing out that I had a baby girl, who was not easy to keep clean, he started backpeddling.... but "when in doubt, err on the side of surgery???" I know this is not news to most of you, but I am soo shocked at the ignorance!
Thankfully, our GP is from India, so I decided to go talk to him. He is not circ'ed, and neither are his sons. He pointed out that the men in India are not circ'ed, and don't suffer for it and are not dirty. He did admit that he wanted it done for his first son (immigrant mentality of wanting him to "fit in" but wife put her foot down and he, being a reasonable guy, and knowing there was not a medical reason for it, backed down. He said he has no regrets and his sons are fine with it) We talked at length, and he talked about not retracting and generally leaving it alone, etc. He told me that there are absolutely no medical reasons to circ (which I knew, but it was nice to hear). He also said that he sees more and more intact teens (since he is GP, he doesn't do pediatric, much to my chagrin!) and thinks that a lot of American mothers in our area are chosing not to circ. He gave me the name of his kids' pedi, who has two sons who are also not circ'ed. I might give them a call, but am not sure because I do like the woman I have been going to for dd.
Sorry this is so long! I realize you have all been there, done that, but I was so shocked and angered by the ignorance of the pediatrician, and of American culture in general. I'm tired of arguing the logical side of things and being made to feel like I'm being weird for it. If I lived in a more intelligent country perhaps (like, most of the rest of them?) this would not be even a slight issue. Ugh Ugh Ugh
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