My sister had a baby boy last week, her first. When I was visiting her in the hospital, she said something about his circumcision (which had not happened yet.) My heart sunk. 
I thought talking to my sister would not be very productive, because I assumed that it was my BIL who was wanting the circ and she was just going along. So I walked with BIL in the hallway and shared some things with him that I thought he might not know. I was humble about it, and assured him that I would say nothing else after this and would respect whatever decision they made. I was surprised to learn from him that it was my sister who wanted the circ, and he was more against it! (That's what he said, anyway. He also said they'd had "some back and forth about it".) I still think it was the right thing to talk to him about it instead of her -- even more so now. I hope the information I gave him was enough ammunition for him to re-open the conversation with her. I encouraged him to think about it some more and if he decided he didn't want it done, to not be afraid to stand up for his son.
They are home from the hospital now. I have no idea if my nephew was circed or not at this point. I know the medical staff were concerned about his initial lack of urination after 30 hours, which put off the procedure. I'm hoping that all the concern and fuss over the pee issue -- they even catheterized him briefly to see if there was a blockage -- gave my BIL even more incentive to argue against further messing with his poor son's penis. (He's peeing fine now and has regained his birth weight, so no worries there anymore!)
Anyway, I don't know if I made any difference or not, but I keep thinking about it. Maybe sharing it here can help me to let it go. It's either done or it isn't and either way I'm not going to say anything. If my BIL decided to stand up against the circumcision, he may not have told my sister that I had talked to him about it, so I'll handle my joy or disappointment in private in either case. Thanks for listening.
I thought talking to my sister would not be very productive, because I assumed that it was my BIL who was wanting the circ and she was just going along. So I walked with BIL in the hallway and shared some things with him that I thought he might not know. I was humble about it, and assured him that I would say nothing else after this and would respect whatever decision they made. I was surprised to learn from him that it was my sister who wanted the circ, and he was more against it! (That's what he said, anyway. He also said they'd had "some back and forth about it".) I still think it was the right thing to talk to him about it instead of her -- even more so now. I hope the information I gave him was enough ammunition for him to re-open the conversation with her. I encouraged him to think about it some more and if he decided he didn't want it done, to not be afraid to stand up for his son.They are home from the hospital now. I have no idea if my nephew was circed or not at this point. I know the medical staff were concerned about his initial lack of urination after 30 hours, which put off the procedure. I'm hoping that all the concern and fuss over the pee issue -- they even catheterized him briefly to see if there was a blockage -- gave my BIL even more incentive to argue against further messing with his poor son's penis. (He's peeing fine now and has regained his birth weight, so no worries there anymore!)
Anyway, I don't know if I made any difference or not, but I keep thinking about it. Maybe sharing it here can help me to let it go. It's either done or it isn't and either way I'm not going to say anything. If my BIL decided to stand up against the circumcision, he may not have told my sister that I had talked to him about it, so I'll handle my joy or disappointment in private in either case. Thanks for listening.
