mama's who have/are having boys...

[chiromama01]

Ok, so even without doing much research, I'm leaning against circumcision.  It just seems cruel.  As far as I know at this point, it's medically unnecessary, so I dont understand why I would agree to allow someone to cut on my newborn's genitals.  

so i'm asking,..what are your thoughts on this??? is there a point of view perhaps I haven't considered?? 

i should also note that dh is completely pro circ, so if you've BTDT, how did you convince your dh to not circ???

Edited by chiromama01 - 11/29/11 at 3:12pm

[wwisdomskr]

If your son wants to have it done, he can make that decision when he's older.  But, if you make the decision for him to be circ'd, there's no turning back.  It's a part of his body.  I would just be matter of fact with your partner about it.  It was a new issue for my partner, but he was very open about receiving information.  Our son is intact and it's just not a big deal.  Like I said, it's just part of his body.

[thomatuttle]

Originally Posted by wwisdomskr 

If your son wants to have it done, he can make that decision when he's older.  But, if you make the decision for him to be circ'd, there's no turning back.  It's a part of his body.  I would just be matter of fact with your partner about it.  It was a new issue for my partner, but he was very open about receiving information.  Our son is intact and it's just not a big deal.  Like I said, it's just part of his body.

I definitely agree.  It's not medically necessary and we aren't religious, so I don't feel the need to cut off part of my son's body.  I would never participate in any form of genital mutilation on my daughter, so why would I on my son?  DH and I haven't really talked about it much yet now that we know that we're having a boy, but he knows my stance on it since we talked about it a lot when I was pregnant with DD.  DH is worried that our son will want to look like daddy or feel weird that he doesn't look like daddy or the other boys, but I don't see that as being an issue.  He can make the decision (and pay) to get himself snipped when he's an adult, if he really feels like he needs to but hopefully he won't feel the need to do it.

[flavorfull1]

I just honestly do not think it makes sense to cut off part of the penis, especially since there is no medical reason and the AAP doesn't even recommend it as necessary/standard now.  DH didn't have any issue with keeping DS intact so I am not a help there. I am sorry you have to figure out how to convince a partner, that seems hard.  We haven't had any issues and there is a lot of support in the other forum about how to care for an intact penis and/or reasons not to circ.  It can be really helpful.

[Tulafina]

I have 3 boys...all 3 are intact. My DH is circed and wanted it done. I made him watch a video(most horrible one I could find) and then gave him lots of info, sites on the net, etc....told him that I DID NOT want it done and that it would emotionally scar me for life as well as physically scar my kids for life too. I think he saw how much time I put into researching it and realized that leaving them alone was probably the best option. I also said if he could come up with CONCRETE evidence showing me that there was a benefit, we would discuss it. Not that he would have changed my mind but I wanted him to know he could discuss it with me. He just never even bothered to look into it and now he's proud to say that he's got 3 whole children and he's looking into restoration for himself:) He confessed to me, long after seeing the video, that he was quite upset his mother had allowed that to be done to him... :(

I have to say though, that if he was adamant on the issue....I am the kind of woman that would do just about anything to protect her children. It would be over my dead body...

[zuzusplace]

My son is not circ'ed either (and if this little one is a boy, he certainly won't be). My husband was all for my decision, because he is and was not overly happy that it had been done to him. Two arguments I've heard against are 1) when your son is older his intimate life will be more satisfying for his partner and in turn for himself, and 2) with European boys not being circ'ed, and an ever decreasing number of US boys being circ'ed, you are going to eventually end up with a reverse psychological effect...where if you ARE circ'ed you will look/feel odd compared to other boys your age.

While these may not be the reasons I'd give for not having it done if I had to make my list, or were trying to persuade a mommy, but I've heard them used persuasively with a daddy ;)

[Blueone]

We didn't circ DS.  I just didn't want to handle cleaning it after and didn't really understand why I should do it despite my religion (not Jewish, but it's still prevalent in our religion).  I saw a few pictures that completely freaked me out too and I didn't want to put my DS through that. I have friends who did it and some who didn't.  It's one of those really personal decisions, so just trust your instinct!

[wendybird]

2 of my sons are circed and 2 are not. No future sons will be. The AAP recommended it, as did the ped, at the time of my first sons birth. I did not have access to the web, or natural minded people, and honestly didn't even think about it...I thought it was always done.   He went on a nursing strike right after the circ was done, but other than that it was straightforward. My next son was botched.   There will be surgery needed when he is older to fix what was done. It was the same procedure!!! I couldn't believe that it is such a crap shoot as far as how good the Dr is, what Their personal preference is for how much to take off or not. Obviously that was when I started researching...it is also when the AAP changed their recomendation(again). I have had zero issues with my boys staying intact (other than judgemental family) but still feel sick that the first two were done at all. My husband wanted it done at first, saying that when he worked in a nursing home there was a difference, but on further introspection he feels that there was a bias and the proper care was not made for the intact men. He swears it would not have taken more than a minute more to take care of them, and nursing homes are not what our decision is made on.

[Marnica]

Our DS is intact. There is NO good arguement out there advocating for chopping off a part of a newborns penis for no good reason IMO. Let your DH try to come up with some  - he won't find any. I had my DH watch a horrible video and he was totally fine with keeping DS intact after seeing that.

As for the thinking that intact sons will want to look like their cut father's - Im sorry I think that is ridiculous. Your son will look like himself in many ways. While he may resemble your DH, he will have a unique look all his own - why shouldn't that include his penis?? I mean what are men trying for mini me's ?? If your DH had to get a nose job to correct a deviated septum one day - would he then advocate for your son to get a nose job too so they could look alike?? I really just don't get it!!!

[piratemere]

My sons are not circ'd.  When I was pregnant with DS1 it seemed like such a big issue.  I felt that it should be my husbands decision, since he was the one with a penis.  However, now that I know more, and as soon as my son was born, I knew that was a crap reason, and it was really an easy decision: of course I wouldn't cut off part of my perfect son's body.  Who cares if DH has a penis or not, it's not his penis to make the decision about!  Luckily DH, who is circ'd, had a best friend who wasn't, and so didn't think it was weird at all. He was completely supportive of leaving our babies intact. 

As far as convincing others, and judgemental relatives, I've found that people don't really discuss genitalia.  They may say one or two snide remarks, but it's not really dinner table conversation.  I agree with others that it should just not be up for argument without thorough research on both sides.  "He won't look like me" just isn't a valid reason.  He may have dark hair, and daddy is blonde.  He may be shorter or taller than daddy. Why does a difference in a penis mean we should cut something off him, but we aren't running out to die our baby's hair or binding their feet to make sure their shoes are the same size.  Of course our children won't look exactly like daddy: penis included. 

I'm not Jewish, but circumcision seems very prevalent among my conservative Christian religion.  I have been reading a lot in the New Testament about it, and I really feel that even if that is an issue, there are lots of scriptures to support NOT circing.  If anyone wants me to look them up again, I can do that.

Many parents feel like circing is a personal decision, and I totally agree, but I think it should be the personal decision of the child, not the parents.  I'm not sure it I know very many intact men who would even consider circumcision when they are adults, so why would we do it without their consent when they are young?

[hazelbranch]

There will be no circumcision happening for our son.  It has never been up for debate.  Fortunately I don't have to convince my DH (who was circumcised) because it would be an "over my dead body" situation otherwise.  We, personally, consider it mutilation and not something we'd do without significant medical need.

If I did have a DH who pushed for circumcision, I would not be above going Lysistrata on his ass if all debate failed.

[AiryFairy]

All our children will be intact and whole.  It's an issue DH and I feel passionately about.

[Mom2SammyJoe]

Like WendyBird, we circ'd our son. He was our first and we thought that was just what you do. I signed the consent before he was born, and we didn't even know we were having a boy.

We planned a homebirth for our 2nd child. I asked the ped. about circumcision, should we decide to do it. She said they would have to refer us to a pediatric surgeon and it would be done when baby was 3 months old. I started to get concerned. If they wanted to wait 3 months, why is it normally done on a newborn? I started to research, and I did not want to proceed with circumcision if we had a boy. DH wasn't so sure. He didn't want the 2 little boys in the bathtub to notice they were different.  Somehow I ended up talking to a friend at church about all this. She had her first son circ'd, but not his younger brother (they are in their 20's now). They noticed the difference, but it was never an issue. I was really glad to hear this, just weeks before my baby was born. My mind was made up. And we had a girl.

Now it is not even a question for me, though DH may need some reminders. We will not circ. Like jennyvangey mentioned, it is very common in our conservative Christian circle. I think I have been reading the same passages in Romans and 1 Corinthians that point directly to NOT circing.

My personal thoughts are that if God put it there, who am I to take it away? And I will never forget my little boy screaming as they cut him. Or my nephew, who at 16 months old, had to go under anesthesia last week to have his circumcision repaired.

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

We're anti-circ. I'm opposed to cosmetic surgery on children, period, plus who wants an open wound that you KNOW is going to get pooped on? There are 40 bajillion reasons not to circ and not one good reason to circ (unless you're Jewish, and I'm not convinced it's important enough but I won't touch that one).

DH is almost 30 and intact. He has never had a problem with his foreskin.

[Aletheia]

We were really on the fence.  

Ultimately, we decided against circumcision, born at the very beginning of my husband's family medicine residency.

Two years later, he assisted as a resident on his first circumcision.  He is a man of few words, but he came home that night and said, "We made the right decision.  No one will ever do that to my child."

[CarlyVHT]

We will NOT be circing our little boy. If it was up to DH, he would, but this is an argument I will not lose. DH said before we knew it was a boy that he decided it wasn't worth arguing about, so I think we are set .... but I haven't confirmed since we found out it is a boy yesterday. Like I said, I won't lose that argument, though - I will not circumsize my child!

[philomom]

DDc crashing to say ... I'm so proud of all you mamas who kept your baby intact. When our son was born in the late 1990's, folks really tried to label us "hippy-dippy" for not circing. Now, we moved across country and most of my son's peers are intact.

[daylicious]

We are 100% NOT circumcising our ds (if we have a boy that is).

The majority of Canadians don't have it done (it does vary province by province) I've read conflicting country wide percentages though, anywhere from 15% to 30%. 
It's not covered by our universal healthcare (the Canadian Pediatric Association has taken a stance against it since 1975) and some hospitals are starting to ban the procedure altogether. And can we all say Yay! for Newfoundland, the province that has a near 0% circ rate since 2003! I live in the province which has the highest rates of circ.  

Of all my friends who have had baby boys, I only know of one who had it done.

[tarabelle]

No circ. for us either.  Fortunately it wasn't even a debate DH and I had to have... phew.

 

[4midablemama]

My boy is not circ'd; the only thing I had to do to convince my ex-dh was to show him valid research about why it is not necessary and about how most babies don't get anything stronger than sugar water for pain relief. I can't watch videos or look at pictures of the procedure being done, it makes me sick to my stomach, but the ex ran across some while he was furthering my research, and came away from the experience completely convinced that it wasn't something we were EVER going to put a son of ours through.