Dave, wow deja vu !! Good for you for keeping your son intact! I was bent on keeping my son intact too. I will try and keep this brief: He was born in '81, long before the internet and any information was available except the outdated blather in the baby books of the day. We were told to gently retract each night in the bath, which we did, and by 5 he was about half way retractable. Then one night when he was 7 he got a little slit in his foreskin when he pulled it back which obviously stung. We asked the doc (different one) about this and he said just leave it alone. Fast forward to age 11 when I was woken up to him yelling for me. He had gone for a pee and was crying in pain. He was diagnosed with a UTI the next day. Antibiotics cured him in a day or so, however the doctor noticed that his foreskin was tight like a newborn's again and sent us to a urologist. The appt was 5 months away and I franticaly looked for info to counter the recommendation for a circumcision that I suspected was comming. I found Marilyn Milos of NOCIRC who was very helpful as well as Dr John Taylor. The urologist was an arrogant basket and said that a circumcision was indeed essential. I argued with him, but he discounted all my information and he walked out. I refused to go back but my wife felt that there was still a problem and took DS in to be circumcised. I still feel guilty almost 20 years later. It just kills me that neither one of those doctors were aware of Betamethasone cream (there had been articles published by then).
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Your son is still pretty young and many boys do not retract until well into their teens. Occasionaly men go through their life without being able to retract and are perfectly happy with their situation. However, if he wants to be able to retract there are many options that preserve his foreskin: www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/ and www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2490/8/6 .
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Circumcision can have very far reaching physical AND psychological ramifications: See "Pieces of Adam: How your circumcised son may feel in a few years"Â http://womanuncensored.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-circumcised-baby-may-feel-someday.html .
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Re; Foreskin restoration. It is a long and tedious road, but those who persevere find the rewards in terms of increased sensitivity and a better love life well worth it. If you are interested, I would encourage you to research it. Many say that it helped them feel "whole" again. I believe it.
