The other 'C' topic - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[odinsmama]

Might I suggest, for those of you who have some great links on circ info, we post stuff here and anyone can check it out.

I gotta say, even though no one has come across as judgemental here AT ALL, if I were planning to circ I don't know if I'd offer that info for fear of being bombarded with adamant (though well meaning) anti circ comments. I know we can all get a little passionate about things we really believe in, especially when it comes to our children.

xoxo

[MoMofZandI]

I agree 100% Odinsmama, i was gonna say just the same... will post some helpful link later  =). ( my two boys are intact and i have a very good friend who sent her dh to ask my hubby all about it \cause she was scared to ask me lol, so i know what you mean)

[CamoShades]

I agree. Thanks for that odinsmama! I feel like this is a topic DH and I need to discuss more in depth, because last time I asked he wanted to circ if it's a boy. Honestly, I am torn (please don't flame me), so any information is welcome. I read up on it during my first pregnancy, and I really can't remember exactly what the arguments are. We have two girls, so we didn't really discuss it much in the past. I have a feeling this one is a boy, though, so it will require much more thought.

[kellybeth]

camoshades, no one is here to judge anyone, so don't worry about that!

circ was never something i thought much about, until my fiance told me how he feels, as an intact male. he watched this documentary on genital mutilation in cultures and shared with me some of it, and i was horrified. he's not nearly as crunchy as i am, he's quite the average guy, so it gave me a lot to think about. all the guys in my family, all of my brothers, and most every other male i have talked with have been circ'd. i guess i just had to really think of it as why people would want to do it in the first place. and once i researched that why's, i came to my own conclusion that it is not a good enough reason for me to do that to my baby. having my fiance be intact has been great- we can talk about things like this. being clean, etc. has never been an issue for him, or his parents, so i don't get why that argument even comes up. i feel like it's a very weak contention. keeping a girl clean down there is much harder than keeping a boy clean.

do discuss it, gently, and explore all of the angles together.

[odinsmama]

Oh, good. I was hoping my suggestion would be taken the right way.
I know you all have some good stuff to offer as far as evidence and such is concerned and I think if we can compile it then anyone can find info without having to say what our plans are if we don't want to share.

I'm saying this coming from a place of wishing I'd been kindly given some good info when I was pregnant with my first, rather than kind of leaving the decision up to DH. I don't live with regret or guilt about having ds1 circ'd but I do wish that we hadn't.

That was back in the day before I knew about this lovely community. Thankfully, I know more now (about a lot of parenting stuff) than I did then.

[mama3blessings]

Yes some links would be awesome. We just found out today that we are having another boy and I would like to talk to dh about it. I feel strongly against circumcising this little guy but am not sure how dh feels about that. He has been very good about my decision of not vaccinating after our daughter was a couple of months old and I did my research, so I hope he will be just as open about this decision.

[SmtmsAlwys]

Honestly, I used to think that circumcising was a "no-brainer", that it was just something everyone does. In fact, had my oldest been a boy, I'm certain I would have chosen circumcision. Then I watched the Penn & Teller's Bullshit epi about it. Wow. My mind was changed. And it caused me to do even more research that just confirmed what I felt after watching P&T.

Unfortunately, I did have to fight very hard against my husband when we learned we were having our first boy. I still hate that because I had really hoped he would come around to my way of thinking, instead of just letting me "win".

[Teles]

A person I know will be circumcising her son tomorrow and I had no idea that I would feel so strongly about it, but I feel absolutely sick for the boy. She's not even a little interested in listening to research or anything and is only doing it for superficial reasons.

I don't mean to offend, but my opinion is that, unless it's medically necessary, it's genital mutilation. I realize that a lot of people have had this done in the past because it was just so common place that nobody really even thought about it, and I don't in any way judge people for that, but I find it difficult to understand how someone can choose to do it when they have all this information available to them now.

Here is a thorough list of links

http://www.thewholenetwork.org/research-circumcision.html

and here is a really informal video that first really had me thinking about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkGTJ0B6K8o&feature=share&list=UUNWDy88wUfsySTHuQ224hiw
 

[venusthrow]

I used to not see the big deal about circ until I was pregnant with my first and then I thought why would I do it. I was passionate about it but now after three kids I am too tired to be that passionate it. I never thought I would need to think about it as I assume we were having a girl. Now that we are having a boy I say no circ and dh is okay with it. I don't think he cares either way. I guess I just don't see why it would be done unless it was a recommendation for my specific kid based on his body. I wouldn't have minor cosmetic surgery on my dds' labia just in case of bladder infection (and my 2 dd did have a bladder infection that lead to kidney infection and hospital stay).So why would I do it for a boy.  But as I said I am too tired and busy to worry about the boys of the world's foreskins. But I will admit that I hate it when women say, I don't have a penis so I will leave it up to my husband. That seriously bothers me because it is still changing a child's body and it is surgery. If I wanted to do minor surgery on my daughter's labia my husband should have an opinion even though he doesn't have labia. I am sorry if that offends anyone but part of being a parent is making decisions and owning up to them.