Have you always been against circ? - Page 4

[LadyMarmalade]

I'm another person who grew up seeing intact as normal because of European practises. I didn't even know what circumcision was until I was a teenager ... it was presented to me in a negative way, so perhaps that's why I've been against it since the moment I found out it exists?

I've said many times before that I don't know any circumcised children, but I've met a couple recently People have moved here and obviously their traditions are different. I'm finding that I'm much more gentle IRL than I am here - it's amazing how situations can change your perception. One of the mothers who circumcised also does CIO and spanks, so I really think she *needs* a gentle friend - she's very needy and asks me a lot for advice on how to cope. She's a Christian so I've been able to show her that spanking and CIO don't go with Jesus' message, and I'll definitely be bringing up the issue of circumcision when the time is right. There are no doctors who circumcise here, so perhaps she'll HAVE to leave her next baby intact But it would be better if she had a change of opinion rather than having to go along with the crowd. I'll have to tell her about proper care of the penis, too. She really doesn't have any clue (she asked me how my boys are able to urinate since the foreskin is in the way).

[christifav]

I always thought circ was normal. I'd never seen a real, live intact penis until my friend had her son. Anyway, after I got pregnant the first time I started researching EVERYTHING and along the way discovered how wrong circ is.

[Arduinna]

I don't think I ever thought about until I was 20 and got in a LTR with an intact man. That was it for me. No turning back and even when I got pg and my mom said "it's so much cleaner" there was no turning back.

edited to add, actually I was exposed previously to intact kids. I dated a guy when I was in high school who had much younger siblings (toddlers) that were intact and that was my first exposure that it was normal.

[MelKnee]

I have been against since I first heard about it in junior high health class at 13 yo.

[Suprakid1982]

i didnt really know about it really, i always thoght well at least the baby is down or anestisied

that was all changed until i saw that video.

[boingo82]

I guess I was "always" against it in the sense that I never thought it was normal. However I don't think I was aware of it until my late teens. All my brothers are intact.

[ared1]

No, I wasn't. If my first had been a boy, I would have circ'd. I never thought anything of it. it's just what was done. I thought it was a clean little cut, al better. I had never seen nor heard of a man being intact. I think I was 15 and saw a copy of Playgirl that my mom had bought. In the back, in the real man section, was a german guy that was intact and very well endowed. I remeber being at his size and over him being "not circumcised". I never found it gross but I always thought it looked odd intact. I joined a mainstream parenting board when pg with my first son. Circ talkd came up but I never thought too much about it. I was a little taken back and honestly, offended by the people calling circ mutilation. I thought they (intactivists) were nuts, Rude and in your face. I got a sick feeling in my stomach when I thought about the Dr coming a taking my baby to cut on his penis. My mother instinct screamed its not right! it's not right! I asked my DH how he felt and he said he preferred it to be done. I started doing research, including reading the bible. I told myself I was not going to circ unless God said I had too. WHAT A RELIEF! I was giddy when I gound out that being a Christain didn't mean I had to circ! My DH was not convinced and actully no one supported my decision/feelings except my mom (SURPRISE!) I found MDC-don't remember how, and the circ video and I said no way. I showed the video to my DH. He watched about 2 seconds of it and said, Well ok, we won't be doing that! (more in a bit-baby waking)

[Stevie]

My 29 yr old DS is circ'd because I was a too

If it weren't for the internet I would never have known any better. I like to think of myself as below average in the intelligence department

[ledzepplon]

The only intact penis I've seen IRL has been my son's. (In fairness, I haven't seen that many penises, though )

I just assumed that circ was what everyone did, and I had some vague notions about it being healthier. I was also unsure about my religious beliefs and circ. But I don't even like the idea of piercing a child's ears until they can consent.
So when I became pregnant with my first baby, I just prayed she'd be a girl so I wouldn't "have to" circ. She was a girl.

After dd was born, I did a lot more research and found out how unnecessary and cruel circ is.

I live in CA, where circ rates are supposedly something like less than 50% (I don't remember exact figures). The weird thing is, I take my dd to a swim school attended mainly by babies and toddlers who change clothes out in the open. I've only seen 2 other intact kids out of all the children there!! We have a lot of work to do . . .

[mommabug2006]

I never really thought about till I was pg with DS 1 and did not do the research and was going to get him circ b/c DH wanted his son to be like him YKWIM and I just could not do it everytime I tried to let them take him I'd start crying and did not go thru with it nor with DS 2 and I will not get any of my future sons done either. All I knew at the time is that it was going to hurt my precious new baby and I was not going to do it lol

[Scrubsjm]

Bear with me as I've been thinking this through it's developed into a rather long answer. As a kid I knew about circ, I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, and circ is mentioned in the Bible. I didn't really think about it, just knew it had something to do with cutting something off a penis. As a teen I was intimate with a circ'd guy and then an uncirc'd guy. Again I didn't think anything of it, never thought the uncirc'd guy's was weird or ugly. Then dh he's cut so whatever it must be the thing to do. Next I'm pregnant with dd, if she had been a boy I'm sure we would have had her cut, we were very mainstream in the begining. As a result of the type of baby dd1 was we become AP parents, I have this vague notion that circ must be wrong and not very AP but I'm not sure why. Next I'm pregnant with dd2, I discussed circ with dh and he was insistant that if dd was a boy he would be cut. He gave the typical I want my child to look like me, and uncirc'd penis look weird. So I thought I would just let him make the decision if it ever came to that, after all he's the one with the penis. Well we never got to that point and we lost dd2 at birth. After that I realized I can't trust the medical establishment to make my decisions for me, I have to be proactive for myself and my family. Plus after watching my child die, I realized that I can never allow anyone to hurt one of my children while I sit idly by. To allow someone to circ my child would be allowing them to hurt my child therefore, I couldn't let it happen. Then I of course found this site and became rabidly anti-circ and have never looked back, of course dh is convinced at this point as well thankfully!

[Revamp]

Originally Posted by Scrubsjm

Bear with me as I've been thinking this through it's developed into a rather long answer. As a kid I knew about circ, I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, and circ is mentioned in the Bible. I didn't really think about it, just knew it had something to do with cutting something off a penis. As a teen I was intimate with a circ'd guy and then an uncirc'd guy. Again I didn't think anything of it, never thought the uncirc'd guy's was weird or ugly. Then dh he's cut so whatever it must be the thing to do. Next I'm pregnant with dd, if she had been a boy I'm sure we would have had her cut, we were very mainstream in the begining. As a result of the type of baby dd1 was we become AP parents, I have this vague notion that circ must be wrong and not very AP but I'm not sure why. Next I'm pregnant with dd2, I discussed circ with dh and he was insistant that if dd was a boy he would be cut. He gave the typical I want my child to look like me, and uncirc'd penis look weird. So I thought I would just let him make the decision if it ever came to that, after all he's the one with the penis. Well we never got to that point and we lost dd2 at birth. After that I realized I can't trust the medical establishment to make my decisions for me, I have to be proactive for myself and my family. Plus after watching my child die, I realized that I can never allow anyone to hurt one of my children while I sit idly by. To allow someone to circ my child would be allowing them to hurt my child therefore, I couldn't let it happen. Then I of course found this site and became rabidly anti-circ and have never looked back, of course dh is convinced at this point as well thankfully!

How awful. Sorry to hear about your loss, at least it has brought about some good.

[kalisis]

I have always been against it. I'm not sure when I formed that opinion, but somewhere along the way, I did and it has stuck. DH is cut and it came up before we had kids, that if we had sons (and most likely we would b/c there have been no girls born on his side of the family in like three generations or something) they would be left intact. If he had a problem with that, he'd have to find someone else to have kids with...needless to say, he agreed and although I don't think he understands my passion for saving foreskins, he goes along with it and will argue for intactness any day.

[cuqui]

Most of my male family members are intact, I am Puerto Rican. My 1st lover was an intact Russian guy (born in the USA to a recent immigrant smart mommy). He is the one who told me about circ and how he was not. I would have continued to think that intact was the only way until I would have come upon a cut penis (imagine my surprise, where's your foreskin?!). I do remember his mom talking about circ and how horrid it was to do that to a little boy when her DIL (married to older son born in Austria and intact) circ'd her grandsons (DIL is American).