If you are staunchly anti-circ would you surgically remove an extra digit? - Page 2

[A&A]

Originally Posted by Ione

Apples and oranges. A 6th (or 7th or 8th) digit is a birth defect in human beings. A foreskin is a normal, useful body part.

(That said, I would not necessarily and automatically have a birth defect surgically corrected in an infant -- it depends on the defect, its placement, type of surgery required, risks vs. benefits of doing so, how the defect impacts (or does not impact) functioning and development, etc.)

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[Brigianna]

I would not. I don't think the issue of "defect" vs. "non-defect" is relevant here, because I believe the notion of "normal" and "defective" is mostly socially constructed and subjective.

I would not put a minor child through surgery or any kind of body modification unless it were necessary to preserve his or her health.

[swellmomma]

I would correct a defect such as removing an extra finger. I would do it to make sure fine motor control etc were not hampered also to avoid the child being ridiculed etc. Kids are mean, yes they find somethig else to tease the child about but why give them foder. My boys are intact. But I did something to my girls that is purely cosmestic, I had their ears peirced at 3 month of age, my youngest just had it done the day before yesterday.

[tlh]

probably not.Hound Dog Taylor a blues guitar player used his extra finger.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_a...e+Houserockers

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

If the digit presented a problem ie possibly getting torn loose I would have it removed. If it was not causing problems then I would leave it alone and let my child decide when they were older.

I dont see the comparison between circ and removing a extra digit or fixing a birth defect tho since the foreskin is ment to be there the others are not.

[Demeter9]

Foreskin isn't a genetic defect.

I would probably not remove an extra digit, unless it was likely to cause problems or did not work so was just in the way.

If the digit was functional, it would definately stay. Think of the amazing piano music they could create if they were musically inclined! The guitar riffs that no one else could replicate! Yep, it would definately stay.

Further, my son does have a "defect" in that he was born with a minor hypospadia and we have chosen to not have that "fixed" either. It does not cause any problems, and it is minor enough that it won't impact his fertility.

I do not believe in forcing unnecessary body altering surgery for trivial reasons. It isn't my body.

[gridley13]

[Papai]

In order for these two to be equal, you have to view the foreskin as a birth defect.

I don't know what I would do in this situation, perhaps wait until the child is old enough to have a say in whether they want it removed or not? But it's a defect and the foreskin isn't so....

[KBecks]

I don't know. I would probably research and figure that out if I was faced with it and I would wait a little while to contemplate a decision like that.

[JustKiya]

If it would not interefere with fine motor development, I would leave it until the child was old enough to choose.

[SeekingSerenity]

Originally Posted by fruitful womb

Personally, I wouldn't have removed it. Not long ago a baby was born will extra limbs. Born with 4 arms and 4 legs. The parents had them removed. If that were me I would have thought wow what a blessing! We're always joking about wishing we had extra hands for help.

Yes, but these were not functional limbs. The child could have never had a normal life. She'd have never walked, never had children of her own, never had any possibility of a normal existence.

"Lakshmi was born joined at the pelvis to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped twin."

They were fused at the base of the spine, completely opposite one another. It's like she had another body, without a head or shoulders, hanging from the bottom of her own body. In a case like this, I believe it was completely appropriate to have that removed.

I agree that it is completely INappropriate to cut a normal, functioning, healthy part of a baby boy's anatomy off, for no other reason than cultural or societal influences. My boys are intact, and should I have another, he too will be intact. There is simply no other way.

If one of my children had an extra digit, extra limb or any kind of growth on their bodies that would impede their ability to grow and function normally, I believe it's my responsibility as a loving parent to remove that. If it's not going to harm them in any way, such as having a fully functional extra finger, then it would stay.

But if my child was born with an extra arm? Functional or not, I would not allow them to become a societal outcast, or be viewed as a "freak of nature" just to preserve their structural integrity. Removing such an appendage falls into the category of preserving their mental and emotional integrity, which is just as important. Children should be left as they are... if they can be a healthy individual that way.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Demeter9

If the digit was functional, it would definitely stay. Think of the amazing piano music they could create if they were musically inclined! The guitar riffs that no one else could replicate! Yep, it would definitely stay.

LOL! When I was a little, little girl, my parents were friends with a couple that had a child with 6 fully functional fingers on each hand (well 5 fingers and a thumb, )

They bought him a piano when he was 3.

[DklovesMkandJK]

Really interesting thread!


I think it is really hard to say what you would do unless you are faced with a question like that. It is easy to think you would never put your child through a nonmedically necesary surgery, but when it is your own sweet baby that would take the abuse the thought process shifts.

My 19 month old son has a pre aucular skin tag. It is a piece of skin that looks like half a pikie finger that sticks out in front of his ear. The decision to remove it has weighed heavily on my mind since he was born. I am very opposed to circ and unneccesary pain as a whole but I do see many benefits to having it removed.
I am so used to it I don't even see it anymore but a few people have commented. One host at a restaurant made a 'joke' because M and I both had our bluetooth ear pieces in and J had his own 'homemade one" and children ask 'what's wrong with him?"
I have thought about letting him make the choice to have it removed himself -but I worry that by the time he is able to make that choice the damage will be done. Our pedi had the exact same tag (about the same size) and her parents could not afford to have it removed when she was a child. She encouraged us to remove it as early as possible to spare him the 'torture' she endured all through her childhood (her words)
DH is also very insistant that it be removed.

To be honest, I think I am leaning toward having it removed. I do however plan on waiting a while longer to make a decision. I hope to wait at least another year.

Also, unlike circ he will be fully sedated and given the appropriate pain medication.

So there you go!

[ColoradoMama]

Originally Posted by fruitful womb

Personally, I wouldn't have removed it. Not long ago a baby was born will extra limbs. Born with 4 arms and 4 legs. The parents had them removed. If that were me I would have thought wow what a blessing! We're always joking about wishing we had extra hands for help.

Okay, I hope you're just being funny. That little girl couldn't walk and had absolutely no chance of a normal life with the limbs of her parasitic twin fused to her.

[transylvania_mom]

Did it affect your sexual life in any way?

[Organicavocado]

Its hard to say if you arent in the situation.

I THINK I would leave it until the child is older, so that I'm not making a quick judgmental decision... we would have time to analyze the extra part, and we would have the benefit of the best pain relief options.

[mama2mygirl]

Originally Posted by Blu Razzberri

Not if it wasn't necessary. If the child wanted it done when they're older, that's their perrogative. I wouldn't be opposed to allowing a teen to make that choice, either.

Though, if I remember being a kid; I think most kids would find a sixth finger cool.

My dd's friend has six toes on each foot and my dd is so sad that she doesn't as well.

[Super Pickle]

Very thought-provoking question!

It is hard to know what one would do in such a situation, but I think I would probably not have an extra finger removed. Even though it's a birth defect, whereas the foreksin is supposed to be there, I would think that having a finger removed would be even more dangerous than circumcision, since they'd have to cut through a bone.

I knew a guy who had a minor birth defect on his feet that could have been very, very easily corrected. But it had never been corrected, and he certainly didn't seem to suffer for being a little different. He wore sandals and if anyone asked about it, he'd answer with no self-consciousness. I always thought it was really cool that his parents had decided just to leave him as he was born, since his difference wasn't going to impede him in any way. Everyone liked him, he liked himself, and people liked his feet because they were a special part of a special person.

Sorry for not having read the other responses yet.

[katja]

Originally Posted by Organicavocado

Its hard to say if you arent in the situation.

I THINK I would leave it until the child is older, so that I'm not making a quick judgmental decision... we would have time to analyze the extra part, and we would have the benefit of the best pain relief options.

Hey, I really was in that situation! I was born with an extra digit growing out of my pinky. My mom said that the doctor tied it off immediately after I was born, and it took a few days to fall off. I always wondered what it was like, if it would have worked, etc.

Twenty-nine years later, my dd was born with a similar extra digit. We left it on for a couple of weeks because I didn't want one of her first experiences to be pain. it was obvious that it was non-functioning and was likely to be torn off. Her ped tied a string around it and it didn't seem so traumatic. We definitely took pictures so she'll know what it was like.
A working extra digit would be a blessing, I think. A floppy little finger nub, not at all. I see nothing wrong with having it removed.
The only thing I think my parents could have done better would have been to have taken a picture of it, and to have waited longer to cut it off. It is nothing like circumcision. I think most of these extra digits have a very small point of attachment, and it's not a very sensitive area.

[Arduinna]

You are comparing a normal body part all men are born with to a birth defect. Apples and Oranges IMO.