Ugh!

[JamieB]

I have been reading through some of these posts and posted once before and I keep reading about the low rates of circ here in Canada. I just don't understand how EVERYONE I know is getting their babies circed then! It is so upsetting. I actually recently lost a friend over this. It makes me so sad. Every time someone gets pregnant, I hope it's a girl and all I can think about when people have baby boys is all the pain they'll go through. I think about this way too much.... I guess my point is that the rates can't be that low if I know so many people doing it. And on other boards i'm on every single boy is done! You'd think the rate in the states would have to be higher than %50. How do you guys deal with the feelings of sadness for theses babies?

[Nathan1097]

doesn't Ontario have the highest circ rate in Canada, though?

Check cirp.org - there's an article showing the stats in Canada.

[Night_Nurse]

Originally Posted by JamieB

How do you guys deal with the feelings of sadness for theses babies?

It's an issue I face each time I go to my workplace. It's also something I deal with each day with my activism. I don't feel the circ rate is as low as the numbers claim in my state either. I know people IRL of all races who did not circ their boys. However, the people in my hospital by and large do. It's more than sadness for me. It actually makes my stomach churn and I have emotional eating issues due to it. Frankly, it makes me depressed. Not "depressed" as in I get sad thinking about it occasionally, but a deep depression that effects my daily life.
I actually often cry for these babies. A total stranger crying over their pain, yet their parents don't think twice about sending them off for the circ. It's a sick, sick world in which we live...

[tlh]

I can't deal with the stupidity of people circumcising so I try to ignore it and continue to fight it.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edwa...sion-rate.html



About one in three healthy baby boys is circumcised on Prince Edward Island, about double the national rate, despite the advice of experts who describe it as unnecessary and potentially risky.


Nova Scotia's circumcision rate is close to the lowest in Canada, just over one per cent. Anderson believes that's because the procedure is not offered at hospitals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...e_circumcision


Similar trends have operated in Canada, (where public medical insurance is universal, and where private insurance does not replicate services already paid from the public purse) Individual provincial heath insurance plans began delisting non-therapeutic circumcision in the 1980s. Manitoba was the final province to delist non-therapeutic circumcision which occurred in 2005 [16]. The infant circumcision rate in Canada has fallen from roughly half in the 1970s to its present value of 11%, albeit with strong regional variations.

[Microsoap]

I know what you mean. I go swimming and see too many circ'd little toddlers and 5, 6, 7 year old boys. And then I'll see a circ'd 12 year old. Here I'm thinking "well, I guess the tide has turned and today's minor boys are intact and they'll more likely grow up to have intact sons and we can put this awful mutilation behind us", then I see what I see lately. I'm in Ontario.

[tennisdude23]

I'm pretty sure most people in Canada are not cut. Maybe in some rural, conservative areas, it may be a different story. But overall, the procedure is just not being done. Most doctors don't recommend it or refuse to partake in it. It's possible some of the kids you saw may have been born in the US.

[katbomumof3]

Originally Posted by tennisdude23

I'm pretty sure most people in Canada are not cut. Maybe in some rural, conservative areas, it may be a different story. But overall, the procedure is just not being done. Most doctors don't recommend it or refuse to partake in it. It's possible some of the kids you saw may have been born in the US.

I don't think this is true. I only know of one intact boy other than my ds in my immediate area. Everyone else circs their sons. I guess i am in a rural area though, but it's not that small. The doctors here still do it, i was asked 4 times when my son was born if he would be circed. It seemed like it was expected. And no one thinks its a big deal.
:
And no one wants to be educated on the issue either.

[tennisdude23]

Originally Posted by katbomumof3

I don't think this is true. I only know of one intact boy other than my ds in my immediate area. Everyone else circs their sons. I guess i am in a rural area though, but it's not that small. The doctors here still do it, i was asked 4 times when my son was born if he would be circed. It seemed like it was expected. And no one thinks its a big deal.
:
And no one wants to be educated on the issue either.

Perhaps, this may not be true for the people you have seen and I am going to guess thats not going to be exactly a large number. All statistics say the exact opposite. I don't know the exact rate for Ontario but I think its under 20% and nationwide for you it is 10%. In Canada, the procedure is just not being recommended by the vast majority of peds. I remember reading whole bunch of news articles on this.

[BamaDude]

Didn't I read that the vast majority of circs on Prince Edward Island were being performed by one die-hard pro-circ doctor?

Maybe there's one or two old-school pro-circ doctors still operating in the OP's area.

[JamieB]

Well I can't figure out how to quote but I CAN tell you that there are very many circs being done around here. And the area I live in is rural but these circs are being done in non rural areas, and all different ones too. And i'm not talking about older kids i've seen done, i'm talking about people I know personally having babies and getting them done.

My sister just had her baby done in March (but to be fair she does live in ths states now), my brother is having a baby next month and of it is a boy, he will be done, good friends of ours just had a baby 3 weeks ago and had him done, and 3 other aquaintances of mine just had their sons done too. Oh, and my other sister had a girl 4 years ago but if it would have been a boy, he would have been done. Also, my neighbour was pregnant and said there was no way she was leaving the hospital until her son was done, but then didn't have the heart to do it. So many peopl that I talk to say they would never be with someone who is intact, so i'm assuming their SOs and DHs are circed?

ETA, this isn't one die-hard pro-circ doctor because most of every single one of these women had different OBs. Unless that's not who does it. Do they have a ped come into the hospital to do the circs? You would still think that the OBs would tell their patients that they don't recommend circing.

Anway, we don't have peds here unless there is a problem with you child. Circs are still being done in the hospitals around here but i'm not sure who does them. The OB...?

[calngavinsmom]

Hey there. We are in Ontario too (Niagara area) and around here, intact is the majority, but it seems to be closer to about 65-75% intact rather than the quoted 90% It actually shocks me when I see a LO at the pool who is cut. But thankfully it doesn't happen very often.

Maybe it is a more regional thing. I know at the hospital I delivered at, I was asked but when I declined both times was told "Good" by the pediatricians. My OB also let me put copies of the Mothering article in the waiting room, and I know of several peds who refuse outright to preform circs at all, so I don't know, maybe it is the attitude around this immediate area?

Here are a couple of links to Canadian rates:
http://www.courtchallenge.com/refs/s...hi-2005-e.html

And provincial:
http://www.courtchallenge.com/refs/yr99p-e.html

If any of you Canadians are interested in doing a bit of intactivism work, PM me and I would be happy to send you a stack of the business cards I got made up. They are great to leave in OB offices, hospital waiting rooms, on public bulletin boards and they are super easy to carry around and tuck into pregnancy mags or books.

Back when I was leaving the articles, I actually saw a couple of expectant Mommas reading them and saw another couple sneak one to take home. Any little bit will help in your area. WE CAN DO THIS

Take care,
Tara

[HeidiAnn67]

I'm curious where the statistics come from to even start with.

Is it from babies circ'd at the hospital after birth?

On a mainstream board I belong to a mother from Canada (I believe the Ontario area, but I'd have to double check) took her son in when he was a few weeks old to get circ'd. It wasn't done at the hospital after birth, they did it later at I'm guessing a dr's office.

If they are only counting babies done right after birth that could scewer the statistics a little.

[tennisdude23]

Originally Posted by HeidiAnn67

I'm curious where the statistics come from to even start with.

Is it from babies circ'd at the hospital after birth?

On a mainstream board I belong to a mother from Canada (I believe the Ontario area, but I'd have to double check) took her son in when he was a few weeks old to get circ'd. It wasn't done at the hospital after birth, they did it later at I'm guessing a dr's office.

If they are only counting babies done right after birth that could scewer the statistics a little.

Perhaps, but I do have a Canadian friend; and I know for a fact he is intact. I think that in general the statistics are accurate.

[Lunaria]

I don't know what the stats for BC are, but when I had my son 18 mos ago I was only asked once if we were going to circ(by the nurse). And I said no and she said that if we'd wanted it done we'd have to go to one of the bigger cities close by as he is one of the very few dr.s in the area still doing it. I'm glad they are making it harder for people to do this to their babes!

Jenny

[Fellow Traveler]

I think the take away is that Canada is clearly doing much better than the US but there is still work that must be done. Overall, articles in Canadian publications seem more anti circ than in the US as the Drs seem to be too. It is proabably true that since the procedure was de-listed from their national insurance, and circumcisions are privately paid for, our progress will be harder to track. It shouldn't get people too down, great progress has been made; remember that unfortunately circumcision won't stop over night. It is a pernicious practice that makes otherwise rational people irrational. This is a long game that will be played.

[MyBoysBlue]

Maybe I am sheltered I don't know. I don't know anyone who was circed as a babe here in Canada. Of the people of whom I know the status. This includes adults. My husband and his friends are all intact and born in the 70's when the Canadian rates were much higher than they are now. Maybe it is our family heritage. We are all French Canadian from New Brunswick. We all come from Rural areas.

[Raelynn]

Originally Posted by MyBoysBlue

Maybe I am sheltered I don't know. I don't know anyone who was circed as a babe here in Canada. Of the people of whom I know the status. This includes adults. My husband and his friends are all intact and born in the 70's when the Canadian rates were much higher than they are now. Maybe it is our family heritage. We are all French Canadian from out east. We all come from Rural areas.

I think that being French Canadian might have something to do with it, because Quebec has never really circ'ed. I know only a handful of men my age (late 20s) who are intact, and from my past partners/male friends that I know their circ status, I would say it is a 1 to 3 ratio of intact to circ'ed, so about 25% intact. I asked my DH's 19yo female cousin about circ and whether girls care one way or another and she replied "nah, girls don't really care. There's only 1 guy in our circle of friends who's not circ'ed, but it's never been an issue for him." Mind you, her circle of friends is from the same area that I made the post about here:

I hate the swimming pool

[hakunangovi]

I feel sure that there are very localized regional differences in the circ rates in Canada. Certainly there are more being done than the stats suggest because the stats just tabulate those done in the hospital after birth (As far as I know).

It is well known that most of the circs being done in B.C. are the work of one perv... Er doctor in Vancouver. This is probably true in some other places where there is a pro-circ doctor, especialy if he is the only one.

I know that in Alberta in the early 80s the rate was about 50%, and has declined considerably since then. Sadly, I know of two LOs here that have been circ'd.

The good news is that all our nephews (In Manitoba and B.C.) are intact.

It would be interesting to see more detailed stats - by the hospital, or at least by city/region.

[hakunangovi]

I feel sure that there are very localized regional differences in the circ rates in Canada. Certainly there are more being done than the stats suggest because the stats just tabulate those done in the hospital after birth (As far as I know).

It is well known that most of the circs being done in B.C. are the work of one perv... Er doctor in Vancouver. This is probably true in some other places where there is a pro-circ doctor, especialy if he is the only one.

I know that in Alberta in the early 80s the rate was about 50%, and has declined considerably since then. Sadly, I know of two LOs here that have been circ'd.

The good news is that all our nephews (In Manitoba and B.C.) are intact.

It would be interesting to see more detailed stats - by the hospital, or at least by city/region.

[liliesandliars]

I live in the same state as Night_Nurse and I have the same feeling about the supposed circ rate in the South. 56% is almost half of all boys born in today's hospitals. My question is, where are all these crunchy non-circ'ers located? I live in Houston, nearing the suburbs, and the rate here is high. I don't personally know anyone other than myself who has not had their boys circumcised. Surely the rate in the rural areas would be higher? I wish I knew where all these non-circ'ers were hiding.