Circumcision

Here's a controversial issue for you. To cut or not to cut. It wasn't an issue I even addressed until I arrived in Canada 8 years ago. In England very few gentiles are circumcised, and to be perfectly honest, I had never seen a cicumcised penis until I saw friends young sons here. Shocked? I was horrified. My immediate knee-jerk reaction was that this was barbaric, cruel, and ridiculous. But I'm an intelligent woman and I don't always rely on knee-jerk reactions, besides, there had be a good reason why thousands of North Americans would have this procedure performed on their baby sons. I had to meet a lot of people, read a lot of books, and research all the information available before I arrived at my current opinion:

DON'T DO IT

So now you know where I stand on the issue.

Let's examine the reasons I've been given for having this done:

1. It's hygenic.
2. Daddy is circumcised.
3. My parents wanted me to have it done.
4. To save having it done when he's older if he has an infection.
5. The doctor told me to.

There are others, but these are the most common. So....

"It's Hygenic"

Well, it would also be much easier to keep your fingernails clean if you had them all removed at birth, but just like the foreskin, they are there for a purpose, in this instance to protect your fingertips. The foreskin is there to protect the very sensitive end of the penis. It is not a redundant body part. Keeping it clean is no more difficult that any other daily hygiene practise we observe, such as teeth brushing, or ear cleaning. In England, where most boys are not circumcised, there should be an epidemic of foreskin infections if hygiene were an issue. This is not the case. Where an infection does occur it is very easy to cure, just like any other infection. Ear infections are far more common and far more dangerous and difficult to cure. Why not cut off your baby son's ears?

"Daddy is Circumcised"

Daddy was probably spanked as a child. Daddy probably was given solid food way too young and all the wrong foods growing up and may now have digestive problems as a result. Daddy may well have grey hair, teeth full of fillings, zits, wrinkles, or even a broken nose. Do you want your child to be the same as him there too? This is a cycle that needs to be broken or your children may be using the same excuse.

"My Parents Wanted Me To Have It Done"

Whose baby is this? Yours or theirs? Did they choose his name for you? His clothes, his bedroom decor? This is far more personal. It's no-one else's business but yours, not even mine (i.e. if you feel so strongly that you do want to do it, ignore MY advice not to, because it's YOUR baby).

"To save having it done when he's older if he has an infection"

If he DOES get a serious infection later in life that only surgery can solve (there is one condition where the foreskin shrinks and becomes too tight to retract) then they can cut a v-shaped nick in it to release the tightness. End of problem. (N.B. This condition is caused by over-enthusiastic cleaning!) The vast majority of infections can be easily cured. Most require no more than a topical ointment used for a week or two. Some will even go away on thir own. Circumcision for medical reasons being the only solution is almost as rare as rocking-horse manure. Doctors who tell you otherwise are just scalpel-junkies who would also do unnecessary surgery elsewhere, without considering other options. Think about the other things he may need surgery for: appendicitis, gall-bladder disease, ingrowing toenails, impacted wisdom teeth, etc etc. Are you planning on having any of these done as a precaution? These are all far, far more common than serious foreskin disease.

"The doctor told me to"

Question his motives. Does he get paid for it? Hasn't he read all the latest recommendations that tell you NOT to have your baby circumcised? My doctor is Jewish yet still advises against it strongly on medical grounds. Also see number 3.

I have presented a case that this procedure is UNNECESSARY. I would now like to go into detail about why I think it is a BAD idea.

1. Your baby boy is perfect just as he is.
2. The surgery can go wrong.
3. The foreskin is not a redundant body part.
4. It isn't your foreskin.

Your baby boy is perfect just as he is.

Whether you are religious or not I have a reason for you. Choose one.
If God had wanted your child to be circumcised he'd have been born without a foreskin.
If nature had intended your child to be circumcised he'd have been born without a foreskin.

The surgery can go wrong. I have stopped short of uploading pictures of botched circumcisions where the baby was disfigured, and some cases where he lost his penis. If you want the URL to a very graphic site about this I will e-mail it to you. I have no statistics but these cases would appear to be more common than naturally occuring problems.

The foreskin is not a redundant body part.

It is designed to protect the end of the penis, which spends its life being chafed by clothing. The foreskin also keeps it moist. Imagine eyes without eyelids or a mouth that never closed. Membranes such as these dry out and harden without their protective covers. Do they work as well then? Of course not!! There are parts you can live without, but you are far better off with, and this is one of them.

It isn't your foreskin.

What will you do if later on, your son demands to know why you removed a piece of his body without his permission? What if the world is such a crazy place by then that he sues you for it, or calls it child abuse? How would you feel if part of you had been taken away before you were old enough to object? Some men have foreskin reconstruction surgery. It is difficult, expensive, and painful. I wonder what their opinion of their parents is?

Remember, this is MY opinion. If you are pregnant, especially if you know your baby is a boy, or if you are planning on parenthood in the future, do your own research, there is plenty of information available on the subject. Your baby boy is yours, and he is perfect.