To Circumcise Or Not To Circumcise?

[mcr5298]

We know that we are having a boy. And I know that this is a controversial topic, but? My DH and I have decided not to circumcise our son. I don't have any strong founded reasons why we should or shouldn't do it. My DH doesn't want to, so I am going along with him on this one. I know that there is a greater chance of infection with uncircumcised men. But if we keep the area clean, and teach our son to do so, hopefully that won't be a problem.

Has anyone out there not circumcised their son?
Has it been a problem to keep clean?

Thanks for the input! http://baby.ourlittleuniverse.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[Brooke]

The cleanliness isn't really an issue anymore. As a society, we're cleaner than we were before circumcision became the norm. So I wouldn't worry about that too much.

I don't care either way if we ever have a boy. DH wants to circumscize so we probably will. My cousin's 2-yr-old is not circ'd and it hasn't been a problem.

[Dennis]

We didn't have Joe circumcised and we haven't had any problems with it.

Dennis

[Tiggs]

We didn't have Carson circumcised and I'm very happy withour decision.

when I had him I passed by the room where they did the circumcisions and it was heart breaking hearing the little guys going through. I knew then and there we'd made the right decision for us.

[Kerri]

The thing with intact babes is that you just basically need to leave them alone. Pulling back or cleaning under the foreskin can cause infections. So a general wash when diapering and a bath every day or two is it. When he is getting about school-aged, it will start to be able to retract and then he can just give it a quick slosh in the bath or shower, but no scrubbing with soap or forcing it back or anything. It is only in the US that many people circumcise for non-religious or non-medical reasons anymore.

Kerri

[MelissaM]

Neither of my boys is circumsized. William is now 9 and Jacob is 2 and a half. We haven't had ANY problems at all with our decision and the boys have never had any problems whatsoever. William is now at the age where he can retract his foreskin when he gets a bath and he does it on his own no problem.

As Kerri mentioned, circumcision is not routinely performed in Canada (and anywhere outside the US) unless for strong medical or religious reasons.

[Cortney]

Whenever we have a boy we won't circ! DH isn't and has never had any problems, plus it's not mecially needed so I don't see a reason.

[Carla]

Our son isn't (even though DH wanted to ;) ) and it's nothing to care for. I didn't have any strong reason for not doing it other than I felt it was right to leave him intact. Later doing research online has made me extremely grateful we didn't do it.

[Beccaroo]

The American Academy of Pediatrics says there is no health reason for circumcision. I did not circ my son because I do not believe in doing cosmetic procedures on newborn babies. DH is an OB-GYN and has to do circ's at a hospital, and it breaks his heart. He says when he is in his own practice he will never agree to do them, because he feels they are cruel.

[mcr5298]

Thanks everyone! We have pretty much made our decision. But it makes me feel better to here from people with personal experience! :)

[gulp!]

O.k., not a single person posted here who *did* circ their son, so I'll be brave and do it for them. We got Krishan circ'd, mostly b/c it's what DH and I are both used to. No real compelling reason, other than we felt more comfortable having it done. I have no issues with anyone who decides not to do it- and I don't think anyone should have issues with me for choosing to have it done. :)

By the way, I have to say that I didn't witness it being done, so I don't know if he cried, but they brought him back to me 10 minutes after they took him to go do it, and he was calm, happy and peaceful.

[bunybomb]

By the way, I have to say that I didn't witness it being done, so I don't know if he cried, but they brought him back to me 10 minutes after they took him to go do it, and he was calm, happy and peaceful.
I left the decision up to my DH. It wasn't made due to anything religious or medical. My DH is, so he wanted his son to be. I just made sure DH was with Alex when it was done.

[olcott]

We had Trey circ'd..there was never any other way for us...I know its not medically necessary, but we had it done anyways..Robb is circ'd, and wanted Trey to be, and it didn't matter to me either way....

Robb was with Trey when he was circ'd, and said that he let out a little cry, and that was when they numbed him down there...and that was it..he said it was over in a flash and next thing I knew they were bringing him in to me in the room..

[mcr5298]

Thanks for your post Stefanie, and others who have had their sons circumcised! I have no problem with a child being circumcised or not circumcised. It is totally up the the individual. And no one should have issues with you for having had it done. I just wanted to know how people dealt with the care of their uncircumcised sons. Thanks again! :)

[aylhu]

Just chiming in to support your decision. We ended up with two girls, but would not have done the procedure had we had boys. I just don't feel it's necessary.

[Girlo]

We didn't have Alex circumsized and I'm really happy with our decision. :) It just seemed unnecessary and an added expense for us.
The clincher for me was learning that they have to cut and PRY the foreskin away from the penis in order to be able to cut it off, because it's fused together until they're a few years old.

It's great that you're doing your research so your decision will be an educated one you'll be happy with later. :)

[Sherry]

We had our son's done for no other reason than to be like the "other" boys

[Dennis]

We had our son's done for no other reason than to be like the "other" boys

I'm not sure where you live, but the nurses in the hospital here said it's about 50/50 now.

[Sherry]

Well, its pretty much 90% here....

[aylhu]

My midwives said west of the Mississippi, it's done less than half the time now.

[MelissaM]

I just found this into online. I know that in Canada the rates are very low...where I live they are nowhere near as high as even 35%...

Circumcision of newborns peaked in the United States some 30 years ago at about 85 percent to 90 percent.....These, days, those numbers are around 55-60 percent, he says. The rates are even lower In the western states of California, Oregon and Washington, which have a combined rate of 35 percent, Denniston adds. Some states also have stopped covering circumcisions under Medicaid.

[MelissaM]

<TABLE align=center border=1><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee colSpan=3><CENTER>Table 1
International circumcision rates</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f2f2f2><TD>Country</TD><TD>Year</TD><TD>Routine neonatal circumcisions (%)</TD></TR><TR><TD>United States</TD><TD>2001</TD><TD>55.1% [http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/bollinger2003/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/bollinger2003/)]</TD></TR><TR><TD>Canada</TD><TD>FY (http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Fiscal-year) 1996/97</TD><TD>17% [http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/Canada/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/Canada/)]</TD></TR><TR><TD>Australia</TD><TD>1995-96</TD><TD>10.6% [http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/Australia/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/Australia/)]</TD><TR><TD>New Zealand</TD><TD>1995</TD><TD>0.35%* [http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/NZ/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/NZ/)]</TD></TR><TR><TD>United Kingdom</TD><TD>1998</TD><TD>0.4% [http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/bollinger2003/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/bollinger2003/)]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Jillian]

My midwives said west of the Mississippi, it's done less than half the time now.At the hospital (University of Michigan) I was told that Michigan and Illinois are the only two states in the nation that have a higher than 60% circ rate now...

Anyway, no, we did not circumcise Caid.

[Sherry]

WOW, so its just here then..... How odd huh?

[Connie1222]

I left the decision up to my DH. It wasn't made due to anything religious or medical. My DH is, so he wanted his son to be. I just made sure DH was with Alex when it was done.
This is us exactly. Dh felt so strongly about it so I agreed.

[aylhu]

Yes, I, too, left the ultimate decision up to dh. If he had decided he wanted it done, I would have conceded.

[Dennis]

Sherry, where do you live?

[MelissaM]

Yes, I, too, left the ultimate decision up to dh. If he had decided he wanted it done, I would have conceded.
I am not commenting at ALL on how other people make their decisions....I just wanted to say that I guess it says something about me that if James had decided that he wanted Jacob to be cut I would have totally put my foot down and told him to go cut off some of his own skin first! :lol: It never would have EVER happened in my house, no matter if James wanted it or not. I guess that speaks volumes for me doesn't it :lol:

[AmyP]

Whenever we have a boy we won't circ! DH isn't and has never had any problems, plus it's not medically needed so I don't see a reason.
Ditto.

[eelyak]

If we ever have a boy we won't circumcise. DH is but our sons won't be.

[Kerri]

My husband assumed we would do it, just because he was. But my brother and cousins weren't done, so I assumed we wouldn't do it. Luckily, I have a husband who usually goes along with things relatively easily, so once I told him all the facts about it, he decided it wasn't a good idea. He now resents that his parents had him done. (I think the fact that insurance stopped covering is making a difference in how often it's performed, at least in Canada.)

Plus, we have a nephew (on Dave's side of the family) who had severe complications and in the end got a stomach infection from it, and there was a baby in the paper in our province recently who died from a circumcision. So he sees the risks and would never agree to it now. (I'm pretty gung-ho on some things, so I have to admit it would have been done over my dead body if he wanted to do it.)

Kerri

[Lora]

We had both of our sons circumcized. I also let my Dh make the final decision because I felt he felt more strongly about it than I did. Both of boys had the procedure performed by my OB and seemed pretty unaffected by it when they were brought back to me. I don't have strong feelings for or against it. Basically, it's a personal decision left up to the baby's parents.

Lora

[Kerri]

I guess I just don't feel that I own my children. Their bodies belong to them, and what right do I have to permanently and cosmetically alter their genitals?

Kerri

[mcr5298]

Thanks for the input everyone. :) I really didn't want this to become a topic of debate. I was just trying to get an idea of how you take care of a uncircumcised child.

[stass]

Saxon isn't circumsized. I just spent 40 weeks making him and his foreskin so I couldn't see having it removed. :lol:

I have decided to tell Saxon that if anyone teases him about his penis to ask them what they were doing looking at it!

BTW DH is circ-ed and CANADIAN too. :eek:

[Kerri]

I think the majority of grown men in Canada are circumcized, but that the low rates are for new babies and children now. I'm from New Zealand where the rates are even lower than Canada, but more grown men were circumcized when they were little. It is my understanding that all those stats account for current procedures performed. I should look into that though, to be sure.

Kerri

[Sherry]

Sherry, where do you live?
Indiana, but Im talking about the town I live in rather than the State.

My son was circed so he matched my ex and everyone else.... If Bianca would have been a boy, we would have done him as well to match and have the same one as everyone else...

I will say my DH is not circed and either is our eldest.....He says its very common in Puerto Rico to not be. ( he is gonna kill me for telling everyone that )

[mommyLil]

I'm Jewish and we had a Bris for our son so obviously he is circed. I'm not sure what we would have done otherwise, but Sherry is right the rate for circed boys in Indiana is very high!

[steve]

I was circumcised at age 26 for medical reasons - Unlike the doctors in Europe, the doctors in U.S. don't know how to solve penis problems other than circumcising them.
After the circumcision surgery, I lost 90% of my pleasure sensations and about 75% of my potency.It has destroyed my sex life to the point that I am on the verge of a divorce.
In addition to the pleasure sensation being gone, the pain sensations on the penis have increased. On top of that, years of clothing (underwear) rubbing against my circumcised penis have caused a keratin build up and even more loss in pleasure sensations.
I believe that the majority of males who go through this procedure get only mild loss in sexual pleasure sensations- which is why you don't hear too much about this side effect. There are a small majority like me who get the severe case of the side effect. We don't feel safe to come out and talk about it because of all the scruitiny and embarassment a man would have to go through when talking about it.
Is there any benefit of this procedure that almost single handedly destroyed my life?
There is an island in the south pacific where boys have the herculean task of circumcising themselves without anesthesia as a rite into adulthood. An elder in the village was asked what is the purpose of this circumcision. He replied that the severe trauma and pain associated with circumcision teaches an individual to sacrifice himself. The individual is taught to quit asking for help, work harder and deal with anything life throws at you. The individual will be more right wing - he won't ask for government help - he will work hard for those that are in his superior- his bosses, and such. The down side is that the trauma and the loss of sexual pleasure sensations have caused a decreased ability for men to connect to the women in their lives - subsequently there is a much higher incidence of domestic violence against women in these countries - such as the U.S. and the islamic countries. Intact men in Europe and India have far less incidence of domestic violence and if it does occur, it is associated with alcohol or drug abuse. I have told my story and my view. Is the ability to "sacrifice oneself" and maintain a right wing society more important than women being pummeled by their husbands at home? - You decide.

[AllyRae]

We didn't circ Bran...there is no medical reason to do it, and neither dh nor I thought it was acceptable to consent to cosmetic surgery on our son if there was no medical reason to have it done. Basically, his body, his choice. :) DH is circed though and "we wanted him to look like daddy" wasn't a reason I chose to accept for Bran.

[Shel]

but Sherry is right the rate for circed boys in Indiana is very high!
I have 3 Hoosier boys who are circumsized. Around here it's really not even thought of NOT to do it.

[Clare]

Neither of my boys are circumcised. And it was never even a consideration.

I have 3 Hoosier boys who are circumsized. Around here it's really not even thought of NOT to do it.
It seems to be very much a regional thing. Here it's not something that is done at all. I don't know anyone who has had their sons done.

[JenM]

DH and I discussed this years ago and still agree that we won't have our son (should we ever HAVE one... :lol: ) circumsized. It will be completely his decision later in life. We have no religious reasons to do it and to keep up with the Jone's is not a good enough one. :lol:

Steve, I'm sorry your circumcision has been such a traumatic experience for you. My DH has actually said on numerous occasions how much he wished he had his foreskin BACK! He has known for a long time that keeping the foreskin intact increases sexual sensations... and being the horny devil he is... well.. you know. :lol: He would never want to deprive our son of that extra OOMPH if you know what I mean. I hope things get better for you as time goes on. :bighug: