circumcision

Ok, I am not trying to open up a can of worms here (I know this is a delicate subject). But for anyone out there who has credible resources about the risks and benefits of circumcision, would you please post them?

circumcised penises look better... just a girl's honest opinion.

HAHA.  Not quite what I was looking for, but you did make me laugh.

Here's another girl's honest opinion... NATURAL penises look better. >.>

I'm very anti-circumcision because I view it as mutilation... the same as many people view female circumcision, except for some reason doing it to a boy is okay.

The basic arguments FOR circumcision are 1) tradition--especially in religion, 2) hygiene 3) it's the parent's right to decide for the child.

The basic arguments AGAINST circumcision are 1) the actual surgery and recovery is very painful 2) reduces sensitivity and sexual pleasure, for life 3) the child has no say in it, being an infant, so cannot himself decide 4) sex MAY be more difficult for both male and female due to increased friction 5) can cause feelings of inadequacy later in life 6) irreversible!

I don't want to give you any articles because I've looked at LOTS and most are biased in one direction or another, so I'd rather just let you find them yourself.

"Credible" is very subjective. If someone agreed with my viewpoint, would I believe they were credible? Yes...

Just read and read as much as you can. One of the most helpful type of site I've found is where you get men's "testimonials"...what they think of their circumcision (or non circumcision) once they are adults.

Good luck.

Beautiful.  Thanks for the good advice. By the way, I like Natural too.

I like natural as well!!

Even my husband is natural and he is 45!!  Never thought much about it.  But why cut off something that was meant to be there in the first place.  My son wasnt done and all the little boys Ive changed except 1 are intact.  Actually it caught me by surprise when I changed this little boy and his penis just didnt look right.

So far the ONLY benefit to circing is a "slight" and I really small reduction of urinary tract infections in teh first year of life.  My own experience was my son's circ'ed penis had LOTS of redness and irritaion as a result of being circ'ed until he was done with diapers.  I wouldn't wish that on any mother.

I had a professor tell me that the cases of HIV were reduced in males that circ'ed.  I asked my very anti circ friend aobut this fact and she showed me the studies. Unfortunalety the studies were not up to par.  :( 

The good news is, uncirc'ed peni are becoming the norm in much of the US.  Some regions its as much as 60%.

 

Denise

My son was born during a terrible controversial period where docs were refusing to do circumcision, hospitals were absolutely not doing them and honest truth was I didn't realize the amount of men who don't have it done, it was always a "everyone is" situation.  Therefore it was insisted upon by both family and friends (who else do you trust with your first born, right?) My poor little guy went under the knife at 4 months old when I finally found a doc that was doing the majority of the infants being born at that time and it was a butcher shop!!!  I had to take him to the ER that night because he was filling diapers with blood, his little thing was virtually gone!  A very long recovery for my little guy and if there is one thing I regret it would be not listening to my instincts that were telling me back then that it wasn't THAT big of a deal.  He's only 9 now so I still wouldn't know if he would be "affected" by it if I had not gone through with it and I never will but I do have a friend who's son is 13 and he is not circumcised and he's very embarrassed/sensitive by it. 

 

If I had known how they do circumcisions, I would never have approved my son's. They take your baby, strap him spread eagled on a table, give him some sugar water or children's Tylenol, and immediately start cutting him. The poor kid! When I heard this I cried. I'm not kidding. I had my son in December and learned this information in like February. The doctors and nurses at the hospital will say that it is preferable, safe and virtually painless. Bullsh*t! I also have read that uncircumcised penises are cleaner and that little foreskin is packed with nerve endings for way more pleasurable sex (later of course). Just my 2 cents as a new mom...

As someone who cleans up the mess after circumcisions are performed, I can't say I support it.  Even though they stop crying almost immediately after and seem perfectly content just minutes after it's done, the blood and iodine (which looks a lot like blood in high concentrations) on the scalpels, gauze, and trays just make my stomach squirm.  And I hate the way they shriek during it, it's so pitiful and helpless.

Health-wise, I don't know much about it, but it just seems too brutal for me.

Sorry if this wasn't what you were looking for.

All of my brothers were done and every male in my family for one main reason: my father had to be circumsized as a teen for medical reasons and said it was one of the single most painful things he has ever had to endure and does not want that to happen to any of his offspring.

To avoid this, my siblings and for the generation below me, we are totally pro-circumcision. In addition, it is the cultural norm in my society.

That being said I have 5 nephews all circ'ed. However, two (yes TWO!!) of them had to be REDONE - yes two circumcisions - because the first one was not adequately performed.

I understand that this is mainly because the "tool" the OBs use is a sort of like one-size-fits-all device. Lets pretend it comes in a size 1 or 2, for example, and if you are a 1.5 they will err on the side of caution and use the size 1 tool. Therefore some boys end up not being "done enough" and have sort of a half-circumcision.

My sister's son's urologist (the surgeon who fixed the first botch-job) said he rarely if ever has Jewish boys coming in to be redone because the mohels do it freehand - no tool = better circumcision (apparently).

The half-done circumcisions can be redone basically for what amounts to cosmetic reasons - or sometimes the extra skin and wound can cause problems such as adhesions etc.

My sister's son was redone not so long ago - mainly for cosmetic and social reasons - he was verrry insecure about his penis in comparison to his cousins and friends. It was a major issue - totally interfering with his self-image, toilet training etc.

But I tell you, though we are glad it's done now, it was a horrible thing to watch a 2 year old endure such pain (I, of course, am talking about the healing process as he was under general anaesthesia for the procedure). He is totally fine now but it did make me think twice about the whole thing.

Bottom line is, just make sure if you do it, that you do it right!!

My kids were born here in Japan, and nobody does it here, so we didn't. There doesn't seem to be a huge epidemic of penile cancer or urinary tract infections here to my knowledge.

Of course there is a market for adult circumcision here - some want it for cosmetic reasons, others to correct a too-tight foreskin, but I think 95% of men are fine with being intact here.

The whole argument about "cut looks better" or "natural looks better" - is mostly cultural, IMO. If you grew up seeing mostly cut ones, you will tend to think that's the way they are "supposed to look". And the same goes if you mostly saw uncut ones growing up.

My parents did it to me as a baby, so I don't know what it's like to be natural. I have not had any problems as a result of being circ'ed, but I am a little sad that I had zero say in the amputation of a normal healthy part of my body.

It's a highly personal choice, and I respect people doing what they feel is right. But I really think that the cultural reasons for doing it are much more compelling than the medical ones, which really only translate to the most trivial of benefits.

But if a child is growing up in a community where most boys are cut, then being cut may make life, dating, etc. easier for him when he gets older. That's a valid reason for doing it.

Wow!  Thank you everyone so much for some great responses. I didn't know what I would get, but I feel like everyone took this as seriously as I feel about it and The responses are truly issues that the hubby and I can utilize to help make our decision.  Thanks again.

Males who are not circumcised and get the human papillomavirus (HPV) have a risk of getting squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. Circumcision almost eliminates the possibility of getting this type of cancer all together. 

This doesn't mean that you should definitely get a circumcision though, because squamous cell carcinoma of the penis accounts for less than 1% of male cancers in the US. This would be more effective in some parts of Asia, Africa, and South America where this cancer accounts for 10-20% of male malignancies.

Source:

Kumar, et. al. Pathologic Basis of Disease 7ed. (2005): p. 1036-7.

personally, i like my men to be circumcised (and shaven but thats not what the topics asking lol)

..just personal preference..

Original Post by nycgirl:

All of my brothers were done and every male in my family for one main reason: my father had to be circumsized as a teen for medical reasons and said it was one of the single most painful things he has ever had to endure and does not want that to happen to any of his offspring.

I'm sorry but I don't understand. .if your father was done and said it was so painful, why did that make him want his children to have it done?

Original Post by fightergirl:

personally, i like my men to be circumcised (and shaven but thats not what the topics asking lol)

..just personal preference..

Ew - shaven.  Stubble - not good.

 

I am all in favor of trimming, maybe even some shaping, but why would you want a grown man to look like a little boy?

Never mind, don't answer that! 

Thankfully I don't have boys.

Before we found out the gender of #2, I asked my husband to agree not to circumcise if it was a boy.  I was going to have a hard enough time accepting the penis.  I didn't want to be forced to deal with a mangled penis.

Anyway, it can always be done later.  It can't be undone.  I'm glad my parents didn't remove any parts of my body without asking me first.

I would have no objection to paying for a later circumcision when my child was able to decide for himself.  When he is able to make an informed decision, care for the wound himself, and be allowed more powerful painkillers than Tylenol.

Based on talking to friends

I, too, am confused about nycgirl's father's reasoning.  To me, it seems that if it's painful for an adult ... WHY would you think it's LESS PAINFUL for a baby????  I just don't get that, at all.

None of my family members have been circumcised.  My husband is not, thank goodness - because even though he was born at a time when most babies were, his mother was a nurse and refused to cut parts off her baby when it was not medically necessary.  None of the men I know who are not circumcised would choose to go under the knife now, and none have had any issues; so why not give the babe a choice? 

I was also married once to a Jewish man, who obviously was circumcised.  Ask me who enjoys sex more, my current hubby or my previous hubby?  Also ask me why Latin men (who are not normally circumcised) have a better reputation in that aspect?  Can it be coincidence?

For me, every human should have a choice as to what to do with/to their body.  Making these types of irreversible, non-medical decisions on behalf of one's child is not acceptable.  It still ticks me off, and him, that my DH's mother (for financial reasons, unfortunately) had a couple of his teeth pulled in his early teens.  They don't grow back, and he wishes he'd never lost them.  This is much more serious than losing a tooth.

Oh, and one last thing.  In reference to disease, etc. - you wouldn't take your gallbladder out at birth, or your spleen, or have a mastectomy just because you "could, maybe, someday, perhaps" get gallstones, or rupture your spleen, or get breast cancer, even though you could easily live without all of the above.  This is no different.

Can you tell what side of the fence I'm on? :) 

This is intersesting.

For me there was bo way my son would be circumsised unless it was needed medically. I have already had the trauma of him having to have a testical removed, so the idea of putting him through something unnecessary is beyond me. It is never suggested by anyone as a matter of course, but then I live in the U.K. I only know of one man who has had it done in my circle of friends & no children at all.

It is not the norm for males to have the procedure done in the U.K.