Babies: 0 - 3 Months

If you DID NOT circumcise your ds..

Can you tell me your reasons why you chose not to??

I told DF it was his decision and all along, he had said he wanted to. Then after DS was born, DF did some investigating on the internet and decided against having it done. Now I fear my little man will be made fun of when hes older Sad So, can you tell me why you opted out of it with your son so maybe I can feel a little better about it..

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Re: If you DID NOT circumcise your ds..

  • My first DS was not circumcised.  He is now 15 and was not even aware of the difference until I had my LO circumcised (different dad).  I opted not to because I just don't see the point - other than to look like dad.  I figure God put it there, why am I going to cut it off?  
  • We didn't do it because it isn't medically necessary and I didn't want my Lo to go through pain for something that is not necessary.  My DH is Jewish and he was even against having it done because he has been to several Bris and said that it was not a nice thing to witness.
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  • We did not circumcise simply because we live in England and they don't do it here unless you have a specific religious reason to.  Being American, I wasn't sure how I felt at first because I know it's done routinely there.  Now I am perfectly fine with it.  It's the european way.
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  • More and more people are choosing not to circumcise so your LO isn't going to be the odd one out.  We chose not to for several reasons:

    1.  The AAP and other medical organizations say the benefits are not strong enough to recommend routine circumcision and there can be many complications from the procedure. 

    2.  People will argue that it may reduce the risk of STDs but that hasn't been proven and I think people should be using condoms anyway.  Who would actually rely on being circumcised to prevent them from getting an STD?

    3.  There is also an argument that it will prevent UTI and penile cancer.  The greatest risk of a boy getting a UTI is in the first year and the chance of an uncircumcised boy getting one is only 1%.  Penile cancer is extremely rare, only 9-10 cases per year per 1 million men in the US.

    The health benefits are so minor that I feel the only reason it's really done are for cosmetic or religious reasons.  If someone wants to do it to their child that's their decision but I don't buy the argument that it's for health reasons.  Many insurance companies don't even cover the cost because they recognize it as a cosmetic procedure.

    In my opinion the potential benefits are slim and they don't outweigh the possible complications of circumcision.  That being said, there's no right or wrong decision.  You just have to do the research and decide what you think is best for your baby.   If it helps, talk to your pedi about it.

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  • I figure it's DS's choice to make, not mine. And you know what? If your kid is getting made fun of in the locker room for having a foreskin he can always decide later on when he's older that he wants to go ahead and get circumcised. You wanna bet me five bucks right now that most teen or adult males would NOT do something like that to themselves?
  • Thanks ladies! DF basically said all the things you have said: that it isnt necessary and he doesnt want to put DS through that kind of pain. At his 8 week check up, his pedi asked if we didnt do it because DF isn't and she went on to say that many people are opting out of it these days. Guess I was just looking for some reassurance that my son isnt going to be the joke of the locker room!
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  • I left the choice to my husband and his family is against it so we didn't do it. My family however thinks it's strange that we didn't have him circumcised.
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  • I don't think your son will be made fun of in the locker room since not circumcising is pretty common and almost 50% in some areas.  And really, if someone does pick on him, his response could be why they are so interested in his penis anyway.

     Dh is adn we decided not to do it.  Other than cosmetics (which I don't believe in for babies), there wasn't a reason for us to do it.  And it's kind of awful to see - I definitely did not want to do that to my son.  Shots are hard enough to watch.

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  • imageD_Nett86:
    I left the choice to my husband and his family is against it so we didn't do it. My family however thinks it's strange that we didn't have him circumcised.

    Yeah, my family thinks its very odd and they keep asking me about it and I just want to say, "its his penis! If he decides to cut it one day, he can."

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  • My DH's family doesn't believe in it. I didn't have strong feeling one way or another. I did some research and decided if it wasn't medically necessary I wasn't going to get it done. DH and I agreed that it was too cruel to do it just for cosmetics. My family questioned my reasoning but were ok with our decision. My OB and his pedi were happy and supportive of our decision. DH said that growing up he didn't know it was able to look any other way. As an adult, when it gets brought up (in his medical classes), he doesn't offer the information that he is not circumcised due to all the questions he would get. I'm glad it is becoming more common. The little boys shouldn't be ashamed of being in the natural state that GOD made them. I wouldn't worry about it. 
  • Our families are both Portuguese and it's not common in our culture so my DH , brother, father, his brother, his father, etc are not circumcised. We also did our own reseach and there is no medical benefit now that hygiene practices have changed/evolved.

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  • For all of the reasons stated above.  DH is not circumcised, so we wanted O to look the same as his dad.  And, most importantly, we felt if it was not medically necessary, we were so not going to cut our little baby up!  That said, we know it's an individual choice and don't critique others for their decisions. It just wasn't the right choice for us.

    *also* the doctors in the hospital told us that more than 50% of boys are not circumcised now. 

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  • DH and first DS are not circumcised. 

    It's for cosmetic purposes only.  Why remove something for no reason?

    Why are the boys in the locker room looking at your son's penis anyway (something he can say later!)

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  • imagealtreu:

    For all of the reasons stated above.  DH is not circumcised, so we wanted O to look the same as his dad.  And, most importantly, we felt if it was not medically necessary, we were so not going to cut our little baby up!  That said, we know it's an individual choice and don't critique others for their decisions. It just wasn't the right choice for us.

    *also* the doctors in the hospital told us that more than 50% of boys are not circumcised now. 

    Just wanted to say holy moly, your LO is so stinkin cute!!! Big Smile

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  • imageMrsBalletStar05:

    It's for cosmetic purposes only.  Why remove something for no reason?

    Why are the boys in the locker room looking at your son's penis anyway (something he can say later!)

    This. We don't go around circumcising women, do we?

    And I agree with all the reasons above that all the other ladies posted... it's just not necessary. Seriously, for aesthetics? Please, nothing down there is aesthetic if you ask me! I think that's a poor argument that many people make to have it done.

    Mature men shouldn't be analyzing your son's penis in a locker room... and chances are, 1/2 the other guys in the locker room will look just like him.

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  • Did not circ....the reasons were numerous.

    1. not medically necessary

    2. its more common not to circ anymore than it was when we were babies so there was no fear that LO would be teased by peers for being different.

    3. My cousin and 3 other people I know had a son whose LO had a BOTCHED circ and had to be redone a year later

    4. I knew a nurse who used to work with the circ doctor and she saw him cut WAY too much off one baby and he looked at her and said "does that look right to you?"  She said that was a LOT more common than any of us would like to believe. She saw botched ones ALL the time.

    5. I didnt want to deal with the healing pee pee. Poor thing...that is his little unit!

    6. I am very happy with my decision and would definitely recommend making it....but I do believe it is the right of everyone to choose what is best for them. =)

  • I didnt have any of my boys circumcised...ive read that people choosing to not have their sons circumcised vs. people who do are close to 50/50...however one of my babies has been diagnosed with kidney reflux and currently has a uti and the docs are recommending we get him circumcised now because he is currently at a greater risk for infection :(
  • imagekatcarls:

    More and more people are choosing not to circumcise so your LO isn't going to be the odd one out.  We chose not to for several reasons:

    1.  The AAP and other medical organizations say the benefits are not strong enough to recommend routine circumcision and there can be many complications from the procedure. 

    2.  People will argue that it may reduce the risk of STDs but that hasn't been proven and I think people should be using condoms anyway.  Who would actually rely on being circumcised to prevent them from getting an STD?

    3.  There is also an argument that it will prevent UTI and penile cancer.  The greatest risk of a boy getting a UTI is in the first year and the chance of an uncircumcised boy getting one is only 1%.  Penile cancer is extremely rare, only 9-10 cases per year per 1 million men in the US.

    The health benefits are so minor that I feel the only reason it's really done are for cosmetic or religious reasons.  If someone wants to do it to their child that's their decision but I don't buy the argument that it's for health reasons.  Many insurance companies don't even cover the cost because they recognize it as a cosmetic procedure.

    In my opinion the potential benefits are slim and they don't outweigh the possible complications of circumcision.  That being said, there's no right or wrong decision.  You just have to do the research and decide what you think is best for your baby.   If it helps, talk to your pedi about it.

    This, exactly.

  • Over half of the US does not circ anymore, so being made fun of isn't a good reason.

     

    Personally, I don't see why you need a reason to not do a cosmetic procedure on your child. IMO you need a very good MEDICAL reason to cut a part of your child off. JMO.

     

    I particularly do not understand the argument of having them look like dad. Dh is circ'ed. His dad is not. Dh said it honestly never even came up as an issue. They really didn't spend much time comparaing penises.

    I mean think about it: would we use this logic with anything else? DH only has one leg.....should we have cut LO's left leg off to avoid confusion of not looking like dad?

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