2nd Trimester
frf1537
member
Team Blue question...
frf1537
member
It just dawned on me that with a boy I'll need to decide whether or not to circumcise him. I'm from a family with mostly girls so far so it didn't even occur to me. I've done a little research but there seem to be good reasons for both sides. My husband doesn't care and there are no religious objections on either side to either choice so I'm just wondering what other Bumpies are doing and what your thoughts are.
Thanks!
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Re: Team Blue question...
We are not, if it is a boy. The medical reasons for doing so are still fairly skimpy (most of the benefit is in regards to STD transmission, which obviously can be avoided in a number of ways, and the research is still coming out), and I'm just of the opinion that you shouldn't go around cutting off body parts unless there's a really, really good reason for it.
Plus I don't know, something about it seems kind of barbaric to me. Taking a tiny infant and cutting off part of his most sensitive body part just because? No thanks.
I would also recommend watching a video of the actual procedure before making up your mind, so you are fully informed on what is involved.
https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6584757516627632617
omg. I shouldn't have watched that. Be warned if you decide to click this link.
I have been to many a bris (we are not Jewish, but many of our friends are/we live in a very heavily Jewish community) and in all honesty from what I have seen it is not "barbaric" at all. For all that I have been to the baby cries when they are unwrapped (since they get cold), are comforted, and then haven't cried at all during the actual procedure. Our DS slept through his entire procedure and we never had any issues with infection, etc. Our OB is also a mohel (a Jewish person who is trained to performed circumcisions during a bris), so I felt very comfortable with him doing DS's.
You don't see anything barbaric about the whole concept of cutting off a sensitive body part just because? I'm not even talking about the actual procedure - just the fact that you are cutting off part of your child's body without an extremely compelling reason to do so.
Would you ever cut off any part of your daughter's body just because it's tradition or because there's a study or two out there showing it MAY reduce the risk of certain STDS? Not that it actually ensures she won't get them, just that it reduces the risk?
Sorry I didn't know it was a controversial subject. Most of the people I know did or didn't circumcise based on family or religious reasons (like if dad was then they did or if dad wasn't then they didn't). I know there are reasons that say doing it makes it easier for parents and them to clean it but with the proper instruction I don't see how an uncircumcised penis is any harder to clean than a little girl, both have skin folds that need special attention.
You obviously have a strong opinion on it, which is fine. In all honesty, no, I don't. Again, maybe because so many of our friends are Jewish and I have seen so many circumcisions actually performed for religious purposes, it does not seem barbaric to me. To each their own, I don't care what anyone else does, but for us it is a decision that I feel comfortable with.
This is a terrible reason to do this, especially since there is a growing percentage of boys who are not circumcised. By the time our boys are in high school, it's estimated that it probably will only be around 50-60% of boys circumcised in the US. So an uncirc'd kid will hardly be an anomaly.
I guess I do. I never really gave it much thought until I was pregnant the first time and I started looking into it. I kind of realized, wait a minute, why on earth would you do this?? It seems like something people would do in ancient times, not something people would do in 2011. And I can't imagine cutting off a girl's body part just for the heck of it, so why would I do that to a boy?
I will admit, I have a really hard time understanding the arguments in favor of it. If there is a compelling medical reason like the foreskin is deformed or something, then yeah I can definitely understand it. But cutting it off just because? I kind of feel like we have body parts for a reason and it's generally not a good idea to just cut them off for fun.
You seem pretty judgy about what other's do with their LO's penises. Good for you if you choose not to do, we don't care what you do with your LO's penis and we're not judging you for not circumcising. I have met more grown men who want to get circumcised than men who wish they weren't (I work in an E.R) so maybe it's you who needs to think about how your LO will feel when he's grown up.
Yeah, I guess I do get judgy about performing unnecessary medical procedures on infants for vanity reasons.
And I've known plenty of men who are not circumcised who have never had a single issue with it. Believe it or not, there are entire countries where barely anyone is circumcised and somehow they manage to keep themselves clean, not to mention millions of men in this country who live perfectly healthy and happy lives with their entire penises intact.
There are also many things that we are discovering about the human body that we didn't know generations ago, things that we previously thought were useless but actually are not.
Look, there are worse things you can do to your child. I just feel like you should have a really, really good medical reason to cut off part of a baby's body.
I realize that not everybody feels this way.
Like I said, that's great for them but judging other's for something that is considered common and safe is just unnecessary. You can get your point across without being so b!tchy about it. There are plenty of worse things people do to their children i.e physically/sexually abuse them, neglect them, murder them....I think more time an effort should be put into worrying about children in those situations than something that is legal and common (in this country) and something that isn't going to scar the child for life. Sorry but I haven't met anyone who wants to kill themselves because their penis is circumcised. However I have met people who want to kill themselves because they were sexually/physically abused. Just saying time could be spent better worrying about other major problems.
TBH, I am judging your gigantic paragraph of a siggy. It's hard to tell where your post ends and your random mortgage siggy begins.
This makes no sense to me at all. So because I think circumcision is unnecessary and kind of barbaric, I therefore don't have time to also care about child abuse? Huh?
Why can't you just let people decide what to do with their own children without judging them???
We probably will if we have a boy. DH is, and I flat out asked him if he remembers the procedure - of course the answer was no. It is not tramatic.
tartaruga, I also am not seeking your approval. I have my opinion and you have yours.
Yours will not change mine, just as mine will not change yours...so cool it because no one cares. There's no need to attack anyone with your beliefs when we obviously do not share them with you. Why do you care so much what I do with my kid's penis? I suggest a break from the boards for a while if this sends you over the edge...
See bolded part above. You're making yourself look like a tool for being so judgey of others reasonings. And then you have the nerve to ask someone else why they can't just let people to decide what to do with their own children without judging them? Pot, meet kettle.
Circumcison= never a fun topic on thebump. Sorry =/ A lot of people have their VERY STRONG opinion. This is going to be one of those decisions you make with your husband, and no one on this forum should sway you one way or the other (unless it is very useful and correct information that you never knew about prior). As you can tell, it usually just stirs up a lot of fights.
My biggest piece of advice, if you still feel 50/50 about the situation- ask either your OB/GYN or your son's soon to be pediatrician. You will get some straight facts from them that might help make the decision easier.
I see circumcision as inflicting unnecessary pain on an infant for reasons of vanity. So yes, I judge that.
I'm assuming that you all are equally accepting and non judgmental of people who circumcise girls too? After all, its their daughter so it's really none of your business and you shouldn't care what they do to them as long as its done when they won't remember the pain.
Lurking here. And if they chose to do that to their daughter then so be it. I was in the room with my DS when he got circumsized and he didn't even whimper one bit. He just held onto my finger and the doctor did her thing. I never regret one bit having my DS circumsized.
There is too many sanitation issues when it comes to being uncircumsized. Whether you teach a little boy to pull back the foreskin or not, I wouldn't trust that a little boy would always take the time to do so. And a little boy is not going to want his mommy in the bathroom touching his bits to make sure he does it correctly. This can cause infections, especially UTI's. Then they are having unnecessary pain, antibiotics, etc.
Stop judging people for wanting to do it. They aren't judging you for not wanting to do it.
Just please do your research on this. If you're both not really caring one way or the other I'd hope you'd lean towards not doing that since it's an optional procedure and not entirely without risks. Still, I get that people do it for religioius reasons. My DH is not circumcised (it's just not as standard in Europe and many other countries around the world and he's just fine (as are millions and perhaps billions of other men).
It is a very personal decision though- so don't let me or anyone else talk you in to something you don't believe strongly in.
You can choose to have a local anesthetic or have the baby intravenously put out for the procedure, just so you know. I don't believe the baby in the video was numbed.
If we are having a boy he will be numbed in one way or another, we would NEVER let that happen without anesthesia. There is no need for that to be done without some kind of numbing going on, this isn't a 3rd world country for crying out loud.