Is circumcision still common?

Carol2200

I recently heard on the news that California has a declining rate of circumcision at 22%.  This really surprised me.  I am curious, how many of you had your ds (or will have your ds) circumcised?  In your experience how common is it in Norcal?  We are expecting a son and are wondering what others did/have done.

Carol2200

Also, I should mention, I am not trying to start a debate since I know this can be a sensitive topic, I am only curious as to what others are doing.

Thanks.

Heidigreatest

I haven't heard of that ... We're definitely having one.

74dragonfly

My OB said only about half of boys are circumcised now. We will not be doing it. 

SuzieQu4u

we don't know yet boy or girl for #2, but we've decided not to if its a boy. 

Heidigreatest

Why not? They will have a hard time in life... What are the benefits of not doing it?

74dragonfly

Heidigreatest said:

Why not? They will have a hard time in life... What are the benefits of not doing it?

A hard time in life? That makes no sense. The benfits to not doing it are numerous such as no unnecessary surgery as a baby. 

Heidigreatest

Sexually-getting unnecessary infections

Celyn

Neither of my boys are.  It's so rare among my clients that it sometimes catches me off guard when it's brought up.

I'm a bigger fan of condom for preventing STDs than circumcision.  They have a much greater success rate.

rayfay814

I will definitely be circumcising my boys. Much cleaner.

solarflare

We chose to but we were very much on the fence. In the end, the American Society of Pediatrics had just revised their recommendation last year to recommend circumcision. I talked with my very liberal doctors who were also on the fence, but basically said it is preventative (infections, STD's) and somewhat safer. We decided to do it thinking it could help our boy out a bit. But really, we could have gone either way. Many of our friends have chosen not to.

CurlieWhirlie

We didn't. DS is four now and part of his shower routine is pulling his foreskin back and cleaning underneath. His dad is European so we never really considered doing it.

jennedunham

We did not circumsize our sons. There is nothing unclean about having foreskin. It's an important part of their sexual function and is there by design, for a very real reason. I'd recommend a lot of research before making such a permanent decision on behalf of someone else that is essentially cosmetic surgery that carries very real risks.

StefandTodd

We did not for either of our sons.  It's not actually "recommended" by the AAP but rather they say the benefits of doing it outweigh the risks associated with doing it.  Those are very different things.

4Bearbit

My hubby and I just had this convo. I think we're leaning toward no.

BloomingMomma

This. To me it's the same as when other cultures mutilate girls. Really doesn't make sense.

jennedunham said:

We did not circumsize our sons. There is nothing unclean about having foreskin. It's an important part of their sexual function and is there by design, for a very real reason. I'd recommend a lot of research before making such a permanent decision on behalf of someone else that is essentially cosmetic surgery that carries very real risks.

ubry2005

We are

teach1008

We did for religious reasons, but would have done it anyways.  I feel like being in a cosmopolitan/international area you will see more of a variation.  A couple friends who married Europeans did not circumcise their sons.

TheOtherJacobsons

We will not be. To us it is just as shocking as female circumcision. If our child wishes to have it done and it is something he has thought about and considered seriously, we would allow him to have the procedure done, but we would only allow it if he was not being pressured by his peers.

Annadm

My son isn't, none of the men in my family do it. They only know what they have, just have to teach them to clean properly. Our pediatrician said it wasn't necessary so I felt it wasn't necessary.

MuchlyGen

Neither of my sons are circumsized.

For the record, circumcision does not prevent STDs - that's a dangerous piece of misinformation that gets thrown about a /lot/. The only thing that can prevent STDs is barrier protection (condoms), or not having sex unless your partner has been tested and you're confident that they aren't infected.  

yanaortiz

None of my four boys are, my oldest is 22 and my youngest is 3 months. Never a problem with any kind of infection. Leave them the way they are born...

myeumyeu

I feel its a mutilation of an extremely sensitive part of the body. We have no religious reason to justify it, so we plan on not getting it if we have a boy.

trishadobel

My 7 year old son is not, and I don't plan on doing it this time either. My husband and I don't feel the need to put added pain or stress on a baby, even if it only lasts a short time.

KSEDmini

I didn't read all the responses. We circumcised all three of our kids and I'm happy with our choice.

I think you have to consider that the demographics of California, and especially the Bay Area, are so different from the rest of the country. We have a lot of ethnicities that do not practice circumcisions in their cultures. So I don't think it's a matter of circumcisions declining, I think it's a rise in populations of people who don't practice doing it.

teaismCAgal

We had a great experience with a urologist in the East Bay - our DS barely cried and healed quickly and nicely. Let me know if you'd like details.  

dreamof2

Obviously there are varying opinions on this. aWe chose to circumsize our DS however we were totally on the fence.  To answer the OP's question, no, it's not uncommon.  I live in Fremont which is an extremely culturally diverse community and my ped said that about 50% do it.

ashleyorm

We decided not to do it.  We were told by our doctor that it is about only 50% that are done now and on the decline.  Keep in mind circumcision is a mainly North American practice.  For those worried about infections, it is just a matter of general hygiene and there can be complications with having it done as well.  Personal preference in the end and do your research.

TurtleMeg

My phone app won't let me directly reply to a pp, but a hard time in life?? My husband isn't circumsized and he's married, about to have a kid, owns a house, and has a pretty successful career. He's doing just fine for himself despite his parents' choice about his penis...