Circumcision?

aswinney · September 2010

I'm not trying to start any drama/controversy, just wondering how other moms feel about having their little boys circumcised. I've been hearing alot of conflicting views lately, and I was just wondering how other expectant mothers on the bump felt about it.

From the beginning it was just a given that we would have our son circumcised, but certain "horror stories" have DH and myself a little concerned - and this could be a good thing as we are putting alot more thought/research behind our decision.

Thanks for your opinions!

aforst · September 2010

DS1 was circumcised and DS2 will be as well. It has become more common to not do it lately. Our OB did it in the hospital before we left. I was in the room just a few minutes after she finished, and he wasn't crying. We have not had any issues with it. GL on your decision.

grover1024 · September 2010

i always thought it was just something that everyone did, a routine thing that all hospitals did. but when i met DH & found out that non of the men in his family were circumcised (no religious reason either) i realized that maybe it wasn't so common. he is against it (being intact never hurt him, never gave him problems or infections or "self-image issues") but i had never even thought about it until we found out we were having a boy. i'm not one to just do what someone else wants because they said so, so i did a lot of research. the most interesting point i found was that the american med assoc does not recommend it because there is not enough of any benefit to the surgery. you should def do a lot of research on both sides of the story and make a decision based on what will be best for your little boy. based on everything i've read, i've decided NOT to get ours circumcised.

good luck with your decision!

BeachM · September 2010

We are choosing not to, but I don't think there's any right or wrong choice in this matter. Ditto the suggestion to do all your research before you make the decision.

tastyburger · September 2010

I can't help but feel like bodies are made with a purpose and why mess with perfection? If Pickle is a boy, I will feel terrible circumsizing him.

That said, we're still doing it. My family is hell-bent on it (we're also Jewish), my H is, and it has about the same pros as cons, so it's not like we're making a huge groundbreaking decision here.

I just can't help but feel like if LO is a little boy I will love ALL parts of him and hate to see any of his beautiful lil bod cut up. But I will anyway. lol

ambermum5 · September 2010

We did not do it with DS 1 and will not with DS 2, the hospital we had DS 1 in didn't even do it, insurance wouldn't cover it, and I was told it was like 1500 up front. DH is done, and I am relieved we will be having DS 2 just for the fact that the brothers will be "like each other". I haven't had any problems so far as far as health is concerned. To each their own!

RebeccaJayne · September 2010

I'm really glad you brought this up. My husband and I have been having this debate for a few days now. We are currently leaning towards not circumcising...

Being that we are not Jewish, the main reasons for circumcision are health related (such as UTIs and rare penile cancer) and so that your son will "match" his Dad if Dad is circumcised.

Our reasons against circumcision is that it can be painful for the baby (true, he will not remember it, but...), it's really a cosmetic surgery that can't be reversed (but if we keep the foreskin and he really hates it, he could get it removed later on in life), and we feel that it would be no harder to keep clean than a vagina. (My husband's stand is that vagina's are also "hooded" and no one complains about how hard they are to clean. sorry if that's TMI...)

In Europe, circumcision is not nearly as common as it is in the US, (I believe it is 10% vs 60%), and studies have shown that they do not have higher indidences of UTIs, cancers, or STDs that do American, circumcised men.

Those are our considerations as of now. I'm very interested to hear what other people have to say on this subject.

Under.the.Rose · September 2010

We're having our son circumcised for health/cleanliness reasons. I understand that it's possible to be uncircumcised and keep things clean down there, but how many guys honestly wipe when they go pee at a urinal (for example)?

Also, what happens when you can't clean it (ex. when you're hospitalized or when you get old)? We have too many family members in health care that can tell us all about how nurses neglect to clean that particular area and how things get nasty pretty quick.

We're ensuring that an actual experienced urologist does the circumcision, not just an OB.

cja06 · September 2010

aforst:
DS1 was circumcised and DS2 will be as well. It has become more common to not do it lately. Our OB did it in the hospital before we left. I was in the room just a few minutes after she finished, and he wasn't crying. We have not had any issues with it. GL on your decision.

This exactly.

mrsashby · September 2010

We circumcised DS #1. My husband is a radiologist and has done way to many flouro studies on little baby boys with repeat UTIs that were uncircumsized and the foreskin was so badly stuck down that he couldn't even move it catherterize the baby to do the procedure...meaning that it wasn't being cared for-hence probably why the repeat UTIs. In my husband professional opinion it cleanlier...although if parents keep it clean and teach DS good hygiene it shouldn't be a problem.

For us also we have a family hx of penile cancer-which is so rare-most cases have been in Europe-and studies have linked higher incidence of penile cancer in uncircumsized men. So for us we for sure wanted to circumsize.

aswinney · September 2010

Thank you all for sharing you opinions. It nice to be able to see so many different points of view.

More than likely, we will end up having DS circumcised, BUT I am definitely still doing research on both sides of the issue.

xoashleigh4ox · September 2010

we are having our son circumcised.. they are so little they won't remember the pain of it.. personally i don't like the look of uncircumcised penis's.. also my grandfather had to get circumcised like 5 years ago for health reasons which was very uncomfortable for him later in life..

Arielle27 · September 2010

We're Jewish, so we will definitely be circumcising our little boy!

cpmich · September 2010

bridefromafar:
aforst:
DS1 was circumcised and DS2 will be as well. It has become more common to not do it lately. Our OB did it in the hospital before we left. I was in the room just a few minutes after she finished, and he wasn't crying. We have not had any issues with it. GL on your decision.

This exactly.

Same here. It will be done before we leave the hospital.

bisabelm · September 2010

We are doing it at the hospital before we leave.

SammyJJo · September 2010

I was also very conflicted on this issue and did mountains of research. In the end it's a personal preference. Every pro/con of circumcising is weighted with a pro/con of not circumcising. I agree with PP, take the horror stories with a grain of salt. I've heard horror stories both ways (from the "mistakes" and infections that can occur when the baby is circumcised to guys that had to be circumcised as teenagers/adults... apparently it takes a long time to recover once they're all grown up).

When I asked my doctor she said that negative outcomes are rare in both cases, so we should go with preference.

JenZuanich · September 2010

bisabelm:
We are doing it at the hospital before we leave.

This. My aunt has told horror stories about elderly/disabled individuals and harmful infections from unsanitary nursing facilities/neglect (she works as an RN investigator for the governement - checking out nursing homes/hospitals for cases of abuse/neglect/etc.) - obviously this is just one person's input - however, it does weigh somewhat on our decision.

As PP said, make sure and do your homework and good luck! )

fmoore723 · September 2010

As most others have said, completely a personal decision.

We had both of our boys circumsized prior to D/C from the hospital at birth. I honestly left the decision up to DH, and he was done at birth as well--so decision was made. I honestly didnt research too much into it either way.

Also, Ive seen it performed as well--while I was in nursing school. Honestly, the babies cried no more from the circumcision, than from the heel sticks they perform.

Good luck with your decision!

littlei3776 · September 2010

We are having DS circumsized. My SO and I agree that it's better for him to have it done as an infant then get one when he is older (if an infection should arise) A friend of my just told me a story about her son's 13yr friend who had to get circumsize. Can you image being a teenage boy and having this done? I feel it's better to get it done when they are an infant and can't remember.

littlei3776 · September 2010

We are having DS circumsized. My SO and I agree that it's better for him to have it done as an infant then get one when he is older (if an infection should arise) A friend of my just told me a story about her son's 13yr friend who had to get circumsize. Can you image being a teenage boy and having this done? I feel it's better to get it done when they are an infant and can't remember.

Good luck with your decision!!!

Kitiara5512 · September 2010

We aren't doing it. I got one talk from my Mom on that and then she said she wouldnt bring it up again and she hasn't. Her reason for wanting it done is that this is the one religious aspect she would like us to respect and follow, but being raised Muslim, I found that Prophet Mohammed wanted men circed for health reasons, which with todays medicine and just openness talking to kids about it is not enough of a reason for us to want to have it done. DH wishes he wasnt done too but his parents had him circed for religious reasons too.

Take a look at all the research. Only you can make the decision for your family.

lesleslie · September 2010

I think at this point we are not going to circumcise our LO. I've done a fair bit of reseaerch on the topic and it is not recommended by any medical association (Canadian or American) and more children now a days are not circumcised than are. As far as cleanliness goes, I think that as us females were taught to wipe ourselves properly to prevent infections, uncircumcised boys must be taught this as well. I don't get arguments stating that as male get older its harder to keep clean, what about older females? There are arguments that go both way and that's why we've had such a hard time deciding what to do. I think at the end of the day, no matter what you chose just make sure it's an informed decision and you know the pros and cons to each side.

PlainandTall · September 2010

If you are afraid of your sweet little baby possibly needing to go through surgery later in life "when he will remember it"... why don't you look into the actual statistics of circumcision complications requiring further surgery. More boys who are circumcised in infancy will need to be circumcised a second time than intact boys will ever need to be circumcised a first time.

Digest that.

While you are thinking about that- look up MEATAL STENOSIS... this is a circumcision caused problem that is never included in the statistics of circumcision complications... it happens to 9-10% of circumcised boys and usually isn't caught until boys are potty training and their parents actually see them urinate.

How is it fixed? Surgery.

If you think it's easier to take care of a circumcised boy - read this:

https://www.louisvillemojo.com/blogs/Louisville_blogs/84368/What_s_worse_than_one_bleeding_penis__Two_of_them_

If you think this is so unusual... how is it that this happened to BOTH of the twins?

When they tell you the "balance" is an even split- they count avoiding penile cancer which only hits OLD MEN on one side of the scale... and then refuse to count meatal stenosis on the risk of circumcision side because it doesn't happen right then and there on the operating table. (huh?) More babies die from circumcision than old men die of penile cancer. So in terms of YEARS OF LIFE lost it's incredibly uneven- an old geezer gets his life cut shorter by five years- how does that compare to an infant who dies before he is even one week old? Did you know more women get cancer of the labia than men get cancer of the penis? Even with that increased risk- would you ever consider crushing off the labia of a little girl?

Be honest.

What's really driving this? None of those reasons for circumcision can be applied to females... so why is it reasonable to apply them to males?

Listen to your mother's heart. Look at your perfect baby and protect him like you want to.

Trust your doctor? 75% of OB circumcisers (most circumcisions are done by OBs) refuse to use pain relief.

Can you imagine? How can this be happening to our babies? What mother would allow this to happen ... even if she would choose circumcision- do you think she would choose to DENY her child pain relief? I don't think so! Did she just assume? Was she just too scared to ask? Was she lied to? What's going on!?

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/101/6/e5

Routine hospital Circumcision is an American anomaly in the modern world. If all these "problems" were really problems... why haven't other developed countries adopted circumcision? How do they take care of old men in Sweden or Japan? Probably in the same way they take care of old women. Why aren't those parents driven by fears of someone's "who had to..." stories? You'd think if no one was circumcising- they would hear even MORE of those stories than we American parents do- so why aren't they worried like we are... ? If their country has nationalized healthcare... wouldn't their government want to do the most cost effective thing? If everyone is going to be plagued by "problems" and need complicated adult circumcisions... wouldn't their national healthcare promote infant circumcision instead of working to BAN it?

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q52H20100527

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