If you have a DS...or were team green

LollyBug18 · August 2012

Being team green this time makes it necessary for us to cover all our bases and consider what we'll do concerning circumcision if we have a boy. There's an article on yahoo today (https://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/circumcision-pluses-outweigh-risks-pediatricians) that got me thinking/wondering about it and I suppose I've officially started the research process.

So, my first question is, if you did research to make your decision, where did you do it? I know I could go google it but I really don't want to have to sort through the junk that would inevitably come with that search (call me lazy...).

My second question is, a year (or more) later, do you regret your decision for any reason?

nfrtny · August 2012

I knew if I didn't get him circumcised that I would worry about his cleanliness. Like worry and obsess over it. H was definitely all for getting DS circumcised because he himself is. My mom also told me after we found out we were having a boy that she regrets not getting my brother circumcised and that just kinda cemented it for me.

Sunidaze · August 2012

We were team green, but for us it was a no-brainer that we were going to circumsize if we had a boy. It was a mutual decision (DH related to me a 'horror' story of a friend of his or someone he knew in the guard or something) who, for whatever reason, had it done as an adult. And a lot of what influenced my decision was the multitude of physician meetings (the discussion occured in the OB meetings, peds, surgery, and a few others I believe) I took minutes for and all the information I gleened from those meetings.

MrsI · August 2012

We do not have a DS but decided for it if we were to have a boy. Take my stories at face value since they are not my personal situation and I am not trying to suade to one way or the other, these are just stories of people in my life and what made me decide what we would have done.

I know of 2 people who were not and had to be later in life and a 3rd that had issues when he was sick and unable to care for himself. One person was in his 30s when he had to have it doen for medical reasons, not sure the extent but I know he was out of work and very sore for a long time and wished he had had it done as an infant. The 2nd who had it done was 3 going on 4 and also had some medical issue but didn't ask too many questions. I was his teacher at the time and I remember when he came back to school. It looked horrific, I had to help him get his pants up and down. His mom regretted not getting it done as an infant also. The third person was my grandfather and when he was sick and in nursing homes dying of cancer noone helped take care of it and he got horrible infections and it caused him more pain than necessary.

JuneBugsMommy · August 2012

Honestly, we didn't do any research prior to making our decision to circ. We knew that we would have it done for the cleanliness factor. We definitely do not have any regrets what so ever and any future son(s) we have will also be circumcised.

DaisyJanie · August 2012

We decided against it. I read the AAP's prior statement where they didn't take a position, and figured if it didn't make a difference one way or the other, I'd much rather not have my little guy have surgery in his first week of life. Now that they've updated their recommendation, I'm a little troubled. I don't regret the decision but I think this new info would have made an impact in our discussion. He didn't get any UTI's in his first year, which was one of the problems they talked about, so we're past that hurdle at least. I do plan to get him the HPV vaccine when he's older so hopefully that will counteract the higher risk for that.

Even though there's so much debate on this topic, I really don't think you can make a wrong decision - there are so many men in this world who are circumcised, and so many that aren't - and the vast majority of them are healthy and content with whichever way they are.

SarahKate31 · August 2012

We did not have DS circumcised. I read a little about it but deferred to DH who decided he didn't want to have it done for DS. We do not regret our decision.

Telly21182 · August 2012

JuneBugsMommy:
Honestly, we didn't do any research prior to making our decision to circ. We knew that we would have it done for the cleanliness factor. We definitely do not have any regrets what so ever and any future son(s) we have will also be circumcised.

This is us too. Also, DH is and I feel it's easier to explain the body to a kid when his body is like daddy's. Not necessarily a valid reason, but it was valid to us which is all that matters.

ishka338 · August 2012

We were team green but knew if we had a boy we would have it done. We decided to do it because we would hate for him to get to an age where he wasn't able to clean it very well on his own, but didn't want help in the shower either, and then it ended up infected. It's a very personal decision, and many pros & cons, but today and since day 1, I have not regreted it one bit, and we will do it again if this baby is a boy.

KKinATX · August 2012

Telly21182:

JuneBugsMommy:
Honestly, we didn't do any research prior to making our decision to circ. We knew that we would have it done for the cleanliness factor. We definitely do not have any regrets what so ever and any future son(s) we have will also be circumcised.

This is us too. Also, DH is and I feel it's easier to explain the body to a kid when his body is like daddy's. Not necessarily a valid reason, but it was valid to us which is all that matters.

This was kind of my take on it also. I obviously don't know a whole lot about being a boy but if growing up DS were to compare his parts to someone else's I didn't want him to feel embarassed or weird. Since DH is circumcised it made sense to do the same for DS. I also was afraid that in high school if the boys were horsing around in the locker room I didn't want DS to feel self conscious about looking different. I did a little bit of research and asked our pedi about it when we met for our pre-natal visit. I don't remember what sources I read now, mostly just online stuff I think. Our main reasons for doing it ultimately were cleanliness and aesthetics.

vigurl · August 2012

This is probably TMI for a public message bouard but....My ExH was un circ and he ended up tearing his foreskin one night. It took forever to heal and never healed right. That cemented in my mind that I was going to circ my DS when ever I hadone

Telly21182 · August 2012

vigurl:
This is probably TMI for a public message bouard but....My ExH was un circ and he ended up tearing his foreskin one night. It took forever to heal and never healed right. That cemented in my mind that I was going to circ my DS when ever I hadone

Ouch!

yeladim · August 2012

We circumcised for religious reasons, but from a purely medical perspective, while there can be problems in uncircumcised males that would be eliminated with circumcision, they are not super common. I actually assisted on a circumcision of a 20 year old who required it due to a condition where the foreskin gets swollen and can cut off circulation in the penis, which is actually an emergency condition. Majority of uncircumcised males will never have a problem, but there will never be a circumcised male with that problem.

stephdruskinis · August 2012

Telly21182:
JuneBugsMommy:
Honestly, we didn't do any research prior to making our decision to circ. We knew that we would have it done for the cleanliness factor. We definitely do not have any regrets what so ever and any future son(s) we have will also be circumcised.
This is us too. Also, DH is and I feel it's easier to explain the body to a kid when his body is like daddy's. Not necessarily a valid reason, but it was valid to us which is all that matters.

This is exactly us, too, except I REALLY felt horrible about it after it was done. I didn't think it would be as bad as it was, and I cried every time I changed his diaper for days after it. In the end, I'm glad it was done because I'd obsess over cleaning him otherwise, but be prepared for your own reaction to your perfect baby boy having one done. I was NOT ready to see that and guess about the pain he was in.

JuneBug0611 · August 2012

We were team green and kept going back and forth about it, especially in light of the AAP's equivocal statement at the time. (DH is circumcised, but that wasn't a factor in our decision-making. We fall in the "they're not going to be comparing body parts so who cares what the Dad had done?" camp!) In the end, we decided that we probably would, because of the research showing that there was a lower STD transmission rate for circumcised men. We ended up having a DD, so we didn't need to follow through. But now, in light of the more recent research and updated AAP statement, I think we would definitely circumcise.

Telly21182 · August 2012

stephdruskinis:
Telly21182:
JuneBugsMommy:
Honestly, we didn't do any research prior to making our decision to circ. We knew that we would have it done for the cleanliness factor. We definitely do not have any regrets what so ever and any future son(s) we have will also be circumcised.
This is us too. Also, DH is and I feel it's easier to explain the body to a kid when his body is like daddy's. Not necessarily a valid reason, but it was valid to us which is all that matters.
This is exactly us, too, except I REALLY felt horrible about it after it was done. I didn't think it would be as bad as it was, and I cried every time I changed his diaper for days after it. In the end, I'm glad it was done because I'd obsess over cleaning him otherwise, but be prepared for your own reaction to your perfect baby boy having one done. I was NOT ready to see that and guess about the pain he was in.

Oh yes, I definitely felt horrible about how badly that must have hurt, but I just kept telling myself he will never remember it. What sucked was that the hospital Baby Bella photogs came in to photo him right after the circ. Clearly I told them it wasn't happening. Like I wanted to photograph that painful little face.

MouseInLux · August 2012

We were and are this time around team green. We didn't talk about circumcision at all, it's not really done in Europe so it was an unspoken we won't do it.

I recently posted this on the Feb 2013 board. I think it's interesting for people who do need to make the decision.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19072761

LollyBug18 · August 2012

Thanks for the replies everyone and for the link, mouseinlux!

Syncronicity09 · August 2012

MH wanted Ash circumsized because MH is and he thought they should be the same. I didn't have a problem with it. He also was worried girls wouldn't like it uncircumsized when he is older. I dont regret it at all.

I didnt do any research because this was one of the only things my husband was adamant about, so there really was no thought needed.

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