3rd Trimester

Circumcision? I am having a baby boy.

This is my first pregnancy. Any one know the pro and cons of circumcision? Any advice ? Thanks !
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Re: Circumcision? I am having a baby boy.

  • https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/guide/circumcision

    Realistically, it is a personal preference. You should talk to your OB and your Pedi about circumcision and the risks/rewards. There is no inherent risk or benefit so drastic or rewarding to cause the AMA to take a definitive stance on whether a circ is medically necessary, and so it is largely left up to the parents own discretion.

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  • Penis Crusaders!!! :D

    FWIW I planned on circumcision but never ended up getting it done for DS. No grand philosophical reason. Just didn't seem terribly important.

    There are those that circumcise as part of their faith. It's important to them. I say more power to them.


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  • Do some research and read from real sources (no blogs). Make your own educated decision.
  • Its all personal preference. I got my son circumcised and will do so with all my sons if I have more boys.
  • Thank you everyone so much! These are great info
  • MosyMama said:
    Psychology Today has a great series of articles (with research citations) on the many myths about circumcision, most of which are touted as facts by many people on this board, so this can be a heated topic. :) You can find the article series online by Googling.
    @MosyMama, I love you!
  • jess9802 said:
    Sorry, but I disagree that using inflammatory rhetoric and bad or biased research is a legitimate means of educating the general public. That circumcision has been the cultural norm hardly justifies that tactic.

    I honestly have no beef with whatever parents decide to do. I am, however, disturbed at the propaganda that gets thrown out by those FOR circumcision, and find it disingenuous that they would twist, distort, obscure, or lie about the actual science in order to convince people of the merits of their argument. I think the AAP position on circumcision is perfectly appropriate: the benefits outweigh the risks, but not to such a degree as to recommend universal circumcision. Parents get to make the decision in light of their ethical, religious, and cultural beliefs.

    the final decision should still be left to parents to make in the context of their religious, ethical and cultural beliefs. - See more at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Newborn-Male-Circumcision.aspx#sthash.AAiojO6Q.dpuf
    the final decision should still be left to parents to make in the context of their religious, ethical and cultural beliefs. - See more at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Newborn-Male-Circumcision.aspx#sthash.AAiojO6Q.dpuf
    the final decision should still be left to parents to make in the context of their religious, ethical and cultural beliefs. - See more at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Newborn-Male-Circumcision.aspx#sthash.AAiojO6Q.dpuf


    I am LMAO over here. I fixed it for you, BTW. I see all of the bolded in the "for circumcision" posts more than anything.

    I don't give a flying fuck what you do, quit spreading lies is all I'm saying.


  • I am LMAO over here. I fixed it for you, BTW. I see all of the bolded in the "for circumcision" posts more than anything.

    I don't give a flying fuck what you do, quit spreading lies is all I'm saying.

    I am not arguing for or against circumcision. I, too, give no fucks what someone else does with their children in regard to this question. I, too, wish people would quit spreading lies. I just happen to think more of them come from the anti-circ people than those who are neutral on the question or pro-circumcision. <shrugs>

    @MosyMama: It goes far beyond every study having its limitation. Some are relevant, and some are not. Bollinger has been criticized for the manner in which he calculated the death rate, which the CDC says is simply not supported by their data. As I recall, the articles also cite a pediatrician and notable "intactivist" Van Howe - who has also been criticized by other researchers for his conclusions and methodology regarding the prevalence of genital disease in circ'ed and uncirc'ed men. So yeah - when a series of articles by people with explicit, perhaps even extremist, agendas cite questionable research, forgive me for assuming that the articles are perhaps not the best source by which people should "educate themselves."

    OP, talk to your SO and your pediatrician and then make a decision. Truly, it won't be a big deal either way. Good luck.
  • While I may not offer pros and cons per say, we will be doing it. DH had it done, and we both agree that LO will also.
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  • I did not circ my son, and I still stand by my decision. This subject always ruffles some feathers, and it will always be that way. I don't feel that it's necessary to cut my child's penis because it's "cleaner." In all reality, it's not. You should be teaching your child to properly clean themselves, and you should keep them clean before that. Any genitals, cut or not, are at risk for infection if not kept clean. They try to say that the baby "doesn't feel it" but I know that's not true. You can numb them all you want during the procedure, but the weeks of recovery are definitely not painless, and I highly doubt the procedure is either. People do it because it's the normal thing to do. Ultimately, it's your choice. In my opinion, it's ultimately my son's choice as to whether he wants it done or not. Since he was too young at birth to decide, I left it alone until he could. That's just my opinion. Do your research and be 100% sure. Don't let anybody sway you toward what you don't truly want.
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  • I am dumbfounded that someone thinks that circumcisiom helping reduce hiv infection as a myth and lol at psychology today being linked as a legitimate research site. I think Wikipedia is more reputable. Op, if you want some real science to help with your decision, here ya go. Good luck with your decision. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/prevention_research_malecircumcision.pdf
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  • I did not circ my son, and I still stand by my decision. This subject always ruffles some feathers, and it will always be that way. I don't feel that it's necessary to cut my child's penis because it's "cleaner." In all reality, it's not. You should be teaching your child to properly clean themselves, and you should keep them clean before that. Any genitals, cut or not, are at risk for infection if not kept clean. They try to say that the baby "doesn't feel it" but I know that's not true. You can numb them all you want during the procedure, but the weeks of recovery are definitely not painless, and I highly doubt the procedure is either. People do it because it's the normal thing to do. Ultimately, it's your choice. In my opinion, it's ultimately my son's choice as to whether he wants it done or not. Since he was too young at birth to decide, I left it alone until he could. That's just my opinion. Do your research and be 100% sure. Don't let anybody sway you toward what you don't truly want.
    Weeks of recovery?  Good God who did your sons circ?  DS not only never let out a peep during the procedure but was good to go in like 7-10 days, totally healed up. 

    OP, we circmsized and will continue to do so with any future sons.  Don't give a rats ass about the pros or cons, it was simply what we decided we wanted for our son.  Talk with your DH and do what you gotta do.
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  • edited December 2013
    MrsMuq said:
    I'd never use science as the backbone to a pro-circ argument (I don't think the "science" argument for it is that strong), but rather think it is more a cultural/faith/family decision.

    I'm not pro circumcision. I'm pro people making an informed decision and informed doesn't mean unqualified doctors on psychology today (because what does a psychiatrist have to do with circumcision?) If soon to be parents read the CDC fact sheet and say that isn't compelling enough for me to circumcise, great. If they read it and choose to circ based on the medical benefits, great.
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  • edited December 2013
    KC_13 said:
    I am dumbfounded that someone thinks that circumcisiom helping reduce hiv infection as a myth and lol at psychology today being linked as a legitimate research site. I think Wikipedia is more reputable. Op, if you want some real science to help with your decision, here ya go. Good luck with your decision. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/prevention_research_malecircumcision.pdf

    I think people miss the point where the studies done were in Africa. It is a much bigger issue there. They don't have access to condoms and whatnot for safe sex. They don't get to bathe like we do. In the United States it is pretty much a non-issue.


    I'm guessing you didn't read the research I quoted. It speaks of More than just hiv transmission. Also I wouldn't consider hiv a nonissue here --you hear about it less because its considered less media worthy than cancer due to blaming the victim. while you can teach children to keep clean and use condoms its no guarantee. The demographic of new hiv cases are in young people who are notorious for making lousy decisions. I remember reading an interesting quote out of John Hopkins urology department which said if we had a pill with some risks that could prevent 50% of breast cancer patients moms would be all over it yet we have a way to prevent half of HIV cases and nearly 100% of penile cancer cases yet its judged harshly.
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  • I still don't understand why someone would go to the internet for a decision like this. You can ask your doctor or religious advisor. It just seems like a big decision to rely on internet message boards about. I'm obviously in the minority because this question gets asked ad nauseum. :-??


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  • Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.
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  • Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.
    Yeah, we definitely disagree. Especially since you keep over exaggerating the helpfulness of circumcision while blatantly ignoring the benefits for keeping the foreskin. A well rounded argument looks at all sides, which you fail to do. There is a reason why medical professionals stand in the middle.

    On the contrary, the anti circ crusaders who police these boards tend to try to minimize the proven medical benefits to try to convince people its a pointless procedure.
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  • Holy shit. Its like beating a dead horse. It's the parents PERSONAL decision to have it done or not. Whatever that reason may be. Your opinions are nothing more than that. An opinion! And all of you think your opinion is the most important and the right one. Who's to say? Oh that's right. THE PARENTS! Yet, if it's to do with religious reason then it's ok to do it? But if you're not religious it's wrong? That's just a whole new topic in itself.
  • As you can see, this post hit a "nerve."  I would say do your research and ask your doctors (OB and Pedi). I see people have given you tons of links for the pros and cons.  When I was making my decision, I found some statistics that I thought were interesting.  I looks like the US is trending away from doing this procedure.  I don't know what the stats are in elsewhere, but am told this procedure isn't done in Europe or Canada, at least routinely and is paid for out of pocket by parents when it is.  I'm sure people will say this is wrong... again, do your research. I have heard that in the US medicaid doesn't pay for it as it is deemed not medically necessary. 
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  • edited January 2014
    KC_13 said:
    Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.
    Yeah, we definitely disagree. Especially since you keep over exaggerating the helpfulness of circumcision while blatantly ignoring the benefits for keeping the foreskin. A well rounded argument looks at all sides, which you fail to do. There is a reason why medical professionals stand in the middle.

    On the contrary, the anti circ crusaders who police these boards tend to try to minimize the proven medical benefits to try to convince people its a pointless procedure.
    LOL. Sigh. Alright, let's take a look at some numbers.
    KC_13 said:
    Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.

    According to the CDC, I am wrong when I said 0.5% of the US population has HIV, it is actually 0.4%. Whoops my bad, it's even lower than I said previously.

    Let's take a look at who circumcision actually protects. We will go with the number you stated, 50,000 new cases every year. Ok, and you think all of that could have been prevented through circumcision? Let's crunch some numbers.

    First and foremost, the findings for protection from HIV were founded in female to male transfer through heterosexual contact. Several different studies came up with different numbers. The median number was about a 44% reduction in the female to male heterosexual transfer. 

    On to everyone circumcision does not protect.

    "Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) of all races and ethnicities remain the population most profoundly affected by HIV. " The gay population is most at risk for HIV in the US.

     "In a recent meta-analysis of 15 observational studies of male circumcision and HIV acquisition by MSM, a statistically nonsignificant protective association was found."That means that through all the studies done, they have not been able to prove that circumcision helps prevent HIV spread from male on male sex. It makes total sense considering that only 4% of the US population has male on male sex, yet it accounts for 78% of all new infections in males and accounts for 63% of all new infections.  Next group is injection drug users. They represent 8% of all new infections.   Next group is women."Studies of whether circumcision of males reduces HIV transmission to their female sex partners overall indicate no protective effect."Women are not at all protected by circumcision. "New HIV infections among women are primarily attributed to heterosexual contact (84% in 2010) or injection drug use (16% in 2010). Women accounted for 20% of estimated new HIV infections."  Since we already accounted for the numbers through drug use, we take out the number from drug use and only attribute the number from sex. That makes the number 17% of all new HIV infections.

    Ok so from all the stuff circumcision does not protect against, let's add the numbers. 63+8+17= 88.

    88% of all new HIV infections had nothing to do with and had no protection from circumcision. 

    The 12% left would be the new infections of males from heterosexual contact. Remember that it only reduces it by 44%. That means that 66% of circumcised males are still going to get HIV from heterosexual contact.

    Of the 0.4% of the US population that has HIV, 88% of the cases came about regardless of circumcision. And again, circumcision doesn't help 66% of the time for the rest of them.

    ETA: The Bump is not letting me separate the middle part into paragraphs. I keep trying but, it just isn't responding. Sorry for the cluster in the middle. I'll try a couple more times.

    Yeah, it's not working. Sorry.

  • edited January 2014
    KC_13 said:
    Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.
    Yeah, we definitely disagree. Especially since you keep over exaggerating the helpfulness of circumcision while blatantly ignoring the benefits for keeping the foreskin. A well rounded argument looks at all sides, which you fail to do. There is a reason why medical professionals stand in the middle.

    On the contrary, the anti circ crusaders who police these boards tend to try to minimize the proven medical benefits to try to convince people its a pointless procedure.
    LOL. Sigh. Alright, let's take a look at some numbers.
    KC_13 said:
    Well have to agree to disagree. While it only makes up a small percentage of overall population, hiv still in the top 20 leading causes of deaths--killing 15,000+ every year. 50,000 people contract it a year and a million+ and rising have it. That's more deaths than the flu most years yet there's not the same judgment towards people who get the flu vaccine. It goes beyond HIV--there's promising research on HPV too. Penile cancer is rare....but so are many things we take precautions against on a daily basis.

    According to the CDC, I am wrong when I said 0.5% of the US population has HIV, it is actually 0.4%. Whoops my bad, it's even lower than I said previously.

    Let's take a look at who circumcision actually protects. We will go with the number you stated, 50,000 new cases every year. Ok, and you think all of that could have been prevented through circumcision? Let's crunch some numbers.

    First and foremost, the findings for protection from HIV were founded in female to male transfer through heterosexual contact. Several different studies came up with different numbers. The median number was about a 44% reduction in the female to male heterosexual transfer. 

    On to everyone circumcision does not protect.

    "Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) of all races and ethnicities remain the population most profoundly affected by HIV. " The gay population is most at risk for HIV in the US.

     "In a recent meta-analysis of 15 observational studies of male circumcision and HIV acquisition by MSM, a statistically nonsignificant protective association was found."That means that through all the studies done, they have not been able to prove that circumcision helps prevent HIV spread from male on male sex. It makes total sense considering that only 4% of the US population has male on male sex, yet it accounts for 78% of all new infections in males and accounts for 63% of all new infections.  Next group is injection drug users. They represent 8% of all new infections.   Next group is women."Studies of whether circumcision of males reduces HIV transmission to their female sex partners overall indicate no protective effect."Women are not at all protected by circumcision. "New HIV infections among women are primarily attributed to heterosexual contact (84% in 2010) or injection drug use (16% in 2010). Women accounted for 20% of estimated new HIV infections."  Since we already accounted for the numbers through drug use, we take out the number from drug use and only attribute the number from sex. That makes the number 17% of all new HIV infections.

    Ok so from all the stuff circumcision does not protect against, let's add the numbers. 63+8+17= 88.

    88% of all new HIV infections had nothing to do with and had no protection from circumcision. 

    The 12% left would be the new infections of males from heterosexual contact. Remember that it only reduces it by 44%. That means that 66% of circumcised males are still going to get HIV from heterosexual contact.

    Of the 0.4% of the US population that has HIV, 88% of the cases came about regardless of circumcision. And again, circumcision doesn't help 66% of the time for the rest of them.

    ETA: The Bump is not letting me separate the middle part into paragraphs. I keep trying but, it just isn't responding. Sorry for the cluster in the middle. I'll try a couple more times.

    Yeah, it's not working. Sorry.


    That's making a lot of assumptions. First, you can't say with any certainty that homosexual men aren't protected from circumcision. The research is very minimal and a mixed bag but there's evidence that circumcision protects the insertive partner--obviously not the receptive partner. Is there some large body of research I've missed on the sexual habits of homosexual men who contracted HIV this year? Your numbers are just some shot in the dark.

    For arguments sake well use your numbers. 2,500 people a year could have avoided HIV infection from circumcision alone. In ten years time that could be 25,000 less people with HIV. That's not taking into consideration the other diseases circumcision helps protect against out there as well.

    And to the other diseases--we know circumcision results in lower rates of HPV infection. We know HPV is a disease you can't prevent through condom use. We also know HPV causes cervical cancer but the newest research suggests its a factor in prostrate cancer as well. So even if you think circumcision is pointless because HIV...well there's more than that.
    Thanks for proving my point about those anti circ crusaders though. :D
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  • My numbers are a shot in the dark huh? Ok, I guess the CDC has no idea what they are talking about because everything I posted was directly from them. Oh wait, didn't you post a CDC link? Hmm.

    Calling me an "anti circ crusader" is dumb. In this entire thread I have been about the facts. Fact is that "pro circ crusaders" like you exaggerate circ benefits while dismissing non-circ benefits. Your posts come across as trying to call non-circ parents morons.

    Plain and simple, and like I already stated, both sides have benefits and both sides have risks. They are both pretty even overall which is why medical professionals sit in the middle and let the parents choose. Let me quote again, "Decisions about circumcision are highly personal and often depend more on social and religious factors than on medical evidence."

    I don't matter to me if someone chooses to circumcise or not as long as they have the facts from both sides and know the limitations.

  • edited January 2014

    My numbers are a shot in the dark huh? Ok, I guess the CDC has no idea what they are talking about because everything I posted was directly from them. Oh wait, didn't you post a CDC link? Hmm.

    Calling me an "anti circ crusader" is dumb. In this entire thread I have been about the facts. Fact is that "pro circ crusaders" like you exaggerate circ benefits while dismissing non-circ benefits. Your posts come across as trying to call non-circ parents morons.

    Plain and simple, and like I already stated, both sides have benefits and both sides have risks. They are both pretty even overall which is why medical professionals sit in the middle and let the parents choose. Let me quote again, "Decisions about circumcision are highly personal and often depend more on social and religious factors than on medical evidence."

    I don't matter to me if someone chooses to circumcise or not as long as they have the facts from both sides and know the limitations.


    The reason why your numbers are a shot in the dark is because it hasn't been proven circumcision does not prevent against Male to male transmission. "Observational studies have yielded mixed results" is the current research on transmission in that manner--we just don't know yet. But you have a good point--if you're choosing to circumcise solely for HIV transmission that's probably silly. My motivating factor was my son not giving his future wife cervical cancer...but I digress. To quote the cdc "male circumcisiom is a proven effective prevention intervention with known medical benefits".
    I really don't mean to come across as calling non-circ parents morons..I've never responded to anyone who says I didn't choose to circ because the medical benefits weren't compelling enough for me. Generally these debates start because someone who is against circumcision puts out something incredibly offensive or tries to make a case for their side using a horribly inaccurate website.
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  • MrsGillen29MrsGillen29 member
    edited February 2014
    I'm going to say 'screw the facts' on this one, and go completely on personal experience: I've had two partners who were uncircumcised; the most disgusting and awful experiences ever. In both instances, sex happened once, and never again. The smell was... picture something that has been growing mould for at least 5 years. MOST boys have horrible hygiene to begin with in their teenage years. Sex is important in a relationship later in life. Reading through all of these posts.. I haven't seen one uncircumcised man comment. I think an important question is to find a man who isn't circumcised, ask the troubles (if any) he's had, along with sexual experiences. There's always going to be risks on either side. Hubby and I aren't finding out what were having, but we don't even need to discuss the issue. Many might see this view as somewhat 'materialistic' (like not dating someone because you don't think they're good looking), but it's still another side of the story that many haven't touched on. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut!
  • When I have boys, I plan to.. Reason being- My mom was a nurse assistant and took care of elderly all through my childhood. Mom talked about how at that point in life, things get pretty bad down there for those who were not circumcised. (which is unfortunately due to them being unable to take good care of it themselves, and the women taking care of them, not giving it the extra cleaning it needs...)
    I know It makes it a little easier to keep clean through other stages of life too... But I guess mom talking about that, just made me decide, go ahead and do it early on. Before they can have any real memory of it. 
  • An uncircumcised penis is a lot like a vagina. It's mostly self cleaning. It doesn't need it's own special cleaning regimen, regardless of stage of life. It's a cosmetic decision.
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  • We are choosing to circumcise our son mostly for social reasons. It's still by far the "norm" especially for our area of the country (Midwest). My husband very much wanted to do it for that reason. It didn't really matter to me as much either way so I deferred to him. It does seem to be getting phased out though and I'd be surprised if it's still happening much at all in a couple hundred years from now. 
  • I'm going to say 'screw the facts' on this one, and go completely on personal experience: I've had two partners who were uncircumcised; the most disgusting and awful experiences ever. In both instances, sex happened once, and never again. The smell was... picture something that has been growing mould for at least 5 years. MOST boys have horrible hygiene to begin with in their teenage years. Sex is important in a relationship later in life. Reading through all of these posts.. I haven't seen one uncircumcised man comment. I think an important question is to find a man who isn't circumcised, ask the troubles (if any) he's had, along with sexual experiences. There's always going to be risks on either side. Hubby and I aren't finding out what were having, but we don't even need to discuss the issue. Many might see this view as somewhat 'materialistic' (like not dating someone because you don't think they're good looking), but it's still another side of the story that many haven't touched on. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut!

    Maybe you should quit having sex with dirty men. Circumcision has nothing to do with hygiene.
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