Circumcision Debate

Hi.

I found this board because my only child is pregnant.  I've never "personally" had to make a choice for or against circumcision.  I started reading here because my daughter may have to make a decision.  I asked her the other day, would she choose circumcision and she said, "no."  Which I'm THANKFUL for!!!!! 

First....my question:

Would y'all mind sharing some links with me so that I can research the history of circumcision or point me in the right direction????

Since my daughter has chosen to not have her possible son circumcised, I'd like to be well informed to intelligent defend her choice to others....and I KNOW she will have to be defended because of what I believe to be the "ignorance" and "superficiality" of others.  I want to be able to spout off statistics and intelligently defend her decision.

Now, my opinion is that circumcision is CRUEL on many MANY different levels.  I personally know someone who had a TERRIBLE circumcision.  There is scarring, the penis is "bent" and too much skin was removed, resulting in a hairy shaft.  I also believe his sensitivity has so been reduced that he has difficulty maintaining erections.  Couple that desensitization with type I diabetes and sexual complications arising from that, and there are some pretty big issues.  I would LOVE to strangle his mother for choosing to have him circ'd.  She told me that she didn't even know what circumcision was, but chose to have it done because the doctor said to.  Now HE is the one who has to live with that decision.  It's a shame.

I've only been able to watch one video of a circumcision..and that pretty much scarred me.  I wish it were mandatory for expecting women to watch a video of the procedure.  I don't understand how anyone with the remotest amount of compassion for a living breathing being could/would choose to inflict such pain on an infant.

Anyway, I've learned a lot so far and I look forward to learning more

Congratulations on your first grandbaby! And a big hug to your daughter, for making a wise decision for her son.

I live in the midwest too, and my twin boys were born 15 years ago. No one has ever commented on their foreskins in all that time, so I didn't have to defend our decision, but I've thought about it over the years when others have asked.

I think the simplest answer is this: "We are so thankful that we were blessed with a normal, healthy, perfect baby boy! Luckily there was nothing wrong with his penis either, so he didn't need an operation. Did you see how cute his toes are?"

Anyone who pushes the issue gets one of two responses (depending on your daughter's personality and the person who asks). First is "Why do you have such a strong interest in my son's penis?" Next is "I appreciate your concern. I promise you that if any of the terrible things you are warning me about DO happen to Junior, we will get treatment immediately, just like we will if he gets an ear infection or a broken arm. Did I tell you that he's rolling over already?"

Have fun with that baby, GrannY!

Welcome!  I myself am not good with the statistical data but I know there are others here who are.  Hopefully they will be along shortly to help you in that department.

I just want to say that I am glad your daughter has decided to leave the decision up to her son to make when he gets older.  That is the way it should be.  Body modification decisions should only be made by the person who owns the body.

I just want to make sure to point out one important thing, that you may already be well aware of.  Make sure your daughter and any other regular care-giver of the baby is well informed of the proper care of an intact penis.  There are so many myths and mis-information out there.  #1 thing to know is to NEVER forcibly retract the foreskin of the infant.  It will retract on it's own somewhere between toddlerhood and puberty.  Until then, the only thing to do is to wipe it off as you would wipe off your own finger.  You would be surprised how many doctors and nurses even will try to retract the foreskin of an infant boy.  I've read the stories.  It's just because they are still so used to seeing circ'd penises that they don't know what to do with an intact one.  Tell your daughter to talk to her baby's doctor (ped or FP) to make sure they know the proper care.

Congrats to all of you on the upcoming bundle of joy.  Feel free to stick around and continue to debate with us if you like.

Welcome and congratulations on your soon-to-be grandbaby!!  That's wonderful that your daughter has made this decision, especially when she might be pressured to do otherwise. 

In terms of researching more information on circumcison and its history, cirp.org has a lot of information, as does nocirc.org.  I'm sure other posters will have other great links for you to look up as well - mind you if you just google it, you'll find more information than you could probably ever have time to read! 

I'm with you on the videos; one time when I was researching circumcision for my son, I clicked on one and got to the point of seeing the baby screaming on the circumstraint (the board they strap the babies on to keep them immobile during the circumcision) and had to shut it off immediately.  I don't think they'd even started the circumcision yet, but that was too much for me.  And it's just gotten worse since I had my little boy - I can't watch a child in pain or terrified like that, it just makes me cry every time. 

Hi Selket - and welcome!

First, congratulations on your impending status as a Granny. You and your husband will love the whole experience, I'm very sure. [I want a big 'thumbs up' icon here, but this :) will have to suffice.] And if your daughter has a son, then her decision not to circumcise him is to her great credit - and yours for bringing her up with the ability to be objective and make her own, reasoned decisions. It's little wonder that one of the things you're most proud of is surviving teenage pregnancy; just look what you achieved!

I'm English and we don't circumcise our boys, as I'm sure you know; so I can't really help from the perspective of a circumcising culture. But I can offer you two links (below) which may help. Others have already suggested some very worthwhile sites you can search/Google.

There are, of course, a few sites that advocate male child circumcision, and since this is a debate board, I acknowledge this and welcome it. Unfortunately, unlike the Discipline Debate board with which you are familiar, we don't get anything like enough participants from the pro-side. It surprises me that spanking is so fervently debated but secular circumcision struggles to find pro-advocates willing to debate the issue. By the way, if you come across Circlist in your Internet search for information, please understand that it's heavily biased to the point of fetishism.

You can also try the Foreskin Support board for obviously biased but helpful information. The same applies to the Circumcision Support board, in their turn.

I wish your dear daughter a safe and wondrous delivery. The birth of a newborn is the ultimate of nature's miracles... and will never cease to be!

http://www.informedconsent.org/circumcision.html

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ppcirc&msg=8296.1&ctx=128

Christopher

Edited to add that the Informed Consent link doesn't seem to work from my post. If it's the same for you, the workaround is to select it, copy it to your clipboard and paste it in a separate browser window (or your current iVillage window and use the Back button to return here).

Other edits were to correct the persistent efforts of this site, or whatever, turning my brackets into hash symbols!