did you circumcise your son?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Although the doctor left a lot of skin behind. Not sure what the reason for this was, but we won't be going back to get the rest of the job done.

Same here. I think it's a fairly new type of circ procedure and does leave much of the foreskin.

We did it. I researched it to death. Religion tipped the pretty much 50-50 split on whether I was going to do it or not.

Same here! DS has a lot of extra skin. Oh well! Is what it is. Not sure if we will do it again if we have any more boys.

[Anonymous]

We didn't, but sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision and I hope my son doesn't end up hating us when he gets to high school! Our neighbors, academic Ph.Ds from Sweden, scoff at the practice and say that very few folks do it in Europe, which I already knew. They didn't do it for their American-born son. Any other Europeans who have children born in the U.S.? I'm curious of their thoughts....

[Anonymous]

We didn't do it. Interestingly enough in the last couple of weeks two big studies came out on Circumcision. One said to do it and the other said not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i read in several places that babies often don't cry during circumcision because they actually go into shock, because of the pain. i am not sure if this is true, but it made sense to me that if someone cut off part of my body, i'd go into shock. i am curious if anyone has seen research supporting this.

it does seem very hypocritical to me that we so willingly do this to boys and call it circumcision, but wouldn't think of doing it to girls (and we judge harshly those in other cultures who do it to girls and call it mutilation).

the difference is that in boys the skin is cut off while in girls the whole clitoris is removed and often the vulva is stiched shut with only a small opening for urine and menstruation to come out.

There are several different types of female circumcision. Not all are as drastic as what you describe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_circumcision#Procedures:_World_Health_Organization_categorization

[Anonymous]

European here with an American dh. We did do it for my son. I have to admit we did it since my dh is. (My family were slightly taken aback but they are not the type to interfere so did not say much.) In all honesty, I doubt we would ever be able to afford to live back in my home country, we are probably here for the long haul, so none of "what's done at home" came into the discussion.

[Anonymous]

What really helped me to make up my mind not to do it was talking to my obgyn's. One female doctor said she thought all boys should look like their fathers!! Another male doctor said I had probably never seen an un-circumcised penis and wouldn't know how to take care of it! These are doctors?! I was waiting for some medical advice which never came. Thank god I didn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Both my boys are intact. If they want any kind of cosmetic surgery, they can make their own choices when they're adults!

[Anonymous]

We did not do it. My husband, who is circumsized, wanted to do it, so I was willing, but I was the one they made sign the papers and when I was signing them, I started to cry and we called it off. I couldn't, for the life of me, bring myself to cut skin off of my son's penis for the sake of tradition. I think when my husband saw how upset I was over it (let's face it, the postpartum hormones were involved, too), he started thinking about it deeply and now says he is very thankful we did not do it. And so am I!

Interestingly, my OB/gyn, who would be the one who did it, said if he had any boys (he has all girls) he would not have them circumsized. He said there is a small but real risk to the procedure and no real reason, outside of religion or rather arbitrary "aesthetics" to perform it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OB/baby nurse here we have over 70% of the boys getting a circ before leaving hospital and my son us getting one too. the kiddo gets enough meds down there and some don't even cry!

70% of boys are circumcised in your region? Which state are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OB/baby nurse here we have over 70% of the boys getting a circ before leaving hospital and my son us getting one too. the kiddo gets enough meds down there and some don't even cry!

70% of boys are circumcised in your region? Which state are you in?

I don't know where she is, but that is the rate in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i read in several places that babies often don't cry during circumcision because they actually go into shock, because of the pain. i am not sure if this is true, but it made sense to me that if someone cut off part of my body, i'd go into shock. i am curious if anyone has seen research supporting this.

it does seem very hypocritical to me that we so willingly do this to boys and call it circumcision, but wouldn't think of doing it to girls (and we judge harshly those in other cultures who do it to girls and call it mutilation).

the difference is that in boys the skin is cut off while in girls the whole clitoris is removed and often the vulva is stiched shut with only a small opening for urine and menstruation to come out.

So, you think it would be okay if we just wanted to cut off some of the girls skin - say maybe, her foreskin? You wouldn't have a problem with that? There is actually some research that shows that removing the girls foreskin could help prevent some UTIs. What do you think, should we start taking off baby girl's foreskins? It would definitely make it easier to clean.

By the way, even removing the girls foreskin - heck, even just putting a tiny cut in her foreskin - is still illegal by US law. Any and all cutting of baby girls, from the most benign to the most horrendous, is all forbidden in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i read in several places that babies often don't cry during circumcision because they actually go into shock, because of the pain. i am not sure if this is true, but it made sense to me that if someone cut off part of my body, i'd go into shock. i am curious if anyone has seen research supporting this.

it does seem very hypocritical to me that we so willingly do this to boys and call it circumcision, but wouldn't think of doing it to girls (and we judge harshly those in other cultures who do it to girls and call it mutilation).

the difference is that in boys the skin is cut off while in girls the whole clitoris is removed and often the vulva is stiched shut with only a small opening for urine and menstruation to come out.

So, you think it would be okay if we just wanted to cut off some of the girls skin - say maybe, her foreskin? You wouldn't have a problem with that? There is actually some research that shows that removing the girls foreskin could help prevent some UTIs. What do you think, should we start taking off baby girl's foreskins? It would definitely make it easier to clean.

By the way, even removing the girls foreskin - heck, even just putting a tiny cut in her foreskin - is still illegal by US law. Any and all cutting of baby girls, from the most benign to the most horrendous, is all forbidden in this country.

I'm not defending any type of circ practice, for boys or girls, but I do think it's important to note that in the cultures that circ girls, they are doing it specifically to make sure her sex drive is reduced/eliminated and she doesn't sleep around. The reason is very different from why people circ boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What really helped me to make up my mind not to do it was talking to my obgyn's.

One female doctor said she thought all boys should look like their fathers

!! Another male doctor said I had probably never seen an un-circumcised penis and wouldn't know how to take care of it! These are doctors?! I was waiting for some medical advice which never came. Thank god I didn't do it.

I really find this particularly bizarre, since none of our grandparents (unless you were Jewish, of course) were circumcised. People call it "tradition", but it is a tradition of all of one or maybe two generations. It's all pretty laughable. Add to that the fact that no adult male spends time thinking about (or comparing - seriously?!) his father's penis. Circumcised men in this country want their sons "to look like them" because they don't want to admit that they have something missing from their penis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i read in several places that babies often don't cry during circumcision because they actually go into shock, because of the pain. i am not sure if this is true, but it made sense to me that if someone cut off part of my body, i'd go into shock. i am curious if anyone has seen research supporting this.

it does seem very hypocritical to me that we so willingly do this to boys and call it circumcision, but wouldn't think of doing it to girls (and we judge harshly those in other cultures who do it to girls and call it mutilation).

the difference is that in boys the skin is cut off while in girls the whole clitoris is removed and often the vulva is stiched shut with only a small opening for urine and menstruation to come out.

So, you think it would be okay if we just wanted to cut off some of the girls skin - say maybe, her foreskin? You wouldn't have a problem with that? There is actually some research that shows that removing the girls foreskin could help prevent some UTIs. What do you think, should we start taking off baby girl's foreskins? It would definitely make it easier to clean.

By the way, even removing the girls foreskin - heck, even just putting a tiny cut in her foreskin - is still illegal by US law. Any and all cutting of baby girls, from the most benign to the most horrendous, is all forbidden in this country.

I'm not defending any type of circ practice, for boys or girls, but I do think it's important to note that in the cultures that circ girls, they are doing it specifically to make sure her sex drive is reduced/eliminated and she doesn't sleep around. The reason is very different from why people circ boys.

So the intent makes it okay? I want to circ my daughter - just a simple, quick removal of a little extra skin - because it is cleaner. Would that be alright, or would that still be considered female genital mutilation?

In fact, countries that circumcise their baby girls give many of the same reasons that we do for circumcising our boys - "it's cleaner, fewer infections, it looks better, mom is circumcised so it is tradition."

I realize you said you are not supportive of circ, but I am honestly wondering how the perception can be so totally different when it comes to boys and when it comes to girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i read in several places that babies often don't cry during circumcision because they actually go into shock, because of the pain. i am not sure if this is true, but it made sense to me that if someone cut off part of my body, i'd go into shock. i am curious if anyone has seen research supporting this.

it does seem very hypocritical to me that we so willingly do this to boys and call it circumcision, but wouldn't think of doing it to girls (and we judge harshly those in other cultures who do it to girls and call it mutilation).

the difference is that in boys the skin is cut off while in girls the whole clitoris is removed and often the vulva is stiched shut with only a small opening for urine and menstruation to come out.

So, you think it would be okay if we just wanted to cut off some of the girls skin - say maybe, her foreskin? You wouldn't have a problem with that? There is actually some research that shows that removing the girls foreskin could help prevent some UTIs. What do you think, should we start taking off baby girl's foreskins? It would definitely make it easier to clean.

By the way, even removing the girls foreskin - heck, even just putting a tiny cut in her foreskin - is still illegal by US law. Any and all cutting of baby girls, from the most benign to the most horrendous, is all forbidden in this country.

I'm not defending any type of circ practice, for boys or girls, but I do think it's important to note that in the cultures that circ girls, they are doing it specifically to make sure her sex drive is reduced/eliminated and she doesn't sleep around. The reason is very different from why people circ boys.

So the intent makes it okay? I want to circ my daughter - just a simple, quick removal of a little extra skin - because it is cleaner. Would that be alright, or would that still be considered female genital mutilation?

In fact, countries that circumcise their baby girls give many of the same reasons that we do for circumcising our boys - "it's cleaner, fewer infections, it looks better, mom is circumcised so it is tradition."

I realize you said you are not supportive of circ, but I am honestly wondering how the perception can be so totally different when it comes to boys and when it comes to girls.

My family comes from one of those countries where 95% of the female population is circumcised. Maybe that's why my opinion seems skewed. But I personally think intent is a very important distinction. Boys aren't having their entire sex life destroyed, and certainly not on purpose.