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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would let the kid descide when it is old enough
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16:27 has a long thoughtful post, part of which explains why this makes no sense.[/quote]

While 16:27 is certainly welcome to her assessment, I personally disagree.  I believe that letting your son make his own decision about cosmetic surgery on his genitals is very wise and makes perfect sense.   This myth - that circumcision is somehow easier for babies - has been circulating for quite some time.  It started in the same era where we believed that newborns simply did not feel pain as strongly as adults; thus the widespread (horrific) practice of performing any number of necessary surgeries on newborns without any (or minimal) anesthesia.  Thankfully this horrendous practice has now ceased -- EXCEPT when circumcision is performed because people continue to perpetuate the myth that "the baby barely feels it."  This has been disproved through sound research; some of which shows that newborns may actually feel pain even more acutely than adults do.  Honestly, I am not sure how exactly parents are able to suspend their logic enough to believe that their newborns "don't feel pain" during or after their circumcision, yet happily agree that it would be "horribly painful" for an adult -- yet this suspension of logic appears to be widespread with both parents and medical professionals alike.

From an emotional standpoint, yes, circumcision is easier for babies because a newborn obviously is not going to have any fear or social stigma about it and his parents agree to it during a time of high medical activity (in the midst of the time of childbirth) and it feels like "just another procedure."  However, medically speaking it is easier and less painful to circumcise an adult male, for a couple of reasons.  First of all, his foreskin has already naturally separated from the glans, unlike a newborn who must have his foreskin forcibly ripped from the glans before cutting it off.  Forcible retraction all by itself is quite painful, and can cause accidental tearing on the glans itself.  Secondly, on a full-grown penis, it is much easier to see where the foreskin ends and the remaining penile skin begins, thus reducing the trouble of taking off too much or too little skin -- on a tiny baby it is practically impossible to get this exactly right, which is why we in the past saw "too tight" circumcisions, and now see "too loose" circumcisions; which can also cause long-term problems.  Lastly, the pain is reduced with adults because adults are granted the option of using proper medication both during and after the surgery.  Newborns almost universally do not receive appropriate anesthesia during the surgery (despite the now popular practice of giving various numbing creams), and never receive pain medication afterwards.

I will concede that it is cheaper to circumcise a newborn, because your insurance will pay for it and because general anesthesia is not used - obviously this is a catch-22 because general anesthesia provides the necessary pain control, yet it is expensive and not safe for a newborn.  So, we hide behind the fake veil of this assumption that "it doesn't really hurt" the baby, allowing us to perform the surgery on new babies who can't tell us the amount of pain they are experiencing, which also keeps the cost of the surgery quite low.  An elective adult circumcision will typically not be covered, so yes it is costlier and requires some scheduling; whereas a newborn just has it taken care of right away.  In this respect, yes, it is "easier" for a newborn.

All the pain aside, I still believe it is wise to let your son decide.  This of course means allowing the boy to be raised intact, and encouraging him to feel good about his body as nature created it.  Of course, the chances are extremely high that if we lived in a culture of mostly intact boys and men, it would be very rare indeed for a boy/man to one day just announce that he wants to amputate his foreskin.  Yet, if he wants to alter his genitals -- the way some women in this country have cosmetic surgery on various body parts including their genitals -- then you have preserved that option for him.  Honestly, given the current rates of circumcision, I think we are going to find far more of our sons getting teased for NOT having a foreskin, being mad at their parents for this assault on their genitals, and requesting information about how to restore their penis.  And, if he is one of the few that have a long term problem with his foreskin, he can have it surgically removed just as he can have any other body part removed if it is deemed medically necessary.

Sorry to be so long-winded.  Just my own long, thoughtful, reply to the same topic.  Obviously we all have different perspectives on the issue!
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