Haven't read all the previous replies, but it is cleaner, it is more common - who wants their son to be the one in the locker room getting teased because he looks different? as for pain, COME ON, it's over in 2 seconds. at my son's circumcision, he cried for 10 seconds. it was literally NOTHING and healed so quickly. I find uncircumcised men dirty, as do a lot of women. it's just putting your son in a position where his peers and lovers may question the whole thing...

So, pro-circ people, why not let your sons make up their own minds? Make your case for circumcision as they grow up, and then let them decide. If you were truly confident that circumcision was best, why remove the choice from them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I had no idea that people were so passionate about this issue. Since my husband does not want him to have it and my husband isn't, I am going to err on the side of not circumcising him. However, I would like to talk to a doctor about it. A couple of posters have said not to talk to my OB about it - then is there a type of doctor I should talk to about it just to answer any remaining questions I have? Like a urologist?

Yes. Urologist.

Of course a urologist will want it. Duh.

My son had to see a pediatric urologist (Dr. John Gearhart) for a kidney issue. He did not support circumcision when we talked with him and mentioned the botched circs he's had to try to fix.

He is one of the few urologists that oppose it, he's an activist but if you review his studies they are all from the late 90s and outdated.

I would stay clear of him and go with someone using more up to date medical research.

It’s hilarious that you’re knocking him for research from the late 90s when your side relies on studies done IN AFRICA for the same period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea that it's medically beneficial is totally outdated.

Really? It's the opposite. Please provide an aap and cdc updated since 2012. Don't believe Europe we are in USA . Europe has socialized medicine and will cheap out at risk of your health.

So you'd rather base your medical decisions on African health practices?

It is so weird to me how many people base this health decision on African health norms when they would never do that in any other context.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I had no idea that people were so passionate about this issue. Since my husband does not want him to have it and my husband isn't, I am going to err on the side of not circumcising him. However, I would like to talk to a doctor about it. A couple of posters have said not to talk to my OB about it - then is there a type of doctor I should talk to about it just to answer any remaining questions I have? Like a urologist?

Yes. Urologist.

US urologists are notoriously pro-circ; European and Latin American urologists often find the speed at which their US colleagues recommend circumcision to be troubling. There is a profit motive.

Anonymous wrote:Most intelligent people who read reasearch studies do it. The benefits outweigh the risks. There was a period of time around 2007-2012 during the "crunchy" parenting trend when many parents did not (same ones who were into cosleeping, babywearing, not vaccinating etc.).

Wishing something to be true in your mind does not make it true. Circumcision rates have been steadily declining and continue to decline.

We did it. I'm glad we did. It was no big issue. My son ended up having special needs, so I'm in that community. Ask yourself if you want to be cleaning your child's penis when he's 25. That's what special needs parents can face.

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of people on the coasts do not circumcise.

And in the middle. I’m in Chicago and Circumcision is done by the majority, but not that large of one. I’m white, and we didn’t do it with our son.

Anonymous wrote:Most intelligent people who read reasearch studies do it. The benefits outweigh the risks. There was a period of time around 2007-2012 during the "crunchy" parenting trend when many parents did not (same ones who were into cosleeping, babywearing, not vaccinating etc.).

Meh, not really. The people who “read the studies” would find that the benefits to white heterosexual males in this country are so minuscule to be practically nonexistent. The “60%” reduction in HIV transmission, for instance, that everyone is citing is not correct. That is the number for African populations where HIV is at epidemic levels and more common amongst heterosexuals (Circe does not confer benefits to MSM).
Modeling done to estimate efficacy in the US, on the other hand, estimates lifetime risk reduction of only 16% for al males- even less for white males specifically. In other words, ones lifetime risk for HIV goes from 1.87% to 1.57%...

This is the study the AAP cited in its technical report when revising their latest recommendation:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008723

The reason for the wishy-washy AAP statement that makes a very lukewarm endorsement for the procedure is to make sure insurance continues to cover it.

I don’t understand the controversy over circumcision. There are benefits. There are risks. Both are very very small in the United States. Just do what feels right to YOU. There is no right and wrong and if you feel that there is, maybe do some self reflection over your apparent insecurity over the decision you made.

Anonymous wrote:If you're afraid of STDs, you can go with one of two options for risk reduction:

1 Genital mutilation
2 Condoms

I know which one I pick.

9 out of 10 men would pick circumcision as infants over wearing 2 condoms. And that 10th man is probably a virgin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I had no idea that people were so passionate about this issue. Since my husband does not want him to have it and my husband isn't, I am going to err on the side of not circumcising him. However, I would like to talk to a doctor about it. A couple of posters have said not to talk to my OB about it - then is there a type of doctor I should talk to about it just to answer any remaining questions I have? Like a urologist?

Yes. Urologist.

Of course a urologist will want it. Duh.

My son had to see a pediatric urologist (Dr. John Gearhart) for a kidney issue. He did not support circumcision when we talked with him and mentioned the botched circs he's had to try to fix.

He is one of the few urologists that oppose it, he's an activist but if you review his studies they are all from the late 90s and outdated.

I would stay clear of him and go with someone using more up to date medical research.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. Just make the choice to do it or not...and please stop with the baby's feelings argument. A baby that young doesn't remember anything and it's not the most traumatic thing they will go through.

Do it if you want or don't do it. It doesn't matter either way. This is generally an argument that women have...just another way to judge each other.

Amen! DH is and our DS is as well. I favored it for cosmetic reasons. DH has no trauma or even memory (of course) of being circumcised and also prefered it. So we did it. End of story. If it cuts down on STDs, awesome. I'm not ashamed of my reasons. And I won't be shamed by the drama mama intactivists. I've luckily never had to waste my time debating it IRL.

Np. I could say the exact same thing. Had both of my sons circumcised (2015,2017).

I don’t worry about the pain. Between people getting tongue-ties clipped and various vaccines, along with ear-pierced infants, I feel meh about a bit of pain that might benefit them later.

Anonymous wrote:I wish we could ask babies if it hurt.

no, but we can ask if you are stupid

I wish we could ask babies if it hurt.

We are UMC, 2 lawyer family. My DH was circumcised and we did not circumcise our sons. My UMC two doctor family cousins also did not circumcise their sons.