Top ten reasons not to circumcise your son

[Calideedle]

Great Great Post!

DS1 was circumcised out of ignorance ... DS2 is intact. DH wanted DS2 to be circ'ed because he would be the odd man out, I asked if he knows what his Dads penis looks like ... he doesn't That was the end of that discussion And now DH is happy with it.

[Nanner99]

Originally Posted by tessa_s212 I assure you, as someone who works in a veterinary clinic and is in pursing a degree in veterinary technology, removing declaws and docking tails is NOT purely cosmetic. It is often set in tradition, and some people do prefer certain breeds for docked tails because of the way it "looks," but ask the dog that has multiple tail injuries, or your walls with streaks of bloood after a tail injury, and you'll know it is not purely cosmetic. It can and is also a preventative procedure. My grandfather may have not been traumatized for life, but HE certainly remembers HIS circumcision. Again, have not met a man who remembers or is traumatized by being circumsized as a baby, but have known/known of several that were not circumsized as a baby and had to have it done later in life. I've read much of the material in this thread, though not every post, as is was quite redundant and clearly ANTI- anyone who would ever circumsize their child.. because (sarcasm) circumcision is so clearly child abuse and only the most barbaric of people do it - and not to mention unchristian like of people, considering the first post made it a point to attack people's religious beliefs if they happened to be christians that were not ANTI-circumcision. If I have a boy, he will be circumsized to prevent the pain later in life when he WILL remember it. If I can survive and live through being molested as a young child and actually have a wonderful, loving, meaningful sex life, I'm sure men circumsized as babies can as well.

Yikes, mama. I said twice that I personally think it is each individual family's decision to make, no need to get snippy with me! And OF COURSE this and anti-circ thread! The title is "Top ten reasons NOT to circ your son."

Why would you even jump in here if you know most of the people on here do not agree? There are MORE people that agree with you in the USA than agree with us, so what is wrong with us non-circing mamas having our own little thread to talk about leaving boys intact? The mama who started this had been very civil and put this out there for mothers who want the info.- and many, many people have responded that they are thankful for that. Why would you even click on this thread if you have already made up your mind?

[Nanner99]

Originally Posted by tessa_s212 ETA: as far as the ridiculing, flaming, and personal attacks go, I will have no more of it. I did not expect such awful behavior from people on this forum. Good day, and I hope in the future some of you learn to treat people with a little more respect and decency.

Ok, I just have to say it- WTH? This has been a very civil thread, mama. I just did not see anyone ridiculing, flaming, or personally attacking you. Again, why did you jump in on this thread to begin with??

[Edensmomma]

Originally Posted by tessa_s212 ETA: as far as the ridiculing, flaming, and personal attacks go, I will have no more of it. I did not expect such awful behavior from people on this forum. Good day, and I hope in the future some of you learn to treat people with a little more respect and decency.

Maybe you should treat people with respect. YOU came into a thread titles "Top ten reasons NOT to circ your son" and deliberately started an argument. You need to calm your pregnancy hormones down and take a chill pill. I can't believe that you would actually compare your being molested as a child to circumcision. The fact that you would just announce that to a thread that had NOTHING to do with that is beyond me.
I didn't see any flaming...just a discussion that you clearly can't handle

[Galatea]

All of Tessa's arguments have been addressed many times in this thread, but here goes again:

1. As someone who has bred and shown dogs for 25 years, I have NEVER had a dewclaw injury. And I'm talking 50 litters of puppies. Our vet doesn't recommend it. And tail injuries? Please. In fact, I was just discussing this with my hairdresser, who is an AKC judge and breeds Wheatens - they just decided to allow non-docked Wheatens in competition, as the rates of all dog surgeries are dropping. My hairdresser, as a man, is very much against circumcision, and he says he meets women all the time who are so against docking and ear setting, but who circumcised their own sons. They agonize over the pain and mutilation caused to the dogs, but cannot see it in their own children. It just shows how strongly culture overwhelms reason.

2. Circumcision prevents nothing, and any of the purported benefits can be had without the amputation of healthy tissue (which violates the Hippocratic Oath of "First do no harm.") UTIs? Antibiotics. STDs? Condoms. Yeast? Monistat. Women have all the same infections at much higher rates, yet we do not amputate their labia. If an adult man finds any of these purported benefits to be compelling, he can choose to be circumcised. The AAP states that none of the purported benefits are enough to warrant routine circumcision.

3. Most men who "HAD" to be circumcised as an adult were actually the victim of medical ignorance here in America. In countries that never practiced routine circumcision, the rate of adult circumcision is so low as to be insignificant, and shocking when it does happen. The only conditions that require circumcision are gangrene, cancer and balanitis obliterans. A man is more likely to need a mastectomy for breast cancer than need a circumcision for any of these reasons.

4. If circumcision is so terrible as an adult that every man wants to avoid it, then it stands to reason that we should not do it to children. In fact, the reason why routine circumcision is practiced on infants is that everyone knows that few rational adults would choose it for themselves, so it has to be done to infants who have no choice. At least the adult has a mature penis and the doctor can remove the appropriate amount of skin and the man gets adequate pain relief during and after. (Many babies have too much skin removed and end up with not enough skin to sustain and erection comfortably.) All of the blood vessels in the foreskin have been supplying blood to the entire penis, allowing it to grow to its full size. Additionally, the man's open wound is not sitting in contact with urine and feces.

5. There is no attacking of Christianity - simply quoting the New Testament. As the foundational document of Christianity, it does have some authority.

6. Most men have fine sex lives, circumcised or not. But some do not. Some men's penises literally split open when they get an erection b/c their circumcision took too much skin. Some men are so desensitized that they have trouble reaching orgasm. Many women suffer from painful sex b/c of the hard pounding required for their partners to orgasm. Most women require artificial lubricants or saliva for sex to be comfortable b/c their partner's lack of a foreskin draws all the natural lubricant out of their vagina. Circumcision harms, even a circumcision with "no complications." It removes healthy erogenous tissue from an unconsenting patient.

[makandkaimommy]

Thank you for posting this list... My husband will be reading it soon. As I think I am now a fan of the natural uncircumcised...is the way to go! Thanks again!

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by makandkaimommy Thank you for posting this list... My husband will be reading it soon. As I think I am now a fan of the natural uncircumcised...is the way to go! Thanks again!

YAY! Your son will thank you!

[MunkyCrazy]

I love this article! I'm going to read it to DH when he gets home.

When I was pg with Kyler and he wasn't circ'd we got a TON of crap from his family about it. I so wanted to just be a ***** about it but Iwasn't b/c I didn't want to get into it. Especially when his cousin made a fuss about not wanting to cut her DS's hair (he's 3 months older than Kyler) because she wanted to keep him "whole" and "perfect". OMG it was so hard not to say something snarky about her chopping off the skin on his penis without a second thought but she couldn't bring herself to cut his hair? We got a lot of crap from her about how Kyler would be made fun of in the locker room. Ugh, just thinking of the whole situation pisses me off. If it ever gets brought up again by them I think I will explode. I'm keeping this article printed out in the diaper bag so I can show them.

[Nanner99]

Originally Posted by MunkyCrazy I love this article! I'm going to read it to DH when he gets home. When I was pg with Kyler and he wasn't circ'd we got a TON of crap from his family about it. I so wanted to just be a ***** about it but Iwasn't b/c I didn't want to get into it. Especially when his cousin made a fuss about not wanting to cut her DS's hair (he's 3 months older than Kyler) because she wanted to keep him "whole" and "perfect". OMG it was so hard not to say something snarky about her chopping off the skin on his penis without a second thought but she couldn't bring herself to cut his hair? We got a lot of crap from her about how Kyler would be made fun of in the locker room. Ugh, just thinking of the whole situation pisses me off. If it ever gets brought up again by them I think I will explode. I'm keeping this article printed out in the diaper bag so I can show them.

I think I posted a topic in Parenting Talk (or maybe it was Off Topic?) asking for a website with statistics on how many are circed/intact by state/region. I was shocked at how many are being left intact these days! It is like 55/45 circ/intact overall, with some states having a good bit more intact babies! So, the locker room thing will not hold water. I will try to find that link for you...

[brigadoon]

I have lost friends over my beliefs about circ; it makes me sad. The reasons were close to what Cheryl described, but MAN I wish I had been spoken to as Cheryl so kindly and eloquently spoke. I was lashed out at and then demeaned for information that I was learning and chose to share on my personal blog. Sad day, but her loss in the end, I guess. If she was so happy with her decision, I wonder why she so voraciously attacked me for having a differing opinion?

My DH used to be pro circ. He has friends who were circ'ed later in life who lived miserably for a while who say they wish their parents had done it when they were babes. He didn't understand the whole aspect of the foreskin, and we spent a lot of time talking about it, a lot of time researching it together. No one had ever actually sat down and given him the whole story, explained to him the consequences, etc, and that was all he needed. He "gets" it now, and I know when our new one comes this summer that he'll be staying in one piece. I do love him so.