Circumcision... For or against

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/03/12/peds.2012-2896.full.pdf Medical professionals in countries where routine circumcision does not take place do not believe there are valid reasons to circumcise...how is it that in these countries, intact boys and men seem to get by just fine? I respect your opinion Mumofmoo, and also maintain mine, as a mum who did circumcise but now regrets it. My own mum is a medical professional who believed it was the right thing to do simply because of how she was trained...doesn't mean it is right. Sorry, was directing most my last post to the OP - everyone has different opinions about it so best to research yourself with proper medical facts and not internet junk on random sites

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/03/12/peds.2012-2896.full.pdf Medical professionals in countries where routine circumcision does not take place do not believe there are valid reasons to circumcise...how is it that in these countries, intact boys and men seem to get by just fine? I respect your opinion Mumofmoo, and also maintain mine, as a mum who did circumcise but now regrets it. My own mum is a medical professional who believed it was the right thing to do simply because of how she was trained...doesn't mean it is right.

Having spoken to over a dozen different people in the Medical proffession about the subject, I maintain my opinion I do not look on the internet, you can find anything you seek on the internet and any argument against the last thing you read. If you want to read about it, I would suggest reading published medical journals <em>edited by mumofmoo on 19/01/2014</em>

The idea of a circumcised penis being healthier is complete nonsense. The foreskin is designed to keep the head of the penis protected, clean and moist. Normal good hygiene practice is all that is required. I worked in male urology before becoming a palliative care nurse and have heard all the mythology surrounding circumcision. Yes, we dealt with men and boys who had probs with tight foreskins but otherwise, it is not necessary and in most cases the foreskin was merely stretched under anaesthetic. Sadly, there are many cultures which demand the practice but hopefully, people will see sense and refuse to allow their baby sons to be put through this rather barbaric, archaic and painful procedure.

I am against, and my son is not circumcised, I can not think of a compelling reason to do so unless you believe it is a religious requirement. It has been shown to have some "benefits", for example it lowers the risk of UTI's, however the risk of UTI's in males is very low anyway and with that logic you could remove all babies tonsils to remove the risk of tonsillitis, remove their appendixes so they would not be at risk of appendicitis etc etc etc. Major health bodies such as the AAP etc have concluded that the "benefits" are enough to not outlaw the practice however also not enough that they would support routine circumcision as obviously there are also risks involved and it is a very painful procedure to put such a small baby through. To be honest the only real reason I could think of to do so would be if my son were growing up in a culture where it was the norm, and he might feel ostracised or embarrassed to be the only boy who was not. However in most western countries circumcision is not commonplace (the exception being the US) and in NZ (where I am from and plan to return to)it is very rare in this generation of boys so the circumcised boy would actually be the odd one out and may feel self conscious a result. I don't think a boy cares about being the same as dad, by the time he is old enough to notice whether or not he has a foreskin he is highly unlikely to be looking at his father's. If you choose not to do so, be careful with letting any Drs near your son's penis. I think they are so used to circumcised babies here and uneducated as to how to deal with an uncircumcised penis. 20-30 years or so ago the advice was to retract it, however it is now known that it should be left alone and many of the "risks" touted as being higher in uncircumcised babies are now thought to be due to damage done by unwitting Drs and parents. I have heard of many Drs in the middle east still giving this outdated advice and even heard a shocking story of a baby who was left in agony and needed emergency surgery after a Paediatrician pulled his foreskin back forcefully during an examination.

I find it every hard to respond to this issue - my first response is always an emotive one ( and I happen to believe you should never take highly emotive advice at face value). Personally I find it hard to justify cutting off a perfectly normal, functional part of your baby's body for any reason. Ten minutes on the internet (on serious sites) will show you that all the traditional medical reasons for circumcision have been debunked. The cultural and asthetic ones are IMHO not important enough to warrant such an act. We are all mortified at the idea of female genital mutation, but see male circumcision differently. :( Certainly there are cases where boys are later required to have foreskins removed, but this is because of an unusual ( as in doesn't occur often, I don't mean weird or peculiar) issues. Are you really prepared to put your baby through that IN CASE he's one of those with such a condition? Please take the time to research the issue with facts, not peoples opinions. I'm confident any one who does will not circumcise.

We can't agree either. My Dr recommends it but I will read up.

As for the cleaner and more hygienic reason, frankly that is not true. A circumcised p€his requires more care! skin being pulled back to clean constantly etc compared to an intact one where u just have to wipe it clean. The foreskin also acts as a barrier to faeces and pee for an infant and to protect what's underneath. When they become retractable later it is surely not hard to teach a boy how to keep himself clean. <em>edited by sydneygal on 16/01/2014</em>

Against. Our DS is circumcised and it is my biggest regret. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing for health reasons, so he would "look like dad" (realise how ridiculous that is now) etc etc. unfortunately I only came across information that made me realise we had made the wrong decision way after the fact and as I said it is my biggest regret :( I hope one day he will forgive us and realise we had just done what we thought was best at the time. Please do your research, there is a lot out there. Read about the complications of circumcision, the function of the foreskin both as a baby and adult, watch a video or two about the process. Don't do what I did and just go along with it and then regret it. Of course I realise there are those who do it for religious or cultural reasons, and I'm not judging anyone, I just wish someone had helped me see the other side when I could have made a different decision. As far as our sons circumcision it was done with plastibell at American hospital, he had a fair amount of bleeding which was horrible although it healed fine. He does have some adhesions (a very common problem) however which were caused later as he was so chubby and well the skin wanted to stick back to when it should be, plus no one ever checked him or advised how to care for it properly. We are leaving it for now as it is not causing any problems, and he can decide later for himself if he wants to do anything about it. This is a very emotive subject. All I will say is do you research, look at both sides of the story and make an educated decision. Good luck x

Funny, DH and I are the same. I am for it, he is against it. Should I be having a boy, he will be circumsised Firstly it is cleaner and more hygenic Secondly, as an adult, it lowers the change of cervical cancer in his wife/girlfriends (I read some recent studies about this), I think it looks nicer and having spoken to a few people I know who have had the op later in life, they said it is better without