Circumcision: a Needed Medical Procedure or Unnecessary Mutilation?

I didn't circumcise my son, and find circumcision horrible...I wrote another post on the subject if you are interested in a different point of view.

We had our son circumcised. Truthfully, I left that decision up to my husband as he would likely be the one doing the "mechanical explanations". My OBGYN was honest and totally neutral, but said that most people are still doing it.

The fact that you use the word "mutilation" is telling me that you are already leaning in one direction. My son had it done- it was harder on us than on him and he has been fine.

Talk it over with your husband and see what he thinks. Ultimately, you have to sign consent (not daddy), so talk with your doctor and your husband and go from there.

Your son can always make the decision to become circumcised later on in life. You can't , however, uncircumcise him once it's done. I regret so very much having my son circumcised. (especially since it was an uninformed and cultural decision) If I have more boys in the future.. I will not be circumcising them. And when my son is old enough to understand... I feel the need to apologize to him for my making this physically altering decision on his behalf, that really should have been up to him.

We had our son circumcised, it didn't seem to bother him at all. We did it just because of personal preference. We were in college with an uncircumcised guy and it was the subject of much mirth and ribbing. Immature, sure, but so be it. I think you should follow your gut. Keep in mind, however, that if it is a boy, and you don't circumcise, he might decide as an adult to get the procedure done (this happened to a friend of my brother's who was converting to Judaism when he got married) and it is much bigger of a deal and no doubt more painful as an adult. You should do whatever makes you comfortable. Good luck with your L & D.

I am descended from Eastern European Jews.
It was expected among my family, et al., never questioned,
that when a boy is born, he is circumcised on his 8th day.
I grew up believing this is normal and that there is nothing wrong with it.

At some point as an adult, I started reading that it's not necessary.
This was long after I had my (only) son, who was circumcised,
not in a religious ritual but in the hospital, one day after he was born.

Now he has two sons. Based on my reading,
I tried to persuade him not to have his sons circumcised
but he believed it was best to continue the tradition,
not for religious reasons but for hygiene and "looks like me" reasons.

I know some men who have a lot of anger that this was done to them
when they were babies, without their consent.

So . . . if I were to have another son,
I would __not__ want him to be circumcised.

Thank you for bringing this subject up here.

I have a son and yes he is circumcized. We are Christian so it was more than just because we are American and it seems to be the cultural norm. In addition to that, his father is circumcized.

We had it done at the hospital before he came home. It does require some special treatment after it is done but should be fine if you are following the instructions given. The baby isn't hurting for days or even hours after it is done. My son only cried for a small moment and was back to feasting sumptously on my breasts.

There are nine boys in the family and only one isn't circumcized and that was because his mother was afraid to get it done and didn't want the expense of getting it done.

My husband and I are trying to have more children and if we have a boy he too will be circumcized because it speaks to our religious life as well as looking like his dad down there. It is a very personal decision and really not a big deal for the baby.

Waiting to have it done is bad, they have more feeling down there as boys age.

Personal choice/preference.

this topic's come up a lot lately: unnecessary mutilation.

My son was circumcised 19 years ago before we left the hospital. His father was circumcised and to my knowledge everyone in both our families were. I was young and never really "thought" about it, it was just what you did if you had a boy. Looking back, I would probably make the same decision again.

I have heard (although at the moment I can't remember who it was) that someone who didn't ended up regretting it because they had trouble keeping their boy clean and the boy later keeping himself clean (all kids go through a period of poor hygiene and this did not help).

Obviously it is a personal decision but my opinion is IF you decide to have it done, please do it when he is newborn. Doing it later can be quite tramatic and painful...takes longer to heal and they do remember whereas doing it when they are newborn they don't remember and they heal quickly.

A lady I work with had to wait (due to medical reasons) and had her son done later and said she really wished she could have had him done when he was newborn.

Personal preference, but for some it ends up being needed due to infections and improper care.

I didn't think twice about circumcisions my sons was done the day after he was born. Looked red and mad for a few days but gobs and gobs of vaseline and he was better. He didn't seem that mad at us when we got home from the hospital. I think he forgives us for what was done for him and to this day (he will be 6) he never has asked us once why we would do such a thing to him. All I know is I've heard lots of teens and men who want it done and it is rememberable (not sure if that is a word but I'm using it) at this age and very painful. There is no one to put globs of vaseline, change your diaper and give you something warm and good to drink whenever you wanted it. It is personal choice but I don't think its mutilation by any means. Plus he is old enough that I try to not even touch his "privates" unless I have to he is old enough to wash himself and to have to worry about if he cleaned it good enough so it doesn't get infected. Getting after him to brush his teeth is challenging enough.

There are reasons it's desirable, and reasons it's not. You'll have to make your own decision. Medically, I've researched it too, and think there are some health advantages, if the surgery itself goes as expected, as it usually does. My grandson had it done with no complications.

If you decide to opt for it, DO ask that your baby receive local anethetic before the procedure. I've watched some heart-rending videos and am convinced the baby does feel considerable pain.

We had our son circumcised but I still think about it possibly being unnecessary......

Whichever you choose, it's not wrong. Circumcision was a tradition started by Jewish people to distinguish themselves as God's people. Personally, I wouldn't call circumcision mutilation, but with the research I've done on the topic, I don't think it's necessary. All baby boys in the history of humankind have been born with foreskins. I don't think their bodies grow parts they don't need or that aren't useful at some point in life.

We had our son circumcised and believe that it is certainly a choice. Is it necessary, that is a matter of opinion. I have had many friends of a cultural belief that men stay in tact. The mother's always struggle with "keeping it clean" as apparently there is a right and wrong way of doing that. Also as a matter of perspective, I can tell you having worked in the medical field that I have seen many men over the age of 50 end up being circumcised due to infections. I was shocked that men of that age would consider the procedure, however, when it become a medical concern, I guess there is more to think about. I am sure you will make the correct choice for your child, what ever that might be.

I'm sorry I know this is coming in late, but had to respond as I have two boys and know how hard it is to decide what to do. My husband is not curcumcised. I did not want to circumcise my boys, but my husband said that he wishes he had gotten it done and now thinks it would be to painful to get done now. Working at a hospital I asked many MD's and got a very suprising answer. Many of the MD's not only told me to get it done, but also said that many men end up getting it done in there 70's and 80'd because of getitng UTI's they told me that getting it done now when they will not remember it was the best thing to do. So we got it done for both our sons. I was very happy when out 3rd child was a girl and i did not have to make that hard deciction again!!!! Also my fist son had to get it done when he was a month old since he was born a month early. He stayed up all night that night crying and I could tell he did not feel well at all. my second had it done right away in the hospital and you would never know anything was done. It did not bother him at all. sorry for the late repy!

I actually do agree with jen about the smell - there is an odor, especially at the end of the day, from an uncut willie. but that shouldnt be a reason to circumcise or not - it is the same odor that us girls get from our nether regions at the end of the day, it's called smegma, and it smells if you don't wash it, simple as that.
I am from the UK also, and I have seen both, and been "with" both, both are fine.
with my own son we chose initially not to have him circumcised, even though my husband is from Texas, a state where circumcision rates are high - but the choice was taken away from us because of recurrent UTI's so he was cut at 4 years old - never looked back, he is fine.
So you could just leave things be - and the choice may be made for you like ours.

I don't really think circumcision is either a "needed medical procedure or unnecessary mutilation." I think it is a choice, and that neither option is wrong, just a matter of preference. We did with our first son, now 3 and will with baby boy #2, due in March. I mostly left the decision up to my husband. I don't have strong feelings about it either way, but I have known men who have, for whatever reason, had the procedure done as adults. Really unpleasant.
We did not have it done at the hospital, as our pediatrician likes to wait until breastfeeding is well established before circumcizing. He cried for a minute, nursed and was fine. We had no problems.

I left it up to the hubs who insisted he has loved his life circumcised. I didn't care either way as both are equally acceptable and most American men my age were circumcised, yet many people right now are leaving their sons natural. Do what you want. There is no denying it's not necessary. We had it done though. Either choice you pick, your son won't be left out or odd in the locker room like he would have been years ago for being uncut. As for the "ride" mentioned below, I've had both and personally prefer cut. It's only an opinion though, and not very important in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn't not marry someone natural if he was my soul mate....Oh, and we had no scalpels. My doctor used a plastic ring placed there, it came off around the same time as the umbilical cord. It never caused any pain at all to our son.

my son is not curcumsized. There is no medical reason for it.

We did it because my husband wanted our son to "look like him". I don't know...I could have cared less either way. We had no problems with it, and would circumcise another boy too, but like I said, I don't think it's necessary.

I don't have a son, but just wanted to comment that this is an excellent question. When my husband and I were deciding if we would expand our family, we discussed this very issue should we have a boy. The more we looked into it (research), the more we thought that we wouldn't have any possible son circumcised. To us, there was no advantage other than the fact that the boy would look like "most" other boys in our American culture. However, there were drawbacks -- and I'm sure you know them since you've been investigating this issue yourself. If we were to have a son today, I'd say that there is a 95% chance that we would NOT circumcise.