Circumcision

[adgal]

I am wondering how many of you are planning on or did have your baby boy's circumcised.  I hadn't even really thought about it until now.  We probably wouldn't be thinking about it, except my nephews weren't done, and the oldest one (he is 5 now) has been having repeat infections.  My sister in law told me that my nephews pediatrician is encouraging them to now have it done believing it will put an end to them.  My sil is an RN and I know she is very on top of things like hygiene, etc. so I know these infections are not due to lack of cleanliness or anything like that.  The poor little guy has had them pretty frequently for the last year and half.  My OB does not encourage circumcision, but of course leaves the decision to us.  What are all of your thoughts?  We are now really on the fence on the issue.  As always, thanks for any info or input.  I appreciate it.

[Juliaschill]

My DH did not have it done and we were not sure if we would have our son's done, DH did not at all mind that he had not had it done, but as it turns out we did not have to make a choice because my little man was born without any forskin, so we got lucky LOL but I think I would have left him just they way God gave him to me. I panic way to much to let them do anything that he doesn't have to have done, good luck and I am sure what every you chose will be fine.huggs Julia

[rubyinparadise]

p.s. I just want to reiterate that my strong feelings on the subject reflect only my own personal struggle with this decision. I truly do not judge anybody for whether or not they choose to circumcise their son. We may yet choose to do so ourselves. I am just really struggling with the concept of knowingly inflicting pain on my newborn. The thought of it actually makes me want to cry...  Anyway, I hope I didn't offend anybody.

[rubyinparadise]

IMHO it is a huge decision, so I don't think you are putting too much thought into it at all. DH and I are in the process of deciding right now. I have yet to find a single friend who had it done to their son.
Honestly, I am leaning towards no. But if DH is adamant about it, I will have him take our son to do it. Since we are having a homebirth, we will have to actually make a special trip to do it, and I just cannot be a party to that. :( They strap the poor little guy to a board, and from everything I have read, there is no anesthesia at all. It is traumatic for them; how could it not be?
I can't imagine doing this to my newly-arrived son any more than I would take him to have a piece of his earlobe lopped off without anesthesia. Needless to say, I am having a very tough time with the decision. DH is concerned about DS looking "different", but SO many people are choosing to forego this procedure nowadays, that I think the locker room is going to look very different 10 years from now.

[adgal]

Interesting opinions and it's given us a lot to think about.  It probably seems silly to be putting this much thought into a procedure like this, but it does seem like a big decision.  I discovered this morning (on line) that in Canada it is just not performed all that often anymore, except for religous reasons.  So I don't think it will be much of an issue in terms of his friends being "different".  Our concern is having him having to have it done when he is older should he have issues like our nephew.  Also, it seems like it would be easier for him to keep things clean himself as a very young man.  I really want to do the right thing here.  I wasn't able to find any real negatives toward having it done, except for the pain associated with the initial procedure, which you have all reassured me is over quickly and not an ongoing issue.  Right now we are leaning towards having it done.  Thanks so much for all the input, as always you are all very helpful and I appreciate it.  

[Fugitive06]

My husband is circumcised, but we've agreed that if we have a son that we will NOT circumcise him.  The historical significance of circumcision is in religious ritual & not medical or health related necessity.
"It was a symbolic act of a covenant with god, a distinguishing mark of being a Jewish male".

We have friends who are & aren't & none who aren't wish they were nor have they had problems with infection.  We feel that the only reason that hygiene would be an issue would be due to the circumcised father not being able to effectively teach proper hygiene to his uncircumcised son.  This may see a little odd to some of you but my DH has discussed this with his uncircumcised best friend (who just had a son of his own).  So we will work that part out.

My DH studied religion in college & it is his understanding & belief (mine too) that circumcision was done for the purpose of desensitization.  It would be much easier to resist "sin" when one was less tactilely sensitive.

That's my two cents.  :)

Nancy

[wanting4#1]

We are still on the fence about it. But we met with our pediatrician for the first time and she will do it in the office later, so we don't have to make our mind up right away. I'm leaning toward doing it, simply because I don't have any experience with any one NOT doing it, but I realize that's not the best reason in the world!  The pediatrician was very clear that there are no medical reasons to do it or NOT to do it...so it's truly just a personal (or religious) reason!