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Some of my friends and family have given me crap about not circumcising our little baby, and the ignorant comments are fairly irritating. There are so many stupid myths that people in this country believe about circumcision. I did my research and agreed with my husband that the minimal possible benefits were not worth the risks of the surgery. I think I have heard every possible argument for why it should be done, and I have a response for each one.
"It's harder to take care of an intact penis" - Actually, in the first few weeks it is easier to care for an uncircumcised newborn. At birth the foreskin is fused to the head of the penis and no special care is required... no Vaseline to mess with, no worrying about if the penis is healing properly. It usually takes several years for the foreskin to naturally retract, sometimes up to puberty. Forcefully retracting the foreskin can cause pain, bleeding, and lead to infection and other complications. Once the foreskin is able to naturally retract, it takes maybe an extra 30 seconds to clean.
"The Bible says you have to circumcise" - Unlike Jews, Christians are NOT required to circumcise. It states this several times in the New Testament.
"He should look like his father" - This is one of the most ridiculous arguments I've heard. If John lost one of his fingers in an accident, we wouldn't have our baby's corresponding digit removed.
"He'll get an infection if he's not circumcised" - As long as no one forcefully retracts my son's foreskin (if that happens, someone's looking for a beat down), he has less than a 1% chance of having an issue. There is a greater chance of having a problem resulting from circumcision surgery.
"He'll be different from all the other boys and will get teased in the locker room" - There's nothing wrong with being different. It is becoming increasingly popular to leave boys intact. My pediatrician estimates that our area has about a 30% intact rate, and some other parts of the country are closer to 50%. I have spoken with several intact men and parents of intact boys, and locker room teasing isn't any worse for intact boys than circumcised boys. If one boy says something about another boy's penis, the teaser is usually made fun of for looking. Some boys might compare size, but intact penises generally look larger.
"If he needs/wants to be circumcised later, it'll be more painful" - If our son wants or needs the surgery later on, he'll have a higher pain threshold, will be able to be unconscious for the procedure, and will be able to have some nice drugs for pain management.
"Routine infant circumcision is no big deal... they don't feel pain and they won't remember it anyway" - I find it absurd to have surgery performed on a perfectly healthy infant. Circumcision is a painful cosmetic surgery with some serious risks. Many hospitals (including the one I delivered at) do not use anything to numb the skin or relieve the pain, and infants definitely do feel pain! I have seen how they do the procedure, and it's awful. Even if he won't remember the pain, that does not justify it. I wouldn't make him go through it alone, and I couldn't stand to see my little guy have the most sensitive part of his body cut up.
"He'll be rejected by women as an adult" - Some women think that intact penises look ugly, but penises in general don't really look "pretty". Any chick who doesn't want to be with a guy simply because he has an unaltered and NORMAL penis is a shallow, ignorant bitch. I wouldn't want my son with someone like that.
"He'll be more likely to contract an STD" - If you look closely at the Africa HIV study; you'll see that the circumcised men had a lower HIV infection rate because their sexual behavior was less risky. All in the circumcised group were circumcised as adults, and the majority of those not infected had complications from the surgery that made it difficult or nearly impossible to have sex. There has been a study done that shows that when males are circumcised as infants, they are no less likely to contract STDs in adulthood than intact males. It is responsible sexual behavior that protects against STDs, not the lack of a foreskin!
"He'll hate you for not circumcising him" - There may be a very small percentage of intact males who wish they'd been circumcised as infants, but most intact men like their foreskins. We should all be able to choose our own unnecessary body alterations, and I refuse to take away my son's choice in this matter for the miniscule chance that he might be bitter about it down the road. I got to choose all of my optional physical modifications, and so will my son.
I could not find a single justifiable reason for having our son circumcised, but plenty of reasons to leave him intact. Most people in this country circumcise their son without really thinking about it simply because it's what the majority does. Some people berate me for not going with the majority. Well, those people can kiss my ass! You make the best decision with the information you have, and I had more information than most on this issue. I am confident that my husband and I made the best choice for our son in leaving him with a natural and normal penis. I am very glad that I brought my son home from the hospital in one piece. No one is going to change my mind, so those who disagree with me can step off.
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