circumcision - looking for advice/guidance:

Thanks - Stacey already emailed it to me. I saw the hospital midwife today -she told me to ask our GP who would be able to refer us to someone. I have an appointment with the GP midwife in 3 weeks so I'll ask then. 

I'm interested in why anyone would want it done (I mean, other than for religious reasons).  I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess I'd just planned on doing whatever was customary in whichever country we had a son in.  If we have a son here in the UK, he won't be circumcised...if we have one in the US, he would be.  Do people do it as a "cultural reference" to the US, for medical reasons, or what?

***I'm sure this is poorly worded.  I'm not taking a stand for or against circumcision...just interested in why one would have it done in a country where the vast majority of men aren't circumcised.  Not trying to be argumentative, either...really genuinely interested in why one would choose to have it done in the UK...   

We haven't made a decision, and as I've said, we don't know if we'll have to, but my hubby, I know, would like it done because *he* had it done.

I think maybe he likes the idea of a boy who "looks like him", and then too we've all heard for so long about it being cleaner, etc. 

I'm just guessing, though, as we haven't had a big discussion about it, I just know his opinion.

I am hesitant to post in this thread and indeed erased one I did post just because I am not a man and not a mom.  We have however talked about it and basically it's a cultural thing and it is one decision I am leaving up to my husband if we have a boy.

Penises are a mans domain and I would not want my husband dictating things dealing with periods and the like to a daughter. I am the one with the uterus... not him!   Personally the hygine thing was one reason I thought it would be good to cicumsize but then again it's the same excuse used for female circumcision in some parts of the world too.  How much cleaner would we all be with no vaginal folds?  Sorry bad image there... but hygine must be taught. My husband is very clean and I would expect him to teach our son to be as well.  I can understand culutral and religious reasons more than hygine reasons.  I think most here are doing it for the boy to be more like dad, or due to the US cultural bias towards it.  Either way it's not for people to judge. I to am interested in the reasons why to do it....

I know my husband has already said no way would he have it done and like I said... I am comfotable with that and also with being able to teach my child that differences in the boys room are not that important.  If we choose to live in the USA there are enough people from different cultures now that I don't think a child one way or the other will stand out.  Most times it's not going to be flopping about in public view anyways!  

Either way it's not for people to judge.

Indeed.  Which is one of the reasons why I will not discuss my feelings on circumcsion.  I will say that I'd like it to be done, but other than that ... 

Yeah, I have a bit of difficulty with this myself. Coming from a partially Jewish family I'm pretty used to the idea (though have no idea how it historically came about). I do however have a bit of a hard time with the cleanliness thing. I agree with vnp, cleanliness is taught and the vast majority of men in the world are not circumcised and getting along just fine. The trend seems to be shifting in the US to not do it so I have a hard time defending it on hygeinic grounds. To me, a healthy human body has no extraneous parts and as such shouldn't be nipped and tucked. But it's a hard tradition to change so while I don't really get it for non-religious reasons, I'm not really that bothered by it.

If I ever have a boy, I'll leave it up to the DH and can therefore guarantee we won't do it.

Firstly, I want to say that I am in no way dismissing a parent's right to raise their child as they see fit. Circumcision is a personal decision between the parents and perhaps their paediatrician and/or religious affiliates.

Someone brought up a very good point about female circumcision. Religious and cultural mores dictate the procedure in some countries. Most people reading this board, I assume, would find the idea of having this procedure done to their daughter to be, well, certainly not to their taste.

The practice of circumcision began in the 1800's as a way to "break the habit" of masturbation. This attitude towards foreskin and masturbation continued until the 1970's when various groups, including the AMA, began to change the stance, "There are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period."(Full AMA stance on cirucmcsion found at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/2036-2382.html) The movement against circumcision is growing in the US but is still rather nascent.

There is scant and unconvincing evidence proving intact foreskin leads to more infections or is unhygenic,"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the benefits of circumcision are not significant enough to recommend circumcision as a routine procedure and that circumcision is not medically necessary." (http://familydoctor.org/042.xml) As with any other part of the body, routine bathing is all that is needed.

Certainly the culture of the US is still biased towards circumcision. I believe it would behoove any parent of a newborn boy to ask "why"? As well, knowing the risks and benefits may make a difference in the decision. There is a growing number of men in the US who are not cirucmcised, however the number is still quite high at around 77%.

Any parents interested in circumcision may be interested in a video clip of the procedure. It's very graphic. One of the more interesting highlights is the information regarding pain management during the procedure, "Some doctors will use local anaesthesia, but this is by no means common. Anaesthetic injections will cause the penis to swell, causing pain and making the surgery more difficult. Both injections and topical anaesthetic creams can be dangerous. General anaesthesia is never used on young babies because of the risk of breathing problems" (http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/) However, if this is a procedure an expectant parent is thinking of engaging in, I am sure they would want as much information and background as possible regarding it.

This post was not supposed to turn into a big for or against debate and I would suggest starting a new post in pettifog if that is what people want to to do. Our reasons for wanting out baby cirumcised are personal and not ones I intend to discuss on an open forum such as this.  If someone on the forum had an abortion would people question that as well?

I just wanted to mention again that here in the USA circumcision is no longer going to be covered by health insurance because it is deemed unnecessary surgery, and that the trend is definitely moving towards not having it done other than for religious practices. There is so much information on the web that it is much easier now for perspective parents to make informed choices. And I am a firm believer that everyone has a right to make their own informed decisions, especially when it comes to something as personal as raising their children as they see fit!

This site is pretty comprehensive as to various reasons why people may/may not want circumcision and provides some interesting historical background as well.

http://www.circinfo.com/guide_to_decision/index.html

I think this is a good way to end this debate.  There's been quite a bit of help finding info, and like Britwife said, the purpose of this thread was not to debate but to share information.