Civil Debate - Pros and Cons on circumcisions?

Cyndi - posted on 03/01/2012

I had my son circumcised on day 2 in the hospital. In retrospect after I did more research on the Internet I hate to say I think I would not have done it. He keeps getting the penile adhesions and it is not an easy task to try to "open" the ring again. He is 8 months now and it still keeps trying to close. Basically, I had no idea about keeping that ring around/under the head cleaned. I use a q-tip, suppose if I did it every day it would not close up, but sometimes I go a few days and bam the darn thing starts adhering in one place and have to gently try to open get skin to come apart and he does not enjoy it. I had a nightmare at pediatricians office at the one month visit when she opened it all up all the way around and showed me how to do it.Said i should be doing it daily. No one in the hospital or anyone I knew ever told me about having to do this. I just learned about it after that and thus...I might have made a different decision. P.s. sorry to be so graphic but I want to warn others now that I know about this. Although I've read some boys don't have this problem and some parents never worry about cleaning this area and just let it close up I guess, but them from what I understand the have to get basically another circumcision done when they get to puberty. Ayyyyyyy, ask your pediatrician about this or let mothers to be of sons who never had a son before know to research.

Stacy - posted on 12/13/2011

I circumcised my son, and he did fine....here are some links that might help for anyone one trying to find out more about it:
general health:


http://www.planningfamily.com/newborn/ci...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...

http://www.circinfo.com/parents_guide/gf...

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/760950


http://www.ourmidland.com/accent/article...
STD's
http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/5684973...
http://www.physorg.com/news86339340.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15593753/
Sexual effects/sensitivity
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B...
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/?Item...
http://discusshiv.com/tag/orgasm/
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/07/2...
Cervical Cancer:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/fi...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...
trends:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44777003/
http://www.jurology.com/article/PIIS0022...
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health...
Even the World Health Organization is recommending it now:
http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/news6...
http://www.who.int/entity/hiv/mediacentr...
As well as the CDC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/...

Corinne - posted on 11/06/2011

i hear ya! my previous statements about pain is in regards to the infant not remembering the pain vs an older boy getting it done and remembering it! i dated a guy that got his done around 14 y/o and he said it was probably one of the most painful things hes ever gone through! just a thought.

Sharon - posted on 11/06/2011

I'm against circumcision in general for similar reasons to Tracy Mac here (excepting religious reasons probably) but there are some things about the pro-side that make no sense to me: I'm not sure I understand why people think that babies have less pain/discomfort than older boys or adults, when circumcised? How do they know? A baby can't exactly explain himself. The other thing I don't understand is why should the decision be the man's department? Many people I know who have circumcised their sons seem to have done so because Dad has had it done and wanted his son to be the same as him: what an arrogance! I would have thought all such decisions (it's a pretty big one) should be something both parents would attempt to agree on. BTW - I have heard that circumcised men can have less sensitivity on the tip of their penis during intercourse than uncircumcised men because the foreskin acts to protect the tip when the penis is not erect. Not being a guy I would wouldn't know, but my guess is if you ask circumcised men which is better they will say circumcised and if you ask uncircumsiced men they will say uncircumcised, because no man really wants to have lost out in that department, so the only real way to check would have to be medical studies.

Susan - posted on 10/07/2011

I had my son circumcised when he was just 1 day old. I left the decision up to my husband since well thats his department not mine lol.

Tracy - posted on 10/06/2011

If I was going to have it done, it would DEFINITELY be when he was a baby... I can't imagine going through something like that as a teen or an adult. Still, I just don't see the need, so no circumcision for my little ones :)

Corinne - posted on 10/05/2011

Luckily we never had a son, so we didnt have to continue our debate about it! I did know a guy once that had his done around 14 y/o and said it was the most pain hes ever felt in his life! That really made me not want to ever put my son through that, if they chose to do it later in life! I totally respect any parents decision not to do it but I would personally do it at birth!

Tracy - posted on 10/05/2011

Well, my dear, you are getting into some interesting issues :)

I have chosen not to have my sons circumcised. It was never even on the radar, to be honest. There have been no cleanliness issues with my boys, and I simply don't see the need or the benefit of having it done. I prefer to keep the body as natural as possible, unless there is some underlying reason to change it.

But that's just me :)