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Circumcision: Is It Right for Your Baby Boy?
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The decision to circumcise is up to parents. Credit: Nicole Hill, Getty Images
The debate over circumcision heated up when the Centers for Disease Control announced it may recommend circumcising all baby boys, but experts say the decision still rests with parents.
First of all, just what is circumcision? Dr. Rodolfo Sarmiento, a pediatrician on staff at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill., told ParentDish it's an elective procedure done to boys after birth, usually 24 hours after they are delivered. The prepuce, or overlying skin at the tip of the penis, is removed.
The procedure does cause the child pain, so doctors will administer a pain reliever such as Tylenol. Some physicians, Sarmiento says, prefer to give a newborn sugar or a local, topical anesthetic to help with pain control.
Not all parents choose to have their children circumcised, which is why the CDC's announcement caused such a stir. Officials are considering promoting the procedure in the U.S., according to The New York Times, because it may help reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.
The proposal is based on data gathered from studies in African countries showing that men who were circumcised reduced their risk of H.I.V. infection by half, The Times reports. However, some opponents say circumcising newborns in the U.S. is a strategy that wouldn't pay off for decades.
Other reasons to consider circumcision, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, include:
- A slightly lower risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs). A circumcised infant boy has about a 1 in 1,000 chance of developing a UTI in the first year of life; an uncircumcised infant boy has about a 1 in 100 chance of developing a UTI in the first year of life.
- Prevention of foreskin infections
- Prevention of phimosis, a condition in uncircumcised males that makes foreskin retraction impossible
- Easier genital hygiene
"If so, then proceed, if no then do not do it," he says. "Because when this boy grows up, he will be very different from his father."
Related: CDC to Release Circumcision Recommendations
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 4)
9-01-2010 @ 8:52PM
Hugh said...@Michele W: To quote an old remark "If everyone else was jumping off a cliff, would you do it too?" Your one friend with problems (which could probably have been treated without circumcision) is vastly outnumbered by all the intact men without - and by the men who hate being circumcised, such as those at circumstitions on the "Resentment" page. The fact that the people who decide don't have to suffer the consequences is the main thing that has kept this horrible little operation going.
9-02-2010 @ 6:36PM
Gerald said...What if it were legal for someone to enter your house and permanently rearrange the furniture according to their idea, not yours? That would be "very rude" as well. "Circumcision", a euphemism for genital mutilation, is extremely rude.
9-03-2010 @ 4:40AM
Kelly said...Simply because it is "all you know," which sounds to me like, "everyone else is doing it," does not make it right. My husband is intact and has no problems whatsoever. As he shouldn't, for he was born with those parts for a reason. Would you want someone cutting off your vaginal lips to prevent you from possibly getting an infection one day in the future? Or remove your breasts because you might develop a cyst? It simply makes no sense and is needless.
9-01-2010 @ 2:38PM
James_Mac said...Loosing the protective, mobile and highly erogenous foreskin is the very last thing I would have chosen for myself.
Most circumcised men have absolutely no idea what they are missing, how it has negatively impacted their sex life and how their rights to autonomy over their own body were trashed.
It's simply not okay to arbitrarily amputate body parts from a defenseless child at the whim of a parent and for the financial advantage of unethical doctors.
Reply
9-01-2010 @ 9:13AM
Krondool said...My son's mom didn't believe in it either. I got custody of him when he was 4, and despite the best efforts of cleaning, and no matter what I taught him about taking care of it, he suffered from terrible yeast infections almost weekly.
Circumcision is the healthier answer. He didn't exhibit any pain afterwards, though I did have problems with him wanting to 'show it off'. But he is 20 now, and has never again suffered from unneccessary infections on his penis. Being circ'd myself, whatever errogenous feelings I've lost....you can keep them. The sheer cleanliness alone more then makes up for it
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9-01-2010 @ 3:26PM
corky said...By your rationale, I guess my parents should have cut my labia to prevent my recurring yeast infections.
9-01-2010 @ 3:53PM
Allison P. said...That is probably because you were cleaning it too much. Women are taught not to use things like douche or even to put soap directly on that area too because it will cause yeast infections since it destroys the beneficial bacteria. You don't really need to "clean" an intact penis as it is self-cleaning, like a vagina is.
Also, if you were attempting to retract the foreskin before your son was retractable, the infections could happen because of tears in the foreskin. This is the only issue I've had with my intact son - misinformation on the care of the intact penis.
However, I know you already made your decision long ago, but I wanted to provide some more information for any other parents who may be reading the comments.
9-01-2010 @ 10:18AM
Kathleen Platt said...Over my dead body will any of my children ever have their genitals mutilated. Circumcision of infants and children without medical need is mutilation, child abuse and a violation of an individuals right to bodily integrity!
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9-02-2010 @ 2:25PM
Sarah said...My husband was circumcised without any parental consent in a Midwestern hospital in the mid-sixties. Because of this, he grew up NOT matching his father... but he didn't even know that (because it's true- boys don't spend a lot of time comparing to dad) When I was pregnant with our first child, he tried to coerce me to cut our child with Sarmiento's reasoning- that a baby should match his father. For how many generations should this reasoning hold true? Is one unauthorized circumcision in the mid-sixties good for two or three generations?... or good for a few centuries? I protected my sons from this insanity- and now our future generations can "match dad" without having to be mutilated.
Reply
9-01-2010 @ 10:48AM
JackieNO said...How is it that these pieces on circumcision alawys leave out the most important thing -- YOU ARE DESTROYING A PORTION OF YOU CHILDS SEWNSORY SYSTEM (you know nerves conneted to the brain).
Male circumcision is nerve damage -- a cutting off about 20000 fine touch and stretch sensing nerve endings and removing a source of pleasure from the male FOR LIFE. This is 2/3 of the total pleasure source amputated! This is nerves, blood vessels, protective covering and pleasure zones taken away from a human before the human can experience this. The dynamics and function and pleasure from sex and masturbation of the penis is harmed for good.The only touch organ possessing as rich erogenous innervation as the foreskin is the clitoris. Circumcision deprives man of 2/3ds of the main erogenous zone constituted of the foreskin and the glans.
BTW, the other risks (besides loss of sexual function, ED, PE and loss of PLEASURE) include curved or misshapen erection, painful erection, botches of all sorts (many requiring redo) and death. Boys DIE each year from this sick practice.
Ho can any medical professional at all opine that circmcision should be done if dad is cut. What Bull S h t. My son and I don't compare our penises. We all know that the last generations were mostly mutilated and lost their pleasure parts. Let us please stop the cycle and let the next generation get all of the pleasure and experience of a NATUAL penis.
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9-01-2010 @ 10:54AM
JackieNo said...Michele and Krondoool,
Most of the "problems" of natural penis boys with infection was due to the bad advice to retract their foreskin and clean. Doing this, especially with soap is the cause of infection. It is amazing that this was the advice doctors in the US gave to the few boys that were natural and whole. They actually caused the problems. This misinformation and very bad advice (to retract and clean young boys) still lingers on. My sons Ped. in the 90s tried tor retract him at age 4. I wanted to sue -- she was doing exactly the wrong thing.
You should know that infant boys are EASIER to care for when they are natural (intact). The foreskin does not retract until late childhood or even puberty, so you do nothing special, just wipe the outside of his penis clean and leave it alone. Furthermore, to prevent painful and bleeding erections later in life, doctors are now commonly leaving more skin behind- in a cut boy this means you may have to push the left over skin back at every diaper change and clean beneath it to prevent it from adhering or infecting. The very thing that mother's think they avoid by circumcising!
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9-01-2010 @ 1:04PM
Donna said...My husband is circumcised but my 3 sons are not. We did much soul searching and educated ourselves about it before we made the decision not to have the procedure. None of my sons has to date had a urinary tract infection or other problems nor do they feel any distress because their dad is "different". They are all grown now and quite healthy. I see no need to cut off what God gave them unless it is for religious reasons or the parents decide, after researching the issue that it is best for the child. It should definitely not be done routinely as it was in the 60's and 70's.
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9-01-2010 @ 11:34AM
Megan said...I am STRONGLY against circumcision, but my boyfriend is circumcised and I fear if I have son and don't do the procedure he will have self-esteem issues of being different from his dad.
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9-01-2010 @ 2:32PM
Tracy said...Keep that baby intact! We had the same issue in our household, and everything's just fine. They all love their man-parts equally ;)
My (posted) comment for the article kinda addressed this concern. I said:
Quoted from the article: "parents should first consider whether or not the father is circumcised. 'If so, then proceed, if no then do not do it,' [an "expert"] says. 'Because when this boy grows up, he will be very different from his father.'"
...I'm sorry, did I miss something? It's common practice for a father
and son to put their penises next to one another and compare and
contrast the features?
After all of the misconceptions and myth that were repeated in this
article, THIS just takes the cake! LMAO
9-02-2010 @ 12:49PM
Ami said...He won't suffer because he looks different. I don't know why anyone puts that sort of fear into peoples' heads. Did you look at your mothers vagina as a child with all its pubic hair and panic because it did not look like yours? I saw my moms vagina when we would go to the restroom together. Mine looked VERY different as a child than hers. I can assure you, it has not caused me any psychological trauma. If you have a son, he will not suffer any either if he does not look like dad.
6-29-2011 @ 12:53PM
krileyc said...Even if you did circumsize, he would still be very different from his dad. Think about it -- a toddler who accompanies his dad into the bathroom has tiny, chubby, hairless genitals, cut or not.
My teen son is not circumcised. He tells me that as far as he can tell, some guys at his high school (southern us) are and some guys aren't, but since they don't sit around staring and comparing, who can say the exact ratios. He has never had infections, never had trouble cleaning it, never had any worries or angst about his parts. His father is circ'd but that has never been cause for concern.
Leave it alone. My first love was uncirc'd and I think intact men have more sensation and better experiences.
9-01-2010 @ 2:00PM
OutsideMom said...Megan, please don't worry about self-esteem issues-- my brother is not circumcised while all my other brothers and my father are, and he has zero self esteem issues, and when I approached him about the subject of being natural in a circumcised world when we discovered our baby was a boy (my husband is circumcised and I wanted to get my brother's perspective since he's the only intact male that I know) he recommended to not circumcise. He had no problems not matching and he has great self-esteem; always had, too.
I am against circumcision for a variety of reasons, but I'm not even going to go into that at all. This article was garbage. The author glossed over the complications of circumcision, did not give any benefits of being intact, and emphasized health benefits that are minor, if even beneficial at all. In my own research, because cleanliness was a concern of my husband's, I discovered that more males would have issues with their circumcisions than with their foreskins, so any potential health benefits would be nullified by complications from circumcision. Also, just as many circumcised boys would need a surgical correction of his circumcision as intact boys would need a medically necessary circumcision later in life, so the decision was a no-brainer for me.
The idea that a circumcised penis is easier to take care of is nonsense. My friend's son is circumcised and she was instructed to retract and break up any adhesions at each diaper change to clean under the remaining foreskin; I don't do anything special to my son's penis during diaper changes- wipe it off and I'm done. Much easier, much less labor intensive! Plus, I never had to worry about gauze and vaseline at each diaper change right after birth.
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9-01-2010 @ 2:26PM
Tracy said...Quoted from the article: "parents should first consider whether or not the father is circumcised. 'If so, then proceed, if no then do not do it,' [an "expert"] says. 'Because when this boy grows up, he will be very different from his father.'"
...I'm sorry, did I miss something? It's common practice for a father and son to put their penises next to one another and compare and contrast the features?
After all of the misconceptions and myth that were repeated in this article, THIS just takes the cake! LMAO
Reply
9-01-2010 @ 2:28PM
Summer said...Removing the clitoral skin is a great idea, too, because it reduces the risk of infection. I also recommend removing the baby's nose because infections in the nasal passage are a major problem for babies.
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9-01-2010 @ 2:52PM
momof4 said..."Tylenol?!" "Consider whether or not the father is circumcised?" What kind of crack are your smoking? Writers hanging on to pro-circ b.s. is really making me upset. Why can't everyone see that our culture defends circ just as other cultures defend female genital mutilation? It's one and the SAME!
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