Should You Circumcise Your Son?

Posted on 12 14, 2006 under Master Debaters by wahoodad |

673491_chainsaws_in_action__1“It’s a boy!” announces the doctor as your kid bursts into the world.  Congratulations!  Deciding on whether or not your son will be circumcised just got bumped to the top of your to-do list.  You’ll get all the relevant information to consider from your doctor and/or maternity nurses.  You may discuss the matter with friends and family.  You may even consult the AAP to see what it recommends (after reading an 8-page PDF with about 150 references in the end notes, you’ll find that the AAP neither recommends nor discourages the surgery—Thanks, AAP!).  Like most parental decisions, this one’s up to you and your wife.

So, what’s it going to be?  Take a little off the top, or leave Snuffleupagus as nature intended? Which brings us to this week's question:

Should you circumcise your son?

This is the latest installment in our Master Debaters Question of the Week Series. There are some topics that seem to fall into the consensus category: drunk driving is bad, guns kill people, Transformers are better than GoBots. But that only covers less than 1% of the decisions you and your spouse make towards the upbringing of your kids. The majority of issues tend to fall more in the gray area.

Here at Noodad.com, we take pride in delivering important advice for dads. But we realize that some of our advice is subjective. The collected readership surely has things to add and unique perspectives to contribute.

So where do you weigh in?

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Viewing 33 Comments

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    No.
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    My wife and I are expecting any day now, and don\\\'t know the gender, but if it is a boy we\\\'ve decided not to circumcise. A few reasons.

    1. There is no medical benefit to doing so. Some myths persist, such as circumcision helps with hygiene, but that\\\'s not true.

    2. For us, there is no religious reason to do so either.

    3. While I am circumcised, I don\\\'t buy the argument that you should circumcise just because the kid should \\\"look like dad\\\" or \\\"look like the other kids in the locker room\\\". That\\\'s silly.

    4. Something like 80%+ of the world does not circumcise.

    5. My wife did some research into why circumcision became a \\\"standard\\\" practice in the US. Based on what she found, it became widespread not all that long ago, in the 40s or 50s when there was a big to-do in the national discourse about masturbation. The argument went that masturbation felt better when uncircumcised, so if you didn\\\'t want your kid in the bathroom for 5 years whacking it when they were teens, circumcise \\\'em.

    This argument is so stupid I don\\\'t think I need to remark further.

    6. If you haven\\\'t seen a picture of a freshly circumcised penis, go find one. You\\\'ll instinctively cross your legs looking at it. *shudder*
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    weirdest experience for us was after our second son was snipped, we signed all the forms, blah blah blah, then 6 weeks later a random $50 check shows up in the mail from Big Brother Labs or something.

    we unknowingly sold our son\'s foreskin for fetal tissue research.

    just glad to do our part...
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    I know others have different views, and your kid, your decision, I\'m not one for telling people whats best for their kids, I just find it a silly argument that I am constantly defending my decision of why I didn\'t circumcise my some to everyone from my father to many of my friends with boys.

    My husband and I didnt circumcise our son for a few reasons.

    I did some research just like Dans wife and came to the same conclusion, that there is really no medical reason for circumcision, as reported by the American Pediatrics Association. The stuff about hygiene and such only happens to a very small number of boys. And as such should be taught how to clean themselves by their father.

    My husband is not. Seemed silly to do it at that point.

    We also have no religious reasons to do so.

    And though this may seem a controversial statement to some, I believe it to be mutilation of the male genitalia for no good reason whatsoever. People say its a useless piece of skin, whats the big deal? Well the big deal to me is, if people were lining up their baby girls to have parts of their labia removed, there would be a giant uproar.
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    Snip, snip.
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    Hey guys, longtime reader, first time poster.
    We circumcised our son. I admit, it was done with little research other than it was what we were used to. But now we have a second son on the way. Is it going to create more problems if we don\'t circumcise our second one?
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    IF the boys end up asking you why thy look different just tell them \"Well, they use to think it was better to take off part of your (fill in the blank with your family term), but then Dr\'s changed their minds and now they don\'t think that.\" Again, IF the subject comes up. It is (very loose comparison here) kind of like having kids who have different color eyes. You can\'t change it, but what do you tell them if they ask? (Again, I realize one you have a choice with and one you don\'t, but kids are going to ask \"Why are we different\" questions no matter WHAT.)
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    We have a 1 year old son and didn\'t cut him. I was circumcised at birth and had problems all through puberty because my circumciser cut off too much skin. So when we had our son, there was no way we were going to do it. I know I was in the unlucky small percent that suffers from the risks of circumcision, but I\'d rather my son suffer the risks of being \"natural\".

    My reading of the AAP report was \"the risks are low, but the benefits are also low\"
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    This is a tough one for me. While I support gratuitous and needless bloodshed, I\'d hate for my son to appear any more Jewish than is necessary...
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    who had to post a bigoted comment and hid behind a pseudonym. Guess what mystery poster? We don\'t want your kind around here. At least have the decency to write your own name so we can openly mock you on the site.
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    Proving that every nanosecond, some shithead posts something online that demonstrates what a douchebag he is... Achopalypto. So we can expect that you\'ll raise another biggoted waste of a human life just like your dad did, right?
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    Whoa, guys. It was a joke suggesting that since there is no evidence that there are any benefits to circumcision, it\'s questionable to put little boys through the pain and suffering involved. The comment further mocked Mel Gibson\'s violent tendencies and anti-Semitism.
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    Before our son was born we had decided to circumsise then researched for reasons not too. We read the arguments that everyone has put forward, all valid in their own right, but we did not find a good enough reason to not do it. I do not consider circumcision mutilation. I admit we were worried a little about the boy\'s rection and whatever pain he might have, but the surgery took less than 10 minutes and he was sleeping within 5 minutes of getting back to the room. We kept it moist for a few days, and then it eas all fine. My son had a bigger problen with his umbilical cord than his circumsision. I respect other peaple decision to not do it so I just ask that others respect our decision to do it.
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    Perhaps a different angle than the health issues, but I think it would be interesting to hear from a single woman\'s point of view on this, someone in their mid-20s or so who is active on the dating scene. My kid\'s feelings are always going to be on my mind, and I wonder if women prefer circumcised to uncircumcised in their partners or if there is a prevailing preference. The last thing I\'d want to do is put my son in an unfavorable position 19 years down the road. Sex and the City did a show on it (and while I do hate that show, I am always surprised how many women take that show very seriously) and in that episode, all the women agree that uncircumcised looked better, more appealing. Is this reason to circumcise? Not sure, just throwing it out there. At some point in his life your son will become sexually active, and if the majority of women prefer circumcised, being uncut may have him facing a rather uncomfortable or humilating experience at a very impressionable time in his life. Again, just a point of view, and other opinions certainly welcome.
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    Is the look enough of a reason to circ.... You listen to the screams of a baby boy who is being circed and tell me. Worth it...I would think not. As for the look of a penis....UUmmmmm nothing personal guys, but they are not really pretty ANY way you look at them. As for it being preferred....maybe here in the US where RIC (ritual infant circ) is common, but this is the ONLY country (pretty much) who believe in it.
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    Considering my ex-wife frequently calls me a d***head, I resent that comment Steph.
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    We decided not to. Our son is 6. But now I have read recent studies that AIDS is easier to transmit to and from an uncircumcised male. Is this a real threat? And can a boy be circumcised later?
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    While that is what some are saying, they have failed to tell you the following:

    There are cells in the foreskin that produce a substance that KILLS AIDS on contact. These cells are not found anywhere else in the body. There are many studies and they say many things. Here is a link discussing these studies:

    http://www.circumstitions.com/HIV.html

    You have saved you son an incredible amount of unnecessary pain (from which many babies go into shock because of and YES, babies have DIES due to circ). Someone asked me why we didn\'t circ our son.... my answer to him \"If when he is 18 he wants to chop off part of his penis, he can do it then!\"
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    Please no uuummmiing on my site!

    Who do you think you are? Madonna?

    :grin
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    Today, the procedure is effortless and done in a few minutes. My son was given a local anesthetic an hour pre-surgery. Yes, during the surgery, there were two nanosecond painful moments (dad too), but following the surgery, my son was asleep as if nothing happened. I\'d like to say that I had circumcision done for three reasons: Religion, cleanliness and \"like father like son\".
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    Religion, Ok

    Unclean...There is NOTHING UNCLEAN about an intacted penis. Do you wash under your balls? I would venture to guess you said yes. There is nothing more difficult to keeping an intacted penis clean then that.

    Like Dad like son.... Are you going to stand next to him, drop trow and compare? Well if you are then OK. If not... what difference does it make.

    While your son may have been given a local, those are just as dangerous in a newborn as the surgery itself. Babies DIE from anastesia and surgery or post operative infection. The procedure is totally cosmetic. Would you give your newborn daughter breast implants so she can be like her Mom?
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    Oh Steph - you\'ve crossed the line from providing semi-reasonable arguments for your point of view to chastising people for the act AFTER its been done. Thats like telling somebody who just got in a car accident they should have driven slower; lots of good it does. We get it - you are against circumcision. We know you do not like the look of male genitalia (which to your husband, I offer my condolances. Some sex life he must have) and we understand you probably prefer organic fruits and vegetables to those crazy mass-produced ones. Now you take a swing at breast implants too and insult people who date women who have chosen on their own to get implants? For shame, who are you to look down such a long nose? Go jump on some more bandwagons and off your soapbox. Babies die all the time for any number of reasons, and to say that AIDS can be killed on contact by a \"substance\" in foreskin is simply foolish and irresponsible. If that were the case, don\'t you think by now there would be a drug on the market utilizing this incredible \"substance\" to combat the epidemic? Oh wait, let me guess - they can\'t because of some giant governmental conspiracy. Things \"they\" don\'t tell but YOU know as fact! Since its on the internet, it must be true. And do stay away from relationships you can\'t possible understand - I won\'t go near the mother-daughter relationship because I\'m not a mother, so don\'t try to understand the father-son relationship. You simply expose more of your ignorance and pomposity.
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    Just passing on the TRUTH. That\'s all:)

    You need to educate yourself before telling me I am foolish or irresponsible.

    From what I remember, freedom of speach still is in effect. As for the rest of your dribble... it\'s just that. Have a good one!
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