Karen... I think the circumcision is harder on us mothers than our babies. The Jews turn it into this whole big sadistic ritual; it's over with in a few minutes and the baby is fine...I remember being hysterical for the next 5 hours.
I don't think you are going to get too many responses to your post; then men here are all wincing!
I'm circumcised, not wincing, and have no opinion on it. Of course, I did happen to handle a nursing home case where a nurse caring for the patient's uncircumcised penis left the foreskin retracted. His penis got gangrenous and had to be amputated. But he died a couple days later anyway, so no harm, no foul.
Yeah - honestly it didn't seem to be an issue with DS but times have changed a lot on this topic and now insurance doesn't cover it anymore since it is elective. The money is nominal but I was curious on folks opinions. Obviously, there are religious reasons for some. I am truly 50/50 on the subject. I guess I feel a little guilty that my only "reason" for doing it is pretty much cosmetic.
Congrats, congrats, congrats on the soon to arrive new sweetie. Sniff his neck for me when he gets here - I love the smell of babies.
As to the big snip. I didn't have sons, so this just comes from opinion, rather than experience.
There are those who choose to do it for religious reasons and it holds great symbolism as such - I can understand and respect that. If that's not your undergirding reason, then I would consider going unsnipped. I can say that had I been blessed with a son, I would not have had him circumsized.
Science used to say that babies don't feel pain. Then it was said that they don't feel pain the way we do. Then it was said that they feel pain, but they don't remember it so it doesn't count.
There are two camps on this issue, and the topic can get really heated. There are adult men who are dealing emotionally with having had a part of them removed without their input. There are some men who equate it with female genital mutilation. Then there's the camp of "but what about keeping it clean". That one honestly gets me, because I know how I would feel if the reciprocal was being said about girls.
The other boys will make fun issue. I know back in the cave days when I attended school the only time groups of girls saw me fully naked was during gym class. Most schools don't have gym class anymore, so how often do little boys see each other naked in groups? Being group naked can be hard on any child, and maybe guys feel differently about it, but I think kids should be able to retain the integrity and privacy of their own body and that the adults should make that happen.
There's also the ongoing it does/it doesn't impact cancer causing issues. There's the "but it looks so different". My 60/70s back to nature background, finds it disturbing that we leave men with the idea that their natural penile status is ugly.
Then there are the horror stories of too much skin being taken causing real problems later when erections are painful because there isn't enough skin to stretch over.
The American circ tends to be much more aggressive than some alternatives. We tend to take it back far enough back that some shaft skin is included. Other circs are more of a tip snip. So, be aware that there are some alternatives even among the circumcisions.
So, there's my input/info. Some men opt to get circ after reaching adulthood, some men join support groups and activist groups because they're pissed that the procedure was done.
Ah, another one of the decisions parents have to suffer through! Good wishes on you and little one.
I've only been with one guy who was not clipped, and frankly, it was kind of cool. When we broke up, I was kind of sad that I would likely never see one of those again...
I know you're not necessarily thinking ahead to your son's sex life... just thought I'd throw in a positive comment.
There is some nominal research to show a connection with a higher STD rate among uncircumcized males but then again - exposure to STD's has a lot more to do with a person's sexual behavior than whether there is a foreskin. KWIM? Not being circumcized is related to having adhesions and infections of various sorts (rarely), being circumcized is related to another type of infection called meatitis (sp???) All the statistics are fairly lame - in each case the chances of this or that are miniscule. When DS15 got his circ they actually offered to do it with or without some type of anesthesia. I did opt for the anesthesia because of course babies feel pain - duh!
FWIW - in this baby's generation I think there will be a lot more intact young men. Many people still opt for circumcision but many do not. I am not worried about the being made fun of part. As for his future sex life - I don't really think about the impact on that - I don't think it can be predicted.
I think in the end I am bouncing this ball into the Dad court. I would be perfectly ok with him being intact. I would feel a little guilty about doing the procedure for cosmetic/social reasons but not enough to overule Dad if he wants to go that route.
I suspected ya'll would have some interesting input. Or maybe, I was just hoping to find out some personal stats on you fellas!
Karen
PS Lil - thanks for the congrats. I am getting down to the end here. Less than 11 weeks to go - give or take. I will actually be full term in a mere 8 weeks. I am starting to nest. Up until now we haven't gotten any baby stuff set up but I am ready finally and have started making lists, looking through hand me downs and such. I've also been feeling a lot of pressure to get work all tidied up.
