To Circumcise or Not to Circumcise?

Until I became pregnant with my son, I never gave much thought to the issue of circumcision. Until I was a teenager I figured all baby boys were circumcised for some medical reason, I just wasn't sure what. I became aware that some boys weren't circumcised when I heard one kid's friends giving him a hard time about his extra anatomy. When I was in college, I hung out with a young man who was proudly uncircumcised. He even nicknamed his unit the hooded dragon. At any rate, circumcision was not something I ever gave any serious thought.

In fact, before the birth of my oldest son I probably would have been embarrassed to discuss this topic. However, motherhood has desensitized me to any dialog on body parts and their functions. Now I often find myself involved in a serious discourse concerning poop, so why not penises?

As I read one of the many web articles, or books, or magazines about parenting that I voraciously consumed during my first pregnancy, I came across something about whether or not to circumcise. I picked up the phone and called my mother to ask whether there was any religious reason (we're LDS) to circumcise my son. She answered no and added that if she were to do it again, she wouldn't have circumcised my brothers. When I asked why, she simply said, "Because it hurts, and there's no real reason to do it." Based on that reason I decided I didn't want to circumcise my son.

When I told my husband about my decision, an argument ensued that I've never really won. Well, I guess I sort of won because neither of our boys are circumcised, but he still objects. When I asked why he wanted them circumcised he said, "Because it's cleaner."

"How would you know?" I riposted.

He's never really answered my question, but still maintains that we should have circumcised the boys. However, I think that if I were on the fence about the question, his remonstrance made up my mind more firmly.

I ended up getting my way because I didn't want to remove our cats' claws and he did. I told him we could declaw the cats if we didn't circumcise the baby. He agreed in the heat of the moment (the cats had just ruined his favorite chair) and even though we gave the cats away before we had the chance to address the claw issue, I maintained that he had agreed on non circumcision and that was that. It also helped that I take responsibility for the medical care of our children, so no one that mattered ever asked him for his two cents on the issue.

Two years later, after having chosen not to circumcise either of my sons, I finally made the effort to do some research on the subject (better late than never, eh?). What I found was that it's very difficult to find objective information on this topic. You can certainly tell which way an author leans on the point just by reading their "objective" informative article. Emotions run high on the subject. Some argue that circumcision is mutilation, equating it to female genital mutilation in African countries. Others argue that not circumcising your son could be condemning him to a life of rejection by his peers resulting in extensive psychological scarring. Let's face it, in our culture,circumcision is the norm and many are hesitant to go against the mainstream, so there is more information of the latter persuasion than there is of the former.

So here are some of the facts that I finally extracted after referencing several sources. One of the arguments in favor of circumcision is that it can prevent penile and prostate cancer in men and even cervical cancer in women, but this statement is actually untrue. The early data that suggested this has been attributed to, among other things, ethnic traits. Circumcision does not in fact protect against sexually transmitted diseases. The uncircumcised penis does require a little extra attention to cleanliness, as my husband contends. Some relatively rare medical conditions including phimosis , a condition where the foreskin cannot be retracted from the glands and can cause the urethra to become blocked, or a condition involving chronic inflammation of the inner membranes of the foreskin, can require a man who is uncircumcised to have the procedure later in life. Sexual contact can be enjoyed and sexual function maintained equally in either case.

So what are some reasons to decide in favor of the common procedure? Well, one reason would be to allow the boy to fit in with peers and other family members that are circumcised. My friend who did choose to have the procedure performed on her son, said that her main reason for having it done was so that her little boy's equipment would look the same as his father's. Also, as mentioned before, circumcised genitalia are easier to keep clean. Of course the most common reason to circumcise would be religious belief, since all Jews and Muslims are circumcised. One reason that was actually mentioned by my own pediatrician is that boys who are circumcised are slightly less likely to develop urinary tract infections.

Why wouldn't you circumcise your son? Well, of course there is the pain factor. Contrary to some former arguments, it has been proven that newborn babies do in fact feel pain. If you're in doubt of this fact, just try trimming a newborn's fingernails and accidentally get the tip of his finger with the clippers. Often, no anesthetic is used during infant circumcisions because of it's possible negative effects on the baby. Also, there is a healing period after the procedure during which the baby's penis can be sore. Circumcision is surgery, and as such does carry some risks, however negligible, including excessive bleeding and infection. The foreskin is a natural and normal part of the body and does protect the urinary opening. Another reason to forgo infant circumcision is that your child always has the choice to have the procedure performed later, however, once it's done it's done. There's no putting it back.

This final reason is ultimately what has set my mind at ease about my own decision. In the hospital care of a circumcision is usually explained, but if you decide to keep your baby's equipment in tact, then there are a few things you should know about the care of the uncircumcised penis. First of all, at birth the foreskin naturally adheres to the glands or head of the penis. A physicians assistant that I take my children to actually told me that the foreskin needs to be pulled back to prevent phimosis, the condition where the foreskin cannot be retracted. This is actually untrue. Everything I've read says that the foreskin should never be stretched, because it can actually result in small tears in the tissue and subsequent scarring. This outcome can actually make phimosis more likely as your son matures, when it will be more serious. As your child grows the foreskin will naturally separate from the glands, and when your boy is about age four you should begin teaching him to pull the foreskin back and clean the area with plain water. Soap can actually irritate the inner foreskin leading the the inflammatory condition mentioned as one of the reasons later circumcision can be necessary.

In closing, the truth is that there are valid reasons on both sides of this issue. Ultimately the question of whether or not to circumcise is a personal choice and has to come down to what you think is best for your baby. Give it careful consideration, but don't be fooled into thinking it's a life or death question. There are risks and advantages to each, and no matter which way you go, the likelihood is that your son will have a full, happy, healthy life no matter your decision.