The Circumcision Discussion

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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I know this can be a HUGE debate, and I'm not looking to start any arguments. I was just wondering as you are OB nurses. I'm expecting a boy in July and not sure if we should circ. or not. My husband says yes, it's better medically in the long run. My gpa who just turned 70 had to have a circ. due to endless complications lately.

As nurses in this area, is the medication that they use good? And what are some questions to ask my Dr. about it. I already know that my hospital i'll be at uses a med. when they perform it, I"m just wondering what you all think.

Thanks

Jen :)

Circumcision is barbaric in your opinion only. In my opinion, circumcision is safe, more sanitary in the long run, facilitates easier urogenital cleaning, and reduces the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases when the baby boy grows into a sexually-active adult male. I don't know about you, but I certainly think that smegma is nasty, smelly, and unappetizing. Uncircumcized males produce plenty of this smegma, whereas the circumcized men don't.

ew.........

smegmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

seriously commuter, is this true?

that uncircumcised males do produce this excess?

i never knew that.

both my hubbies have been circ'd.

leslie

Hi, Can any American nurses explain to me why new born baby boys are circumcised in USA. As a British nurse i am appauled at this barbaric behaviour. Jane

I am personally opposed to circumcision and, as a nurse, would not assist in a circumcision of a child unless there were what I consider legitimate medical reasons (the extremely limited evidence that it might help prevent the spread of AIDS in first world countries would not qualify). I also believe it is barbaric and I, too, am appauled. I did not circumcize my two sons, despite the fact that they will not now be able to convert to Judaism, which is their Jewish father's wish.

However, I have conflicting feelings about whether it should be illegal since it is a strongly ingrained religious and cultural practice.

I am reluctant to encourage a circumcision debate on this board, especially given that this is your first post. There are plenty of places on the Internet where circumcision in the U.S. is debated heatedly and I am sure you could find an answer to your question there.

There are many long threads regarding circumcision. Mostly in the ob/gyn forum.

Welcome by the way!

steph

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Custom and tradition primarily.

Britain still has a Queen, not the same, but certainly Britons understand cultural traditions?

i personally was not circumcised at birth and i wish my parents would have done so. I had my foreskin rip at about 18 years old, so i had to get a circumcision and let me tell you, it's not fun getting circumcised at 18 years old. Being this old i was able to compare and contrast better than most people i think. It's definetly nicer this way, easier to keep clean, and less problems can arise now. Now i know most of you are debating about doing it at birth or not, which i know is different, but i do wish my parents would have done it to save me the trouble i went through.

Specializes in LTC, med-surg, critial care.

I don't know about anyone else but for me and the man the main reason is that he's Jewish and it's required. Other reasons are the same as The Commuter.

As for barbaric? Yes, but hate giving IM injections because I also think that's barbaric.

Specializes in Anesthesia.

Male circumcision has also been shown to reduce the transmission of HIV. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/circumcision.htm

As far as being barbaric the same thing could be said of ear piercings, body piercings, tattoos etc. The pain associated with circumcision in an infant, before full development of their nervous system, has shown to be mild and most of the anxiety caused in the infant is actually from being tied down and not from the actual circumcision.

Ditto PKOHM. I worked with a young mom whose little boy wasn't circ'd at birth. She was, well, challenged by motherhood and frankly baths were last on her list, to at 18 months the little guy had a bad infection and had the circ done then. Glad I didn't have to handle him when they got home.

I've witnessed two modes of circumcision. One was not what I'd prefer, the other ok. Neither showed more than a drop of blood loss, but one took longer. Babies didn't cry near as much as my own did for those newborn baths.

Custom and tradition primarily.

Britain still has a Queen, not the same, but certainly Britons understand cultural traditions?

That is the answer!

steph

Some customs and traditions from the UK can be considered barbaric too, as well as other countries. Didn't your mother ever teach you that slinging mud at someone else's house is rude?

Prior to my son's birth, I spoke with my (male) best friend about this very topic. As a jew, I feel an obligation, as a mother, it feels barbaric. My best friend told me that his partner (in his mid-30's) is not circumcised and is very self-conscious about it, that they cannot be intimate together unless he showers first, and on-and-off considers having the procedure done at this point.

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

There are lots of reasons. Most of what I hear (mother/baby nurse) is that "it's cleaner" and "we want him to look like his daddy." (We don't have that many Jewish patients, and our Muslim patients are about half-and-half circ vs. non.)

This is what I have against circ:

1) It really doesn't serve a purpose. Yes, I have heard the studies about it preventing HIV transmission. Those studies were done on adult men. If adult men want to line up to have their weenies whacked, fine. (I didn't think so!) But to put a baby boy through something like that, well, I can't see what the logic is. If it gives us pause to imagine a grown man going through something like that, why shouldn't it bother us to think about babies? Also, while we're on the HIV topic....are you (universal you here) telling me we should be preaching circumcision instead of abstinence, monogamy, and condoms? I hope not.I still believe that circumcising baby boys is not necessary if you want to prevent HIV transmission.

2) Over and over I have seen it in my work as a mother-baby nurse: people who would not think of having their little girls cut in ANY fashion (not even under local anesthesia and in a sterile room, not even a little pinprick), the same folks will send their little boys off without a second thought to have essentially the same thing done. If one is child abuse, why is the other okay?

3) Again, over and over I have seen this: Babies who are nursing like the little champs they are do great til they get circumcised. Then it all falls to pieces. Numerous studies have suggested that babies' pain response often resembles going to sleep. In actuality, they are shutting down because they cannot tolerate the pain. I have had so many moms get frustrated with nursing after their babies are circed because they will not wake up to eat.

4) The hygiene argument is a really non-applicable one, especially in the era of soap and water. Either way you have to wash down there, right? It is not that difficult to retract a foreskin, wash & rinse under it, and put it back. If it is, maybe you ought to invest in a protein shake or something. And you really don't even have to do that til the darn thing goes back on its own, which may not be for several years. Believe me, a 3-year-old can do it. My 3-year-old does.

5) I really wish people would not use the "we wanted him to look like Daddy" argument. Number one, he's not going to look like Daddy for a very long time anyway, and by the time he does, he and Daddy are probably not going to be comparing. Second, how many adult men (don't raise your hands) know/care whether or not your dad was circumcised? Third, he may notice that he and Daddy look different but that doesn't mean it will bother him. Whose hang-up is it, really? Is it the boy that will feel funny not looking like his dad, or is it the other way around? With friends that I know whose husbands are circed but their boys aren't, a simple "Daddy had a surgery you didn't need" does the trick if they ask. Also worth asking: what if Daddy has had a leg or arm amputated? Are you going to chop off your son's limb so he'll look like Daddy? Why not? (Ok, that was rhetorical. I'm NOT advocating the aforementioned idea.)

6) The locker room argument. You don't want your son to be made fun of for being 'different.' With the current circ rate running at about 60% in the USA, that leaves 40% uncirced. He'll probably have some company. Also, what are they doing looking, anyway? And what message am I sending my son having his body unnecessarily, irreversibly altered as a baby so he'll fit in?

7) I have heard people say that men who aren't circumcised don't look 'normal.' Um....ok. 75% of the world doesn't circumcise. Most Latin Americans don't. Most Asians, Europeans, and Aussies don't. Canada's universal health care doesn't cover it anymore, as far as I know. Many places in Africa don't. That leaves....hmmm....the USA. I had a nurse colleague tell me once, "It's all what you're used to." It's all about what I'm used to? I'm going to put my son through something unnecessary so he can look some way that I'm 'used to'?!

This post is not intended to offend anyone who has had their sons circumcised, nor outrage anyone reading this who has been circumcised (no need to raise hands), nor imply that people who have had their boys circed should be arrested on the spot and jailed. And I realize that a generation or two back, it was something that you just did. You didn't ask questions. I know that. I just want people to think about it.

I didn't realize that I had such strong feelings about this until I started working as a mother-baby nurse. Fortunately, we had not had our son circumcised as a baby because we did research & found that the AAP no longer endorses it. But having seen over and over what it does to the babies, and having seen a few botched/bleeding circs, I just can't see having it done to any baby, period. It's essentially cosmetic surgery, and no thank you. Not for my boys until they are consenting adults & can decide for themselves that it's something they want (I'll think they're crazy, but I'll make the appts if they want them).

I'm the happy mom of an uncirced boy and the proud wife of an uncirced husband. And no, they don't have much smegma at all. ;)

ETA: For those who may not know this - once the member is erect, the foreskin retracts and they all look the same anyway....

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