Circumcision - Minneapolis,MN

Hey C.,
I don't have a son, but I did daycare for 2 little boys that are not circumsized. They did not have any problems with infection, they just looked diffrent. I also dated a man once that was not circumsized and we talked about children, if we would have had a son, he would not have been circumsized. You just have to teach them how to clean that area thoroughly (daddy would be best, especially if he is not circumsized)

Sorry, this isn't a reply but another question... Do uncirc. boys have to hold the skin back every time they pee?

My nephew was not circumsized and a about age 3 he started having problems. The Dr. had to go ahead and circumsize him. In my opinon it is just better to do it for their self esteem as they enter those teeange years when other kids are so judemental and mean.

When I was pregnant, I talked to a lot of people to get opinions, and what made up my mind was when someone told me about a 40 year old who got a bad infection and had to be circumsized at that time because of it. I think it would be a lot easier as a baby than at that age. I also worked in a daycare center, and there were a couple uncircumsized boys that would get infections and scream every time they peed and their parents would have to leave work to take them to the dr and get medicine for it. I know that can be avoided by cleaning it well enough, but most parents didn't seem to do that because they all seemed to get infections as toddlers. I personally would never want to put my son through that, and had him circumsized right away. It is painful, but prevents pain and infections later in life, and if it can end up being needed at 40 years old... I would never want to see a 40 year old man have to go through that, I think it is a lot easier to just do it at birth and get it over with, it will make your son's life easier and less painful, which I hope every parent wants for their child.

Hello, I have a 2 1/2 yr old son and I chose to Circ. him due to my very own father. He was in his late 50's when he needed "it" done. He had went through years of infections and multiple problems. He says it was the most painful and somewhat humiliating thing he had to go through at such an age. Nobody but my mom, my brother and I know about him having it done. He had to take weeks off work because he could not wear any clothes. So for me, my thoughts were...It was much easier to have it done as an infant then possibly go through years of infections and problems along with the pain of having it done later on. My son was completley healed in about 5-6 days as an infant.

Hi C. -

My 18 month old son is not circumcised. My husband that I have been married to for 17 years is 45 years old and he is not circumsiced. Neither my son or husband has ever had any problems from NOT being circumcised. There are only benefits to not being circumcised. I would stick with you gut and refuse the cutting. L.

C.,
My son is 14 months and has not had any problems thus far. We don't do anything differently than if he were circ'd. We just didn't see the need to do it, and he was a preemie, so he had already been through enough. I hope that you hear from some moms of older children, too.

L.

My uncircumcized son is now 6 years old. He has never had any problems, nor has the pediatrician mentioned any worries to me. After all, why would nature provide this skin if it were not a natural part of the body? Mothering Magazine has a great issue on this topic. If you pick up a magazine at your local coop or Whole Foods, you can order this back-issue. Or, check them out on line at www.mothering.com.
All the best!

My son is two and uncircumcised. I will admit, I'd never really given it much thought, until my husband (who is circ'd, by the way) insisted that we not. He explained to me that there's no medical or hygenical reason for it, and as we have no religious reasons, I agreed not to. After our son was born, however, I did some research, and was so very glad my husband spoke up.

This is the profile page for a LiveJournal community about parenting intact little boys, and it has tons of great resources. If you're a LiveJournal member, you should join the community too!

http://intactparenting.livejournal.com/profile

My father was uncircumcised and has had quite a few problems with infections. I don't know how early the problems started, but he's seen the doctor regularly through adulthood. It basically results from not cleaning under the forskin well enough. He had told us that he wished he had been circumcised, so when my son was born, we had the procedure performed.

C.,

You made a decision that you felt was best for YOUR son. That's the key here, he is your son. My husband did a ton of research on circumcisions before we had our son. What he discovered is that the percentage of men who have problems with being uncircumcised is virtually the same as the percentage of circumcisions that are "botched" or cause injury (about 5%). My husband made the decision because I did not care either way and our son is uncircumcised. My advice: go with your gut, and follow your pediatrician's instructions on keeping it clean. Infections occur when men do not clean themselves well enough, so I would make sure to educate your son as he ages about how to properly clean himself.

Good luck!

My sons were all circumcized going on information I received from the doctor when my oldest son was born. He said when they are older (meaning..at an age where caring for themselves was difficult they would be more prone to infections).
Also my husband (who is not) doesn't have a problem with it however other boys in the showers during gym class often harrassed him. Once he was in junior high they all HAD to take showers together and it caused him to be picked on IN and OUTSIDE of gym class.

Hi C.:

I only have daughters......if we would have had a son my husband and I wouldn't have circumcized

I have a friend that circumcized their son and the boy needed another surgery at 2 due to problems from the circumcision.

My advice is do what feels right.

K.

I did quite a bit if research myself on this topic while pregnant with my son. In the end, we did decide to go through with it, it was not a religious decision more of a 'family' one, more of my husband's decision rather than my own. I have read a few topics on infections and other medical issues deriving from not being circumsized. Also my sister's child's father and fiance' was not, he is 25 and considering having it done, apparantly he is very self concious of the way 'it' looks since he had not had the procedure done, he feels like he looks odd. I've also heard of children having to have it done later in life due to medical reasons. Other than that, I haven't heard too much about it. I think it is more of a personal decision, whatever you feel is best. My opinion, it is the same decision as peircing your infant daughter's ears without obtaining her desire and consent to do so. Again, it is a personal preference and whatever you do decide to do, all you need to worry about is whether it was the right decision for you, your family and your child.

Good luck!

Savannah

I have two sons my oldest is four and the other is one. Neither one of them are circumcised. I couldn't strap them down and listin to them scream. No thank you. I have had no troubles with either of them so far. Yeah they do have to learn to pull the skin back when they take a bath but the skin will not fully retract until they are over two years anyways. The biggest reason that I decided to not do it to my kids is cause I think it is really up to them. It isn't my choice. It is harder to put something back then to take it away. Plus I have heard so many horror stories about things and sorry just best to leave it alone for my kids. They were made that way for a reason so best to keep it that way unless it posses major health risk and it doesn't.

I wouldn't be worried at all if I were you. Your son will not know the difference at all. My son doesn't even care that he looks different then his dad. His cousin is 6 and he isn't either. They just think it is totally normal they don't know any other way. I think you made a great choice and you shouldn't feel worried about it at all.

My son is 17 months, uncircumcized and has never had a problem. My 5 year old nephew is also uncircumcized and has never had a problem. I am pregnant with boy #2 and won't have him circumcized either.

My OB when I was PG with my son asked us if we were planning to circumcize, and when I said no, she said "good, then you don't get the lecture". She saw no medical reason to have the procedure done.

I encourage you to do what feels right to you and your husband, and disregard family members who don't understand or think it is a bad decision. My mother-in-law is a nurse at Childrens and ALL I HEARD about the first few months was how many problems we were going to have with our son because he isn't circumcized. She works in the out-patient clinic for day surgery and I swear the way she told it every boy that she took care of was having a circumcizion... her way of telling us we were making a mistake by not having our son circumcized. I am so glad that we didn't cave in to her pressure to have it done because so far we have never had a problem, and I am not worried about it. Our pediatrician is also supportive of our choice. MOST of men in the world are uncircumcized... the way I see it, that's the way they are born, it seems like how they are supposed to be.

J.

Hi C.,
I am 28 and I have a son who is 4 years old who is not circumcized. He has not had any problems and neither has his father who is also not circumcized. It is a preference, and when your child gets older and starts to shower/bathe himself, he just needs to know how to properly cleanse the skin. When they are young, it is important not to pull the skin back because the skin isn't ready to be pulled back until a little later in life. As the child grows, the skin will naturally become moveable and you can push the skin back to clean the head properly, but that is as the child gets a bit older. My son is 4 and still I do not pull the skin back but just clean him very well with soap in the bathtub. His father has never had any health issues or infections. It is important just to stress proper cleaning in the shower every day as they get older and they will be fine.

Hi C.,

We had the circ. done for our son because we wanted it (no religious reasons) and don't regret it at all. My sister-in-law didn't have it done for my nephew (after extensive research and finding that about half of boys are and half aren't) and he had several infections. They almost had to do it when he was 3 (which seems way worse than as a newborn). She runs a daycare and has found that about 90% of the boys in her area are circumcized.

I know someone who did have to have done as a young boy because of infection. I also know an adult whose parents opted to leave him as-is and he wishes they had done it. He considers having it done but doesn't want to go through the procedure as an adult.

I was on the fence about the issue even up to the moment our doc came to do it at the hospital. I still remember what she said to me. "You're chosing to do this. There's no medical reason for this procedure." I agreed. She said, "That being said, have I seen little boys have lots of infections being uncircumcized? Have I seen several adults have it done for cosmetic and hygene issues? Have I seen ederly men have it done in the nursing home because of infection? Did I do it for my own son? Yes." I knew at that point that I was doing what was right for my family, and that's all that really matters. You need to decide what's best for your son's physical and emotional health and well-being.

Good luck!!

My son is two months old. He is uncircumsised. I agonized about it right up until they handed him to me after he was born. I decided he was perfect just the way he is. I just can't agree with the idea that we are born needing surgical improvement. He did just have a urinary tract infection, but the staff at Childrens didn't say anything about it having to do with him being uncircumsized. In fact, the only thing anyone said about it was "good". The only thing I am worried about is knowing when to start retracting it to wash since the age at which it becomes retractable is different for all boys. My husband would have chosen to have it done since he is and he worries about our son being teased. But he left it up to me and I think enough people are opting not to do it these days that by the time he is an adolescent he won't be the odd one out in the locker room.

I know one boy who needed to be circumcised when he was 10 due to some problem - I can't remember exactly what it was, (he was my dad's then-fiance's son, about 10 years ago), but I know many boys who have no problem. There is a very low risk of any problems, so hearing one anecdote shouldn't change your mind. Keep up the good work!
Sue

I have 2 sons - both are circumsized - I wouldn't have it any other way for 2 reasons - cleanliness and looking different in the locker room. I will also tell you that my 65 year old father 3 weeks ago had to have surgery to be circumsized - he was delivered by a midwife on a farm 65 years ago and they didn't do circumsisions - needless to say - he is now circumsized. Very beneficial to do it.

I have family members who didn't and not only did they get teased, and wasn't comfortable when they hit the time for relations but my sister is a RN and says she's seen maany problems with unclenliness, infection, etc. My twins were circumcised they are 4.5 yrs old and no problem. Not to mention they numbed they first. I'd do some research and ask a couple opions of dr.'s they will all have different suggestions and opions. Hope this helps.
C.

Although I don't have a boy, I am a childbirth education instructor for a local hospital and when people ask me about circumcision pros/cons I refer them to the Circumcision Information Resource Center of Colorado at www.coloradonocirc.org They have a lot of helpful information. I do have a friend with 3 boys whom were not circumcised (which most research states is not medically necessary but done for esthetically pleasing reasons), and she did have to later have 1 of the boys circumcised around age 5-6 as he had some infection issues. However, I've read that this is very uncommon and unlikely when boys clean themselves properly so it's just important that uncircumcised boys are taught properly how to go potty early on. I think potty training and cleanliness are an issue for many little boys! My sister has 3 boys and her youngest is almost 6. Instead of wiping his butt after pooping he sticks a wad of toilet paper in his underpants! All children just need guidance to learn how to do most things and there are no expections for potty training. Good luck!

My 2 sons are 12 months and 1 month now, and I did not have either one circumsized - no problems so far. My dad went home and researched the internet for us while we were still in the hospital with boy #1. He found it described as a traditional mutilation. I'm glad we didn't do it.