to circumcise or not?

[smashley]

We didn't, where I live it's become a lot less common to circ little boys. Hardly any DR's are doing it anymore. So LO would have been the odd man out if he had been. We thought if we can explain the difference between mommy and LO's bits, than I'm sure we can figure out a way to explain the difference between LO and daddy (OH is circ'd). I'm not against it for others, but was definitely not for it for my LO.
Personally I don't think it has anything to do with your mom, no offense. My mom was similar in her beliefs as she's old school, but it was a decision for me and OH.
Good luck hun!

It doesn't have anything to do with my mom, but try telling her that! lol. This is her first grandbaby. I love her very much, but I'm not going to circumcise just because she wants me to. I have four months to think about what is in my baby's best interests.

 

[Sugababe82]

Not in the UK, no - very uncommon.

Not to sound like a wh*re, but i have slept with Americans and Brits and theres no difference in that department!

I honestly dont think circumcision is necessary in this day and age.

The main arguements ive had about it, and when i say arguments, i mean discussions is purely 'hygiene'. Also about the 'whys daddy different to me' has cropped up.

My main come back on the hygiene issue is this:

YOU STILL HAVE TO WASH UR GENITALS WHETHER U HAVE FORESKIN OR NOT!!!

As for 'daddy' being different - daddy might have tattoos etc but it doesnt mean to say ur toddler has to get inked. Daddy and baby are two separate people and just cos theyre dingle-dangles arent the same, it doesnt mean daddy doesnt love him any less!

 

[Jess812]

OH GOD DONT DO IT!!!!

Ima brit, and ive dated American guys before, and in the bar conversations usually drift onto the obvious!

Now, im told - by many an American male, that the reason this procedure is so common / popular in the states, is that it is one of hygiene.

My argument is this:

When your little baby boy, your son, is born, He is born PERFECT. HE doesnt come out with an instruction manual with a little dotted line across his little perfect winky saying 'cut here'
NO!
Because humans were designed perfect - and in some cases admittedly, flaws do come into play but in general, they need no TAMPERING with.

LEAVE HIS THANG ALONE!!!!

Your son will be born perfect - all you need to worry about is loving and looking after him!!

IF circumcision is 'that' important to him, when he is of an age to decide for himself whether he wants to cut a teeny piece of skin of his own penis, then let him be the judge of that.

I would urge you to refrain.

Obviously you need to decide yourself, but like i said before, babies are born perfect. They require no cosmetic alterations.

I agree. Im british, and to be honest this NEVER even came up in my mind 'if we have a boy' which i have a feeling we are. I didnt for a second think about circumcision

Im not been biased either as my DH had his done when a baby but due to problems with not been able to pee properly or something ?
Anyway why do cosmetic surgery on your baby boy when not needed? Men with their forskin are still as clean (if shown correctly how to clean) which im sure you can do to teach him.

Is it a USA thing to get done no matter what ??

 

[MyFavSurprise]

I had made a post like this before as well, and one of the ladies said that her husband is not cut and she is totally happy with it, but one thing that happens sometimes is when they are intimate they notice blood and after checking out to see the cause, they've found it is his foreskin because it is tighter when pulling back than it should be and causes tearing.

I'm sure it's not common and I'm not pro or against, I think it's all personal, but just a note that I'd thought was interesting.

 

[smashley]

Lisaf - for some reason my phone won't let me quote you!

The appendix is also not routinely taken off newborn babies as the foreskin is?

Also when using a condom the foreskin should be fully retracted before putting it on so I don't get how it makes a difference?

Don't want to stir anything, just wanted to point them out

I'm guessing they're uncomfortable because the head is really sensitive on an uncircumcised guy.

 

[Sugababe82]

When your little baby boy, your son, is born, He is born PERFECT. HE doesnt come out with an instruction manual with a little dotted line across his little perfect winky saying 'cut here'
.

Just to play devils advocate a bit here, the appendix doesn't come with a dotted line either but it often has to be removed when there is a problem! (I know an inflammed organ is a totally different thing than a healthy foreskin... just saying the dotted line analogy doesn't exactly hold true!)


We do many things for cosmetic reasons... pierce ears etc...


The only pro-circ argument I can really come up with is that many guys I know who are uncut have had trouble finding condoms that fit well.... of course as more guys grow up uncut, they will have to come up with foreskin-friendlier condoms. But it IS something I have heard from several guys who weren't cut.

Remove when there is a problem - you dont take appendix's out of babies when theyre born just incase do you - so why cut the foreskin off because as a parent you envisage it becoming unclean????

Makes no sense!

 

[lisaf]

Lisaf - for some reason my phone won't let me quote you!

The appendix is also not routinely taken off newborn babies as the foreskin is?

Also when using a condom the foreskin should be fully retracted before putting it on so I don't get how it makes a difference?

Don't want to stir anything, just wanted to point them out

No problem with being pointed out... and yes I agree that the appendix is not routinely taken out when there is no problem. In fact, you could argue that the appendix is a good analogy for the foreskin... we DONT mess with the appendix until its a problem, so why don't we leave the foreskin alone unless there's a problem?

I just didn't like the dotted line comment because NOTHING comes out with a dotted line... heck.. HAIR doesn't grow a dotted line when its time to cut it

And I don't know if there are better brands of condoms available in some places, or if guys just use the foreskin as an excuse ... but I have heard it from multiple sources that the foreskin just doesn't fit well under the tight condom.

 

[Kate83]

Im from the Uk. I do not know of anyone who has been circumcised. As for condoms not issues there either. I dont know, i think im not objective as i dont know anyone that has had it done, but i wouldnt do it to my son in less it was absolutley necessary for a real medical reason, not a 'what if one day' reason.

 

[RosieCheeks]

DH and I have decided that if we are having a boy, we will NOT be circumcising. DH isn't and I truly feel that there is no need for it.

DH has never had a problem with putting on a condom and I have never had any hygiene issues with DH.

Also, DH and I are both Sicilian and its not very common to circumcise in Italy and Sicily.

 

[smashley]

OH GOD DONT DO IT!!!!

Ima brit, and ive dated American guys before, and in the bar conversations usually drift onto the obvious!

Now, im told - by many an American male, that the reason this procedure is so common / popular in the states, is that it is one of hygiene.

My argument is this:

When your little baby boy, your son, is born, He is born PERFECT. HE doesnt come out with an instruction manual with a little dotted line across his little perfect winky saying 'cut here'
NO!
Because humans were designed perfect - and in some cases admittedly, flaws do come into play but in general, they need no TAMPERING with.

LEAVE HIS THANG ALONE!!!!

Your son will be born perfect - all you need to worry about is loving and looking after him!!

IF circumcision is 'that' important to him, when he is of an age to decide for himself whether he wants to cut a teeny piece of skin of his own penis, then let him be the judge of that.

I would urge you to refrain.

Obviously you need to decide yourself, but like i said before, babies are born perfect. They require no cosmetic alterations.

I agree. Im british, and to be honest this NEVER even came up in my mind 'if we have a boy' which i have a feeling we are. I didnt for a second think about circumcision

Im not been biased either as my DH had his done when a baby but due to problems with not been able to pee properly or something ?
Anyway why do cosmetic surgery on your baby boy when not needed? Men with their forskin are still as clean (if shown correctly how to clean) which im sure you can do to teach him.

Is it a USA thing to get done no matter what ??

I'm guessing it is a US thing, at least among the guys I have been with. I probably sound pretty skanky, but I've always been in committed relationships btw.

OH is Mexican and is the only uncircumcised guy I have been with. Maybe he's not circumcised because he's not from the US??

 

[moonbeam_sea]

I just wanted to say that I feel for you. We didn't get my son circumcised, and my family is adamantly pro circumcision. Things were a bit awkward initially, but after my son was born, thankfully, my family dropped the issue but not until they brought it up a few times early in my son’s life. I just explained to them that I understood the concern, but we made the best decision we could as parents, and they had to deal with it. Thankfully they had enough tact to drop things after that. Of course, if this one turns out to be a boy as well they’ll probably bring it up again, oh well. I didn’t see the need to do a surgical operation on my son for conformity. In the end, it’s your decision, and you should base it on what you learn from your research, not on what your parents want you to do. Good luck!

 

[Kimmer]

I'm from the UK and I'm very much anti cut. I couldn't imagine having a tiny new born baby boy, then letting the doctors cut a bit of him off.. for no reason other than some girl 20 years down the line might think it looks 'weird'. All willies look weird to me!

My husband isn't cut, he;s never had any problems with health or with condoms. I don't see a need for it.

I even went out with a Jewish guy once, he wasn't cut. His mum told him that even though it's in their religion, she refused to make needless alterations without a medical need.

I don't understand why people say 'if they have it done when they're babies, it's much less traumatic than having it off when they're older and have a problem'.. To me, that's like saying 'I'm gonna cut my leg off now because apparently it really hurts if you break it'.

I know opinions in the US and UK are very different

 

[smashley]

Lisaf - for some reason my phone won't let me quote you!

The appendix is also not routinely taken off newborn babies as the foreskin is?

Also when using a condom the foreskin should be fully retracted before putting it on so I don't get how it makes a difference?

Don't want to stir anything, just wanted to point them out

No problem with being pointed out... and yes I agree that the appendix is not routinely taken out when there is no problem. In fact, you could argue that the appendix is a good analogy for the foreskin... we DONT mess with the appendix until its a problem, so why don't we leave the foreskin alone unless there's a problem?

I just didn't like the dotted line comment because NOTHING comes out with a dotted line... heck.. HAIR doesn't grow a dotted line when its time to cut it

And I don't know if there are better brands of condoms available in some places, or if guys just use the foreskin as an excuse ... but I have heard it from multiple sources that the foreskin just doesn't fit well under the tight condom.

Maybe there was not enough extra room at the tip of the condom. We always had trouble because his issues and I'm allergic to latex. And a burning twat is not a pleasant feeling. lol

 

[luckyme225]

My first son is uncircumcised and this one will be too. It was a hard decision to make because my husband is circumcised and I'm sure my family expected him to be. Being from the healthcare background I just asked my co-workers on what they thought and info for both sides. I have to say that most of their boys were uncircumcised, which was surprising since they had kids during a time were it was really uncommon in the US. In the end I decided that not getting cut was the best decision for my son, but whats right for one person may not be right for another.

 

[bellablue]

US use to be big into circ now i think it is not as populour any more more people not doing it and like some one said before its not a hygeine problem you have to wash your private parts any way it doesnt make some one less clean

 

[Kim T]

When it comes to cleanliness; will you tech your gorgeous boy to clean behind his ears? Well, i'm sure you can just tech him to clean his penis properly too .

When i speak to girls of my age (23), they don't seem to care whether a guy is circumcised or not. No one seems to think that it is 'less attractive' or 'unhygienic' as we are all becoming far more educated on the subject.

There are lots of people who are 'for circumcision' and lots of people that are 'against circumcision', but don't let ANYONE make the decision for you. That is completely YOUR decision and your PARTNERS decision.
And if you do become swayed from your current decision (which sounds as if you would like to leave it alone), then please make it an educated decision. Surgery is surgery at the end of the day.

 

[lisaf]

The US is actually becoming more and more anti-circ... I heard insurance doesn't even really cover it as its not 'necessary' anymore.
BUT it is still close to 50% who get cut.

If my DH was against it, I'd go with it... but he's for it
I'm trying to decide if I should fight him on it or not.

 

[bellablue]

I feel bad for people who have to make the desicion when i found out i was having a girl i was so happy! the men in my family have had it done the men are my dad and 2 uncles and my nana is from england so she did it this was inthe 50's

My husband is not circ it was not big where he was from and he is clean as a whistle! and he was the most populour kid in school the boys in the locker room dont stare at there freinds bits!

My husband said if we were having a boy it would be up to me i wouldn't of done it personally

but i think you and hubby go with what you feel

 

[luckyme225]

Lisa- Insurance normally doesn't pay for it because it's billed as cosmetic, though maybe it depends on the plan. I had a PPO with my first and they said that it would cost $400 out of pocket (2008).

 

[smashley]

I things may be easier later on if he is like his dad. Then OH can teach him manly cleaning and whatever guys teach their sons.