I wish that all expecting parents would look at this website before having children. When my son was born I had him circumcised because I thought all boys
were.  Shortly after we were discharged from the hospital we began changing the dressing and doing all of the things we were told regarding his
circumcision.  On our next checkup to the pediatrician he informed me that some of the remaining skin had adhered back to the raw head of his penis and
that this needed to be separated.  He then pulled with one quick jerk and the skin was separated of course not without my son screaming so load that the
whole office must have heard him.  I ask him if a lot of baby boys have this problem to which he replied “only circumcised ones”.  He went on to say that if I
had ask for his opinion prior to giving birth he would have discouraged me from having it done as it is not necessary and then we would not be having these
type of problems.  He said that with an uncircumcised penis there is really nothing to do but rinse it off with warm water.  Needless to say I was not only mad
at this doctor for not talking to me about circumcision prior to having it done but was mad at myself for putting my baby through something that he did not
have to go through.

                              Stephanie
                              Kansas City, KS
Glad to see there is a website out there to inform parents about circumcision.
When my sister had her first son I happened to be at the hospital the day he was circumcised.  They nurse came into the room took her happy little boy and
left stating she would be back.  As it turned out her room was just across the hall from where they did the procedure.  So as we begin to talk we were soon
interrupted by his crying but our hearts really sank when we heard his blood curdling scream.  Years later when I started to have children I ask many
questions of my pediatrician regarding circumcision only to come to the conclusion that it was not necessary.  I guess people are just to set in their ways to
think that they the parents must make this decision for the baby.  I am now the proud mother of 3 (two boys and one girl).  My two boys were not circumcised
and we have had no problems.
                              Julie
                              Cleveland, OH
My parents did not have me circumcised as a child and I am so glad.  I would have been really upset with them as it is my body and I should have the right to
decide what is done.

                              Doug
                              Salina, KS
I’m happy to see a website to help inform parents in hopes that they will question this practice and not just follow what others are doing.  My baby was born
perfect which is the way God created him and every other male baby born on this planet.  Who are we to say God made a mistake which we must correct?

                              Jennifer
                              Tulsa, OK
Hi! My name is Cari and I and my hubby Jay have 3 kids (1 boy and 2 girls). My hubby is circ'd but is planning on undergoing restoration.  Our son is NOT circ'd
nor will any of our sons be cut. I am very much against circumcision and would never do that to my child. He is now 5 and has never had any problems with
being left the way god intended.
However his 5 year old cousin who is cut has had numerous problems with his. Anyway, we are fortunate to live in an area where circumcision is the lowest in
the country (Seattle) and I have never had any issue with anyone about it. My hubby's two younger brothers are also uncut and have never had any problems
either. I hope that one day we will make it to the point where the cut ones are the ones who are abnormal.
                              Cari
                              Seattle, WA
When I joined the military in 1993 I was given a thorough physical. The doctor marked "abnormal" on the section of the form regarding genitals. When I ask the
doctor about this he commented that it was because I was circumcised.  I just thought it was interesting that even the military considers a circumcised penis
"abnormal".
                              Jeff
                              Offutt, NE
As for my sons, I feel terrible about what we have put them through by getting them circumcised; they both had complications from the surgeries. When oldest
was a baby (now he's three) the skin re-attached to the glans and the pediatrician literally ripped that skin back on several visits making him scream and bleed
and the doctor never gave warning about what was about to happen, only that he would "fix" that. Our youngest has a hidden penis as a result of  his
circumcision (he's one-year old.) Very soon after the circ, his penis "disappeared"  and he was left with what looks like a doughnut. His penis only comes out if
we press on the area to make it pop out, but this causes him a lot of discomfort. When he was younger we thought maybe it was because he was a chubby
baby and just had a lot of fat in the pubic area, but now that he has slimmed down, the hidden penis has not self corrected. Now I see on the Nocirc brochure
that it is called a "buried penis" and may require surgery.

                              Becky
                              Chattanooga, TN
I had posted a request on a website forum about not being sure if we should have our son circumcised. We didn't have it done at birth because I knew that he
was made perfectly and I saw no reason to change him. However, lots of family pressure had me second-guessing myself.  After finding some websites like
this one, they really made me trust my gut instinct, and I am absolutely NOT going to go through with it. I'm disappointed in myself for even considering it. I
watched a video yesterday of the procedure being done. I cried, felt sick to my stomach, and I actually couldn't finish watching it. I think it should be a
requirement that every pregnant couple should watch a video so they know exactly what is being done to their babies. I bet most of them would change their
minds about having it done.  Thank you so much for having this website. I never would have known there was so much information out there about this :-)  

                              Heather,
                              Bangor, Maine
I had to fight the hospital staff to keep Jake from being circumcised. They actually implied that I was a bad mother for refusing. Thank goodness I had a great
OB that does not believe in circumcision and neither does my family doctor.

                              Melanie
                              Houston, TX
What do you think the benefits of circumcision are?
What do you know about the after care of an amputated foreskin?
What have you read about circumcision? Have you seen video of the procedure?

As a health care professional  these questions will open up discussion of areas that parents might not have thought about. Many women who get educated
about circumcision too late say "I wish my doula, nurse, midwife or doctor had told me about all the harms of the procedure." Most parents do not know that a
number of boys die every year as a result of this unnecessary surgery not to mention the huge number of botched procedures leaving the child with a less than
attractive scar. There are many forums where you can read stories of women who regret circumcising - the stories are heart-breaking.
            
                 Theresa
                 Florence, MO
My reasons for not circumcising my son were simple: It horrified me when I thought of my newborn having anything sliced off, and to eliminate the most
sensitive place often with NO anesthetic was absolutely beyond my sense of what was "right."   Fortunately, my research backed up my thinking, especially the
long-term studies done in England -- which stopped routine circumcisions in 1948. Second, I had been lucky enough to have had sex with both intact and
circumcised men in my happy youth, and all I can say as a woman is that "moving parts are better!"
            
                 Connie
                 Macon, GA
My youngest son is intact even though his father and older brother were all circ’d.  When he was around 15     I asked him if he was okay with not being
circumcised, and his emphatic response was “Why on earth would anybody care what my genitals look like!!”  He’s had sleepovers with friends, Boy Scout camp,
gym class, etc., yet when I asked him if any of his friends were also intact, he honestly didn’t know.  He had never bothered to pay any attention to the matter one
way or the other and totally could care less what anyone else’s penis looks like nor had anyone ever said anything about his anatomy.  The fact that he wears
glasses has been a far bigger issue among other kids.  

                 Angie
                 Adam, FL
Being 7 months pregnant with a long awaited boy child has sensitized me to this particular subject. To cut...or not to cut? Daddy is cut...will it make a difference if
his son isn't? Will he suffer ridicule and scorn in the locker room a few years down the road. I've read and read and read some more...but it boils down to
something very basic for me.  I can't wrap my head around performing cosmetic surgery on an hours old infant to conform to some outdated "standard" of
society. In my eyes...it would be exactly as the same as saying...you know...his chin is a little too wide...can we shave a little off before we take the boy home?
Nonsense! No one will approach my child for a medical procedure without valid reasons. Especially not with a scalpel in hand! We plan to leave that wee little
penis alone. We'll deal with explaining the difference when he's old enough to ask about it and explain that we loved him and couldn't stand to make
unnecessary changes to his perfect body.

                 JoAnn
                 Baldwin City, KS
As an Intern I like surgery and usually like my rotations. I get to operate all day and then just come home. Our patients are rarely seriously ill and have few
post-operative complications. The only bad part about being an Intern is that we have to do circumcisions.  Which I hate hate HATE doing. I think it's dumb that
ob/gyns get stuck doing them. We practice medicine and operate on the reproductive tracts of adult women. How the hell did I get stuck slicing the foreskin of
newborn baby boy penis?

First, I have to go consent the mother. I always take great pains to explain that this is an ELECTIVE procedure, meaning NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY, and we
are only doing it ELECTIVELY. I also explain the usual risks of infection, bleeding, blah blah complications, but the most important risk is the risk that what looks
like a good circumcision to me may not look like a good circumcision to them. Though, for most of the circs I've done, I think we can all agree that I haven't
produced some good-looking penis.  NOTE: This is a cosmetic issue only. I know what I'm doing enough to take the foreskin off in a clean and safe manner
with no harm to the head of the penis.  These babies will urinate and have babies of their own in the future, but they won't have the most attractive penis in the
world. Sometimes I'm just a little uneven in the actual amount of foreskin I remove from the front and back. There's a lot of that stuff to go around, and it's awfully
wrinkly and bunchy.

The best part about consenting patients (or in this case their moms) is that occasionally one will say no
and just flat-out refuse the procedure. In this case, where it's an elective procedure that I hate doing, I
am completely joyful and try not to show it. In fact, I would like to make every parent observe a circumcision prior to them consenting for their own child.

                Valerie
                Kansas City, MO
Here in Europe, boys don't get circumcised, unless they are Jewish or Muslim. Since there is no real health issue there is no reason for doing it.  I view it as a
rather barbaric custom.  I was very surprised to learn that in the US, it has been the norm to do it until pretty recently as it is viewed by some as unhygienic
(smelly and totally disgusting). Things are changing and medical authorities are now recognizing that there is no real need to "snip", but parents continue the
practice by using some pretty crazy excuses. My favorite is of course that "He has to look like his Dad". Do these people live at home constantly naked and
comparing their anatomical parts? Or "It reduces the rates of HIV infection". What sort of parents tell their kids "we got you circumcised because we thought it
would protect you from AIDS if you sleep around"? Have they never heard of safe sex? And what about the hygienic excuse, as if boys don't have access to
running water and soap?

                Katrina
                UK
I'm appalled when I hear parents say they want their son to look like the father. 1.  Was it the fathers choice to be cut or is this the look he is grown accustom to?
 2.  How often does you husband compare our think about his father's penis?  3.  Do they really want their son's penis to have the same ugly scar?
As parents we raise our children by teaching them that everyone is different in looks and in actions so how someones privates any different?

              Rachel
              Emporia, KS
I’m a mom of 3 kids - 2 boys and a girl - and I’m also a nurse.
My advice on the circumcision is don’t do it. I had my first son circumcised and he almost bled to death from the surgery. He had to spend a few days in the
intensive care nursery to monitor him. He’s fine now but it was very scarey at the time. Complications like his are rare but they can happen.
I went back to college and became a nurse before I had my other two children. I learned that circumcision caries no real medical benefit but it does carry some
risk (which I had already seen firsthand). The best thing circumcision can do is lower the already low risk of male urinary infection. That small percentage of
boys who get urinary infections can be effectively treated with antibiotics just like little girls.
My second son was left intact (uncircumcised) and never has had a problem with health or hygiene. Neither the circumcised or uncircumcised son was any
more difficult to keep clean or teach to use the toilet than the other one or even their sister.  It was all very easy.

              Wanda
              Hutchinson, KS
I'll never forget when my brother was born as he was circumcised by the doctor without my parents permission.  My parents were so upset and my mother cried
for days.

           Theresa
           Fargo, ND
Right before my son was born, I watched some videos on the procedure and nearly fainted. I consider myself tough but that was too much. I researched it a little
and came to the decision that his parts are not mine to decide to hack apart. If he wants to do it when he is older, that is his deal.
In the meantime, it is pretty low-maintenance and no biggie.

            Jill
            Arcadia, AR
I have just had my boy done on Monday. I wish I had followed my own feelings and not done it. He is in so much pain it is unreal. He also slept a lot after the
procedure as if he was in shock.  They gave me Tylenol for him which seemed to help but now all he wants to due is sleep.  I do not mean to scare you but I have
never seen a child in so much pain.

              Glenda
              Casey, AR
I didn't circumcise my son at birth, just like I wouldn't pierce my daughter's ears at birth. It is the child's body to do with as they will. It is my task to keep their body
as healthy as possible until they are mature enough to make their own decisions about their own body.

              Grace
              Adams, MO
My two sons, ages 10 and 7, are not circumcised - I thought, why put them through surgery if they don't need it? When they were old enough to notice some are
different (although most of their friends are not circumcised either), I gently tried to explain some parents choose to have the foreskin removed - both were
horrified and said "But mommy, that would hurt! I'm glad you didn't do that to me." Kids tend to get it right off, it's easier to explain you left them just the way they
were born than to explain you had part of their penis removed. Besides, if you lived in Europe or anywhere else, you wouldn't be making a "decision" because it
simply isn't done (unless you have religious reasons). Boys and men in Europe seem to be just fine with their foreskins (in fact, their rates of STDs and HIV are
far lower than the US).

              Heather,
              Alden, IA
I decided long ago that I will not circumcise a son. My mom is a nurse who had to assist with circumcisions once in a while, and she said it broke her heart to
see newborn boys in so much obvious, excruciating pain. I recommend watching video of one being performed: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/163488/562046      
                            
              Randy
              Hays, KS
We just had a baby boy and we chose not to circumcise him despite the fact that my husband is circumcised. Before I got pregnant I assumed that I would
definitely circumcise my baby because I thought the benefits were huge -- surely they must be since so many people do it, right? Once we knew we were having
a boy, I decided to do some research about circumcision and I subsequently changed my mind. It seems to me that this decision is essentially a cultural one
(and this did not come into play for us, since we're neither Muslim nor Jewish). It seemed to me that from a medical point of view it makes no sense to do it --
the evidence is so thin. But the most important issue for me was a question of ethics. The more I thought about it, the more I became uncomfortable with the
idea of removing a part of my baby's body. If he wants to be circumcised for whatever reason, then he can have the procedure done himself. Sure it's more
painful later on, but a little pain does not trump autonomy over one's body.

              Alice
              Lincoln, NE
My son (now 4) was circumcised. I did not have any doubts as to whether or not we'd have it done. We did it for many reasons...everything from possibly reducing
the risk of STD's to looking like daddy. However I would not do it again due to complications and problems my son has had to go through.
I thought I was tending it properly afterwards (pulling the skin back, applying vaseline/antibiotic cream, changing the gause), but my poor little guy ended up with
an adhesion (where the remaining skin healed back to the glans) which in time as he grew, restricted his normal range of motion for those little erections all
little boys get. Therefore we had to re-circ him at the tender age of 6 months, involving anesthesia and the whole shebang. If I could do it all over again, I would
not have had him circumcised.

              Rebecca
              Bixby, OK
I am a maternity RN so I am always around circumcision.  I choose not to help with circumcisions and I refuse to be responsible for the care of a freshly
circumcised penis although I will care for its owner and his mother.  Last week I was caring for a boy who was circ'd 2 hrs before I came on.  He had big clot on it
so it needed to be watched longer than the usual 2 hrs.  I brought the baby to the nursery so another nurse could check it for me and when she did the clot had
fallen off and it was bleeding.  I obviously had to help at this point b/c the baby was kicking around while the other nurse was holding pressure on the wound.  
after it had stopped bleeding we put some stuff on it that helps stop the bleeding.  This worked...kind of...until it fell off.  The baby started to bleed again and it
turned out to need 6 stitches to stop the bleeding.  Needless to say I was horrified. He lost quite a bit of blood, cried a lot, and the mother was very scared.  She
said, "I should have just left it the way it was"

I don't care that there is a "small chance" that complications will happen.  A chance is a chance.  Are you really willing to gamble with your baby boy's penis and/or
life?

This was not the first time I came across a problem.  Sometimes the block doesn't work and the baby screams through the whole thing.  One time the baby
managed to kick out of the circumstraints even though they were tight.  This could have been deadly.  The baby was kicking the doctor who had just made the
dorsal cut and was about to place the clamp.  This baby laid there kicking and screaming on the table while he bled waiting to be restrapped  so the doc could
"safely" finish the procedure all while keeping everything sterile.  I have seen foreskin cut too long so they don't get the benefit of either world, and some so short
the cut line is 1 inch down the 1 1/2 long shaft.  Really it is sad for those little boys who will pee themselves in pain everytime they have an erection and when not
aroused they have a belly button where there penis once was.  And for what reason?  I just don't get it.

I remember another incident in which there was a little baby bleeding so bad that the nurse had to put direct pressure on his freshly circ'd penis. The poor baby
:-(  All the parents kept saying was "he's so brave" RIGHT...because he totally WANTED this to happen.

I also work in a pediatrics office and i see little boys ALL the time that come in because of complications due to their circumcision. Its really sad and it makes me
want to scream. Before i was educated about circumcision i used to think intact boys looked weird, but now i cant even look at a circd little boy without feeling
physically ill...it just looks so wrong.

              Erin
              Dayton, OH
My stepdad is a urologist. I asked him before my son was born whether or not he saw any difference in his practice between circd vs uncircd with incidents of
infection or STD or penile cancer. He said no. He also said his three sons are uncircd. That made up my mind right there. I figure we are born the way we are
supposed to be. If we weren't supposed to have foreskin then it wouldn't be there. Why mess with perfection?

              Wendy
              Anaheim, CA
I have two sons both of which were circumcised.  The first one cried but not like the second one which cried for over an hour and every time his diaper was
changed for the first couple of days, he winced.
Both procedures were essentially identical but after I saw the pain my youngest was in I regretted our decision. Their temperaments are so different that
circumcision didn't seem to bother my first but it was terrible to see my infant cry from something elective that I had done to him.
If I am fortunate enough to have another boy, I doubt I will circumcise him. I don't want to hear one of my children cry like that ever again.

              Michelle
              Salem, OR
I live on the West Coast and I don't know anyone who circumcised their (recently born) sons. None of my friends' sons have ever had any problems at all and
they go all the way up to pre-teen age.

My husband is not circumcised and has never had any problems whatsoever. My husband is extremely grateful that his parents left this very personal decision
up to him (since it is HIS body). He also considers the "look like daddy" argument to be wholly ridiculous since he says that baby penises and adult penises look
so different whether or not they're both intact (not circumcised) or circumcised. Mostly he noticed the differences of size and hair and knew that everyone's body
is different.  No big deal.

              Betsy
              Los Angeles, CA
My family is a mixed bag of circumcised and uncircumcised penises. One of my brothers is circumcised and the other one isn't. We don't have a
cultural premise to follow on this one. My Jewish husband on the other hand comes from a tradition of brit milah.  So when I was expecting a son a few years
ago, I considered circumcision.  My husband and I spoke about sons needing to look like their dads, but we rejected that quite quickly. I can't picture teenage
boys hanging about talking about their foreskins with their fathers. After rejecting this argument, we discussed whether he should be circumcised in case he
chose to become Jewish one day. That didn't hold either. In some Jewish movements you don't need to be circumcised to adopt Jewish identity. So we decided
to leave that up to him when and if he wants to become Jewish.  We discussed the research on the relationship between circumcision and HIV/Aids and
determined that he would need to practice safe sex no matter if he had a foreskin or not . I asked my brothers what they thought. They both advised against it. I
consulted doctors, nurses and midwives. Most said we should go ahead but as I continue to discuss the subject with them found out they really did not know
much about the foreskin or what it purpose was.  They were all about the looks and said it was healthier which I knew was not true after all that I had read. One
paediatric surgeon said that unless it is medically necessary, leave the foreskin well alone. Confused? I was.  As my due date came, my husband and I were
still undecided. He was more inclined to do it, I was really not sure. We would wait to make the decision after the birth.  The baby arrived. A big strapping lad.
Beautiful and healthy. My love hormones went into aggressive overdrive. There was not a chance in hell anybody  was going near him with a knife to remove a
part of his perfect little body.  My son is now 2 years old and I feel we made the right decision.

             Rhonda
             Brooklyn, NY