|
I
picked my newborn son up from the adoption agency
September 21, 1983 and took him home. Later when I
changed his diaper I wasn't surprised to find him
circumcised, nor was I upset. It was the done thing to
circumcise babies, most of my friends had their sons
circumcised. I didn't even question it.
My
second son was born January 2, 1997 at 9:10 p.m. Early
the next morning when he was less than a day old a
pediatrician came into the room to give him a check-up.
He took off his diaper and said "Your son will be
circumcised this morning." I replied "No he won't!" The
doctor stopped what he was doing, turned to look at me
for the first time since entering the room, and after
glaring at me so long that I was beginning to feel like
a small child who had done wrong, he said, "Have you
thought about this ?" "Yes I have," I replied, "I
researched it well."
I
was older when my second son was born, less likely to
follow the crowd. When I discovered I was carrying a boy
I decided to do some research on circumcision. When I
was finished I knew my son would not be circumcised. My
next job was to convince my husband who thought that his
boy should look like him. I printed out the information
on circumcision and gave it to him to read. He still
wasn't sure what to do. I asked him if we were carrying
a girl would he want her circumcised and he said no and
that was the end of the debate.
Parenting brings a whole new set of responsibilities. We
have the care of another human being to consider. We
can't follow the crowd when it comes to the most
important job in our lives. These little children are
counting on us to protect them. Here is some of the
information I uncovered while making my decision on
circumcision. Read this article and research the issue
further on your own. Come to a decision based on
collecting all the information you can gather. I am
against circumcision based on the research I have done.
I never found any evidence that showed circumcision is
necessary, but from the information I have read I feel
that circumcision is one of the biggest crimes committed
against our baby boys.
"Whatever is done to stop the terrible practice of
circumcision will be of tremendous importance. There is
no rational medical reason to support it." - Dr.
Frederick Leboyer, author, Birth Without Violence
History of Circumcision in the U.S...
When and why did doctors in the U.S. start performing
circumcisions. Circumcision started toward the end of
the 1800's to prevent masturbation. It was performed
almost exclusively on children and teens on a very
limited basis and rarely on babies. Circumcision was
performed in order to cause damage to the penis.
Removing the foreskin reduced the sexual feelings and
removed mobility of the penis and the desired result was
to prevent masturbation which some doctors believed
caused diseases including epilepsy, tuberculosis and
insanity, asthma, deterioration of joints, alcoholism,
kleptomania, bedwetting, etc, -- any disease for which
there was no known cause at the time.
The American Academy of Pediatrics...
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a
new policy on circumcision. "Circumcision is not
essential to a child's well-being at birth, even though
it does have some potential medical benefits. These
benefits are not compelling enough to warrant the AAP to
recommend routine newborn circumcision." - American
Academy of Pediatrics 1999
Press Release
Note the word "potential" when referring to the medical
benefits. Potential means may or may not develop. Also
the damage caused to the penis during circumcision was
not even addressed. "Two years ago, the Canadian
Pediatric Society concluded that the benefits and harms
of circumcision were 'so evenly balanced' that there was
no valid reason to justify routine male circumcision." -
Ottawa Citizen Online
Urinary tract Infection...
The intact baby has a slightly increased chance of
developing a urinary tract infection in infancy but a
lower incidence of UTI (urinary tract infection) the
rest of his life. UTI's in females are found at rates of
up to 50 times that of males (Understanding Urinary
Tract Infection, Infect Urol 8 (4), 111,114-120, 1995)
and we do not alter their genitalia as a preventative
measure. Most UTI's in the intact male are iatrogenic
(doctor caused) by inspecting, probing and even
retracting the fused foreskin and introducing bacteria
the foreskin is designed to keep out. - Eileen Wayne,
M.D.
"Toronto researchers studied almost 60,000 boys. The
study suggests 195 circumcisions would need to be
performed to prevent one hospital admission for urinary
tract infection in the first year of life. Since a
conservative estimate of the number of significant
complications of circumcision is 2-3%, this would mean
that circumcising nearly 200 boys to prevent one urinary
tract infection would result in at least 4 boys
suffering a major complication to prevent one easily
treatable urinary tract infection." - The Lancet 1998;
352:1813-16
The breast cancer rate is incredibly high but we don't
perform mastectomies on our daughters when they develop
breasts in order to save them from 'potential" breast
cancer.
"Submitting your son to the procedure to prevent urinary
tract infections makes only a little more sense than
buying insurance against being gored by a unicorn in
Riverside." - Eugene Robin, MD, Stanford University
Medical School San Francisco Examiner, Nov 5 1987. p.
E-5
Cancer of the Penis...
Another "potential" benefit you may have heard about is
a lower risk of getting cancer of the penis. This type
of cancer is rare in circumcised and intact men. Penile
cancer affects elderly men with a history of genital
warts, genital rashes, smoking and over thirty sex
partners. The only way to prevent rare cancer of the
penis is to amputate the entire penis.
"Isn't it insulting to the average male's intelligence
to think that surgery is preferable because he can't be
entrusted with washing his genitals when somehow he
manages to brush his teeth, clean his ears and blow his
nose?" - Louanne Cloe, Ph.D. Sexologist San Francisco
Examiner, pB-7, Aug 11, 1993.
The rate of this cancer in America is about the same as
other countries and higher than the rate in intact Japan
and in northern European countries. With so many
circumcised American males we should see a decrease in
our rate of cancer but we don't.
We
would have to circumcise over 200,000 newborns to
possibly prevent cancer in one elderly man and those who
were circumcised would still be at about the same risk.
The American Cancer Society states "Penile cancer is
extremely rare in the United States and accounts for
less than one half a percent of cancers diagnosed among
men and less than one tenth of a percent of cancer
deaths among men. Proven penile cancer risk factors
include having unprotected sexual relations with
multiple partners (increasing the likelihood of human
papillomavirus infection), and cigarette smoking. The
consensus among studies...is circumcision is not of
value in preventing cancer of the penis."
Cervical Carcinoma...
The suggestion that women married to intact men have an
increased risk of cervical cancer has been disproven
many times. "Having intercourse at an early age,
multiple sex partners and smoking are the strongest
factors in contracting this type of cancer." - Elizabeth
Stern, M.D., Peter Neely, Ph.D., "Cancer of the Cervix
in Reference to Circumcision and Marital History,
Journal of the American Women's Association," vol. 17,
no. 9, Sept. 1962
Sexually Transmitted Diseases...
Also suggested is that intact men are at a higher risk
of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. The AAP
states that behavioral factors are more important in
determining a persons risks of contracting diseases. If
you want to do something to help your son avoid sexually
transmitted diseases, education and use of condoms is
the answer. The medical literature shows that
circumcision does not lower the incidence of STD's, but
in fact may increase the risk. ....."the odds of
contracting a bacterial STD triple among the
circumcised." -
"Circumcision in the United States," Journal of the
American Medical Association, April 2, 1997 "...the
incidence of chlamydia may be 25 times higher among
circumcised men." - Time magazine, April 14. 1997
Phimosis...
Circumcision can be recommended as a preventive measure
for phimosis, paraphimosis, and balanoposthitis. "These
problems involve the foreskin directly, so circumcision
prevents problems in the same way as pulling teeth would
prevent cavities.
Phimosis, is a condition that occurs when the opening of
the foreskin is too small to permit the glans to be
uncovered painlessly. This problem cannot be diagnosed
in infancy and childhood because the foreskin is
immovable then. In Europe, the first treatments involve
gentle stretching, sometimes combined with steroid
creams.
Para-phimosis is a similar problem except that when the
foreskin is retracted the opening is tight enough to
restrict blood flow to and from the glans. It is
treatable the same way as phimosis.
"Balanoposthitis
is an infection of the glans and foreskin which is
normally treatable with antibiotics. Surgery should be a
last resort, not an initial treatment." - Wayne Hampton,
Negative Aspects of Routine Infant Circumcision
Psoriasis....
" Psoriasis is found only on the glans of the
circumcised penis." - Robert Van Howe, M.D.
Balanitis...
" Balanitis is an infection of the glans and the
circumcised penis has an increased risk of balanitis." -
Genitorurin Med, 1993.
Circumcision is Surgery...
Lets talk about the possible complications of being
circumcised. First let me point out that circumcision is
surgery. Surgery has inherent risks, risks that you
should be aware of. The most common complications are
local infection, and minor bleeding. "Infection occurs
after circumcision in up to 10% of patients." - Williams
and Kapila, Complications of Circumcision Brit J Surg
v80, Oct 1993, p1231-1236.
Other complications include excessive bleeding,
complications from anesthesia, surgical mistakes,
including loss of glans and loss of the entire penis,
and death. Death doesn't happen often, but for the
parents who's son died from cosmetic surgery, it was
once too often.
"It is an incontestable fact at this point that there
are more deaths each year from complications of
circumcision than from cancer of the penis." - S. Gellis,
M.D., Circumcision Am J Dis Ch, v132 #12 December 1978.
p1168
"Most parents don't know what is actually done to a baby
when he is circumcised. The baby is placed spread-eagle
on his back on a board and his arms and legs are
strapped down so that he can't move. His genitals are
scrubbed and covered with antiseptic. His foreskin is
torn from the glans and slit lengthwise so that the
circumcision instrument can be inserted. Then his
foreskin is cut off, usually without anesthetic." -
National Organization of Circumcision Information
Resource Centers
Pain...
Is circumcision painful? A study that was being
conducted on babies who were circumcised without pain
killer was ended early to prevent any more babies from
being subjected to the operation without anesthesia.
"The researchers discovered that not only was there
severe pain but an increased risk of choking and
breathing difficulties." - Atlanta (CNN)
It
is now recommended that parents insist on the use of
pain killer during the procedure but it has been argued
that injecting anesthesia can be as painful as
circumcision itself. Some say that babies don't remember
the pain but we know that young children can experience
trauma and that although they may not remember, it can
cause emotional problems.
Maria Fitgerald of University College London writes in
the Medical Research Council's journal that "Reports in
clinical and psychological literature indicate early
injury or trauma can have long-term
consequences on sensory or pain behavior that extend
into childhood and beyond." - Circumcision Resource
Center
A
report in the New England Journal of Medicine states
that babies do feel severe pain from the procedure, in
fact more than older children and adults. The study
recommends anaesthesia and pain management for
circumcision. The report also mentions that even when
anaesthesia is attempted, it is not always successful,
and the use of anaesthesia adds risks to the procedure.
Topical anesthetics are woefully inadequate.
"Most babies scream frantically when their foreskins are
cut off. Some defecate, some lapse into a coma. The
reason some babies don't cry when they are circumcised
is that they can't cry because they are in a state of
shock." - National Organization of Circumcision
Information Resource Centers
A little about the foreskin....
" The foreskin contains thousands of highly sensitive
sensory receptors called Meissner corpuscles, which are
more abundant there than in any other part of the penis.
Richly endowed with a profusion of blood vessels, it
also has a riged band of peripenic muscles that protects
the urinary tract from contaminants, and an undersurface
lined with mucocutaneous tissue found nowhere else on
the body, which contains ectopic glands that produce
natural emollients and antibacterial proteins similar to
those found in mother's milk. With it's frenar ridges
and its thousands of nerve endings, the foreskin not
only protects the glans, which in an intact male is
extremely sensitive, it
also accounts for roughly one-third the penis' sexual
perceptivity." - Circumcision in America - Debra S.
Ollivier
"The foreskin protects the glans throughout life." -
American Academy of Pediatrics
Religion....
The methods used today to circumcise removes much more
of the foreskin than required by the bible. Men who had
been circumcised during biblical times appeared intact.
"The Biblical technique of circumcision designed to
fulfill the Covenant with Abraham removed only preputial
tissue that extended beyond the tip of the glans penis (Bris
Milah). By first pulling up on the foreskin, then
placing a glans shield, the operator preserved virtually
all of the sensitive inner lining of the
prepuce....sensitive tissue that was preserved during
Biblical circumcision, is almost always excised during"
modern" circumcision with the Gomco Clamp or the
Plastibell....The Biblical technique was completed much
more quickly. Part of the foreskin is slid into the slit
on the shield, and a knife slices off the portion above
the shield in less than one second. Gomco Clamp
circumcisions have been known to take up to 20 minutes.
..." - George C. Denniston, M.D. M.P.H. "Modern"
Circumcision: The Escalation of a Ritual
"Some Jews are replacing brit millah with brit shalom, a
bloodless baby naming ceremony." - George C. Denniston,
M.D. M.P.H.
"The percentage of Jews in the National Organization of
Restoring Men exceeds the fraction of Jews in the
general population by several times. Religious parents
who are concerned about various negatives surrounding
circumcision might seek information from the
Circumcision Resource Center, PO Box 232, Boston MA
02133, which specializes in religious issues."- Negative
Aspects of Routine Circumcision, by Wayne Hampton
In
the Book of Mormon, Moroni 8:8:
" Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your
Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole
need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore,
little children are whole, for they are not capable of
committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken
from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and
the law of circumcision is done away in me. In the New
Testament it says circumcision is unnecessary and even
discouraged.
Galatians 5:2:
" Behold, I paul say unto you, that if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."
Only 15% of the world's Christian males are circumcised.
Problems your circumcised boy may develop as a
man...
When the foreskin is removed the opening to the urethra
is exposed. Chemical and soaps can cause irritation.
Meatal stenosis which is a narrowing of the opening
caused by ulcerations may occur. This can happen to men
and women but being circumcised makes it worse. Another
problem that can develop is painful erection and painful
intercourse.
This can happen if your son is circumcised too tight.
Meatal ulceration, skin tags, skin bridges, tearing of
tight shaft skin and testicles drawn up to the body at
erection can also occur. Men complain of many other
problems that are a direct result of being circumcised.
An
entire article could be written on this alone.
Ethics...
Ethics is an issue we can't skip in this discussion. Do
we have the right to decided for another person what
should be done to their body. I don't believe we do. The
foreskin of a boy belongs to him and only he should be
allowed to have it removed. His cries tell us he would
rather be left intact.
The American Academy of Pediatrics policy on
circumcision concluded by saying "however, that it is
legitimate for parents to take into account cultural,
religious and ethnic traditions..." I disagree, in
countries where girls are circumcised because of those
reasons we shudder at the thought and consider the
practice barbaric, so why is it okay to take those into
consideration here.
Dr. George Denniston, President of Doctor's Against
Circumcision, sums up this issue very nicely: "The issue
of circumcision is a very simple one. Suppose a doctor
came up to you just after you had delivered your first
son and said to you, "Now I am going to remove his
eyelids!" What would you say to him?" Well, that is
exactly what you should say to a doctor that wants to
remove part of your son's normal penis." Doctor's should
not be doing circumcisions. Removing normal tissue for
no medical reason is NOT covered by their licenses. In
addition, a doctor violates all seven Principles of the
AMA Code of Ethics every time he performs a
circumcision."
" My own preference, if I had the good fortune to have
another son would be to leave his little penis alone."
Dr. Benjamin Spock, Redbook, April 1989
"The best reason to let a baby keep his foreskin intact
is that it's almost a certainty that he will be glad you
did." - John A. Erickson
Cosmetics....
60% of US males are being circumcised (but over 80% of
the world's males are intact) so 40% of American boys
are leaving the hospital intact.
In
England and New Zealand the infant circumcision rate is
less than 1%, in Australia 10% and in Canada now down to
17%. All English speaking countries (outside of the
U.S.) now have a combined infant and child circumcision
rate less than 10%.
For parents who want their sons to look like boys who
have been circumcised there isn't much reason for
concern. Now that the American Academy of Pediatrics has
released it's new policy and "there is not a single
national medical organization in the entire world that
advocates or supports routine infant circumcision - not
a single one."- George
Denniston, M.D. M.P.H., -The Salt lake Tribune, Thurs.,
March 11, 1999- more and more parents are going to leave
their sons intact. It soon will be the circumcised boy
who looks different. It shouldn't make any difference
though if we don't all look alike, don't we encourage
our children to appreciate their uniqueness. Isn't it
important that he be sexually fully functional
physically and sexually?
Care of the uncircumcised penis...
Care of the uncircumcised boy is quite easy, leave it
alone. "External washing and rinsing on a daily basis is
all that is required." - American Academy of Pediatrics
Intercourse with the intact penis...
The 1999 British Journal of Urology Supplement has a
study of American women who have experienced sex with
both intact and circumcised partners. "The results of
the survey are truly astonishing. Among other things,
the vast majority of surveyed women indicated that they
overwhelmingly prefer intercourse with a man with a
natural penis (approximately 90%) and that they were
significantly more likely to achieve a "vagina" orgasm
during "natural" intercourse. More astonishing is the
fact that many women actually rated circumcised
intercourse a negative experience when compared to the
natural intercourse.' Kristen O'Hara, Author of Sex As
Nature Intended.
Summary...
When making a decision whether to leave your son intact
or not, take into consideration the possible potential
benefits and weight them against the risks of surgery,
trauma, pain, reduction of sensuousness, limited
mobility, long term damage, loss of glans protection,
death, better sex for the female and the very real
possibility that your son will be glad you left him the
way nature intended.
There is more information on circumcision available. It
would be difficult for me to cover it all. This article
should at least make you want to learn more before
making a decision that will affect your son the rest of
his life. Circumcision can't be undone.
"Nature knows more about designing the penis than do
American doctors" - Jerry W. Warner
"Within minutes, three feet of veins, arteries and
capillaries, 240 feet of nerves and more than 20,000
nerve endings are destroyed; so are all the muscles,
glands, epithelial tissue and sexual sensitivity
associated with the foreskin. Finally, what nature
intended as an internal organ is irrevocably
externalized." - Circumcision In America - Debra S.
Ollivier
Dear parent, here are some organizations you can contact
to get more information on circumcision. You can also
look them up on the internet. My deepest thanks to Ken
Derifield of The Intact Network for contributing to this
article. He can be reached at the following address; The
Intact Network, 703 E. Walnut St. Washington, IN 47501
e-mail
intacnet@dmrtc.net
National Organization of Circumcision Information
Resource Centers - (NOCIRC) an organization of diverse
individuals committed through research, education and
advocacy to securing the birthright of male and female
infants and children to keep their sex organs intact.
P.O. Box 2512, San Anselmo, CA 94979-2512. Tel:
415-488-9883
National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine
Mutilation of Males (NOHARMM) P.O. Box 460795, San
Francisco, CA 94146-0795. Tel: 415-826-9351 National
Organization of Restoring Men (NORM) 3205 Northwood
Drive, Suite 209, Concord, CA 94520-4506. Tel:
510-827-4077
UNCIRC P.O. Box 52138, Pacific Grove, CA 93950. Tel:
408-375-4326
Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.) is an
organization of physicians, and others who are opposed
to routine neonatal circumcision. D.O.C. has members in
50 States, 12 Canadian Provinces and Territories, and in
nations on six continents. These doctors recognize that
no one has the right to forcibly remove sexual body
parts from another individual. They also believe that
doctors should have no role in this painful, unnecessary
procedure inflicted on the newborn. Doctors Opposing
Circumcision (D.O.C.) 2442 NW Market St. Suite 42
Seattle, Washington, 98107 U.S.A
"The grandest privilege of those who have the means is
to alleviate suffering." - H. P. Blavatsky
"Intact"
Content.
The precious babe lay at my breast.
" Shall we cut him?"
they ask.
You shall not.
I would sooner give you a part of me
to cut off.
We shall leave him to be
Whole
Intact
As God made him.
Rachel Hyde, NY, May 1999
FREE ARTICLE: You are free to publish this article on
websites and print publications. You can also email it
to friends and/or associates. We just ask that you
include this information with the article and let us
know where you published it. This article first appeared
in The Wise Mother magazine, published in Salt Lake
City, Utah.
http://www.thewisemother.com
email:
thewisemother@yahoo.com |
