Another Intact Baby Boy!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sooooooo happy. I am a moderator on a birth board and a couple that recently had a son were having trouble deciding whether or not to circumcise him, they have decided to leave him intact. Josh and I are vehemently against circumcision. We feel it is a violation of a child's right to bodily integrity and can be very sexually damaging. Also I don't say "uncircumcised" as I feel that this makes it sound like circumcised is the normal way and parents of intact children just have not got around to it yet. Anyway, if anyone who happens across this blog would like the info on circ, here it is.

First and foremost I feel that all children have the right to bodily integrity. Therefor I believe that it is not within my rights as a parent to permanently remove a portion of my childs body. A very good basic place to start is www.cirp.org/pages/parents/. It will go into the structure and function of the male foreskin (did you know that since it is a double walled membrane that "lil snip" at birth ends up removing an area of skin, muscle, and nerves the size of a 3x5 index card? I had no clue) The reasons why people choose to circ, the most common being UTI, but only 1% of the male population ever gets them. Many many more females get them (including my daughter) and they are quite easily treated. Most of those pages are by the AAP and NOCIRC. Did you know that not one single medical organization in the world currently recommends circumcision? That's pretty telling to me. It is considered a purely cosmetic procedure, and 12 states now refuse to pay for it under Medicaid. I will go through some common questions about circ and post resources

1. Looks like daddy
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/Like-Son.htm
http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/vanhowe/ (also goes into prevalence of complications circ'd vs intact)
2. UTI
http://www.infocirc.org/uti2.htm
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/
3. Won't it just have to be done later?
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/ (most circ's that have to be done, don't really have to be done. Many docs are unaware of the normal changes the intact penis goes through)
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/circumcision/protect-uncircson.html
4. How do I take care of an intact son?
http://www.nocirc.org/publish/4pam.pdf
5. Impact on Breastfeeding
http://www.cirp.org/library/birth/
http://www.nocirc.org/statements/breastfeeding.php
6. Cancer
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/
7. Sexual Side Effects
http://www.norm.org/lost.html
http://www.boystoo.com/medical/conversion.htm
http://www.circumstitions.com/Restric/Botched1sb.html (Warning this post contains pics of adult male penises that are suffering some common side effects of circ)
8. Men who are restoring
http://www.norm.org/ Lots of men now realize what was taken from them and are fighting to try to regrow some of what was lost. It will never be the same as the prepuce sphincter is permanently gone, but these men go through a lot trying to achieve regrowth.
9. Video of an infant Circ (graphic)
http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/video.html
10. Won't he be teased?
http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/ (circ rates to 2003. depending on the region you live in only 31-78% of boys are circ'd, so he's probably not going to be the only intact kid in the locker room)
11. But I have read it reduces AIDS.
All I can say to this is that the US had the highest rate of circ of any industrialized nation. We also have the highest rate of AIDS infection, obvious this isn't working.
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/HIV/
http://www.circumstitions.com/HIV.html
Oh and the "scientific study" of Kenyan men in Africa where the 50% reduction rate comes from, was performed on a bunch of truckers who were having casual sex with multiple partners. I really don't think those results can be seen as accurate. Heck unless they were all having sex with the same woman, infected with the same HIV strand, the risk cannot really be determined.

Many circs that are done are done because the boy does not retract by a certain age and that is unnecessary. As long as he can pee freely it does not matter if he retracts at age 2 or 12(or even older, it is not really a factor until they begin sexual exploration). Also if your son has phimosis (a narrow opening) it can usually be treated with a steroid cream and stretching exercises, however many docs recommend circ because they are not aware of what to do with intact men. It may comfort you to know that in Europe, where the majority of men are intact, it is very rare for an intact man to "need" a circ. Also from personal experience working with intact men in nursing homes and hospitals, I have known of 2 men to need a circ, both were due to medical negligence on behalf of the nursing staff. In the first case, the nurse retracted the foreskin all the way back to insert a catheter, and left his foreskin pulled back for days. This caused a strangulation of the tissues, and gangrene eventually set in. The second case was also of a man being retracted and left back coupled with an aid using shaving cream on his genitals (trick to pull dried poo out of pubic hair). The man was allergic to the shaving foam, he developed nasty hives that became infected. Long story short here, these men were being cared for by MORONS who had no right to be in medicine. As the prevalence of intact men becomes greater the medical community is going to have to learn how to care for them. Also I don't believe a possible future bad nurse is a reason to circ.






Since I broke my toe yesterday, (real fun when your waddling around this pregnant to begin with) this has really made my day.