It was good enough for Jesus. My husband is for it. My first child SLEPT through his. If this child is a boy, he too will be circumsized. It's an individual choice.

I actually assist with circs. I'm a labor room nurse, cross trained to newborn nursery. Most babies don't fuss much during, all our docs use an anesthetic. I however chose not to have my boys circ'd. Just a personal thing. My 16 year old has never once questioned why his penis is different, nor had any problems... Ethan who was severely mentally and physically handicapped had no problems while he was alive.

If you chose not to circ teaching your child how to care for an uncirc'd penis is the most important. If you teach hygeine from the very earliest, and just make it "normal" to discuss it while bathing him, he won't think it a big deal.

If Nick chooses to have a circ as an adult I will support him, because that is his adult choice.

We also have a malpractice suit pending against one of the docs because they cir'd a no circ baby (not a religious no circ, just a no circ) so there are very strong opinions both ways

I'm circumcised. Its not horrible, but there's no good reason to do it. Oddly enough, my brother wasn't. He got a minor amount of ribbing from the other guys, but that was about it.

Think about it this way. What other part of your body would you cut off at birth without clear medical benefit? The male nipples aren't doing us any good. Why not knock them off?

Now, if you had to pick a part of the body to mess with, why that? If I had to pick one, the penis would be near the bottom of the list.

If you're doing it for religious reasons, I won't get into that argument. Again, its not the end of the world. However, mine was done because the doctor convinced my mom that it would be much more sanitary, safe, or whatever. Basically, it was a cultural practice that was backed by some non-science.

I've heard the "its disgusting" argument. I don't get that. I'm sure in cultures where women wear plates in their lips, women without them look nasty, but you get over it. As for the women who don't dig it on guys, you think that's absolute or cultural preference? I'm guessing the latter. Besides, if I dated a girl who broke up with me because I wasn't circumcised, I'm guessing she wasn't really a catch to begin with.

I'm also seeing a lot of misinformation:

"From what I heard, penile cancer only happens in those uncircumcised. You may want to do further research on that though."

Anytime you make a sweeping statement like that, and also say "You may want to do further research", you should probably hit google first...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile_cancer

Parts of this seem to point to higher incidence, but then you get this...

"The American Medical Association and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians say the use of infant circumcision in hope of preventing penile cancer in adulthood is not justified."

Some other stuff...

"A man is much more likely to regret not being cut." - I highly disagree. I think this opinion is the exception, big time. You've even got guys out there doing the following...

http://www.cirp.org/pages/restore.html

Socially, its going way down, so don't worry about that so much. Women prefer cut? Not sure where to start with those arguments. You want your son dating the type of women who would base the relationship on penis style? You really THAT worried about what women are going to think about your son's penis? As for disease prevention, there are plenty of other body parts you could remove to prevent disease. We generally don't do that until after there's a problem. The vast, vast majority of men in the world are not circumcised and things tend to work ok.

The only caveat is the HIV infection rate studies. These are recent studies. I'm sure they're going to look into things quite a bit more before they really understand the connection. Maybe you should wait till there's a little more data on that one.

From what I've heard, sex is more enjoyable when you're not circumcised. I wouldn't know, of course. I can't imagine making the choice to do it as an adult either.

Sorry for the rant. I just don't get it.

It's really a personal choice if you're not doing it for religious reasons. When I got pg with my first child, DH and I decided not to get circumcision if it was a boy. My father and none of my brothers were so it was what I knew. DH was and he thought the only reason that it might be done was b/c it was the social norm. But because rates have dropped in recent years, I didn't see that as a strong enough argument. We decided against it if it were a boy. (It was a girl).
But I still think that each parent should do their own research and come up with their own decision based on what's best for their family and situation.

In HK the pediatricians in public hospitals don't recommend unless there is a medical reason & if it's a religious reason it has to be done privately (paid out of pocket).

I have two sons, and one is and one isn't. First one was, and I dont recall the healing to be a problem. It was something my husband and I thought a lot and talked about.

Second son who wasn't, was born a preemie. I was told that even when he finally got to come home, he shouldn't get the procedure as it would be too hard on him.

Neither child has had yeast, bladder or any other sort of infection regarding their penis. Cleaning is no issue.

As for all the other stuff, like waiting till just make it harder. Huh? How can waiting till a child can tell you how it feels be harder for anyone but you? As for healing, baby or not, it IS a cut and the skin has to heal. Age doesn't change that. I don't have a problem with it, my second son would have had it done if he wasn't born early. But I am also realistic. It couldn't feel good while it heals no matter how old they are.

The one difference is the way they urinate. He has to pull back the skin a bit.

I'd say to those who say it unattractive that they must think a penis isn't attractive then. It is what it is.

I let my husband decide whether or not we should circumsize our son. He wanted the procedure done and I cried from the time the nurses took him until they brought him back, but as of now (he is almost 4) he has never had an issue with it.

In case you're unfamiliar with recovery times for surgery in children verses adults ask around, I'm sure you know somebody who has had their tonsils out as an adult. My friend recently went through this and he was out of work for three weeks, drinking his food through a straw. Childhood tonsillectomies are an out-patient procedure and they are up and running around within a week. It is a much more painful recovery for adults you also have the added sensitivity of the glans exposure to deal with it can take weeks. My boys were kicking their legs and showed no signs of pain almost immediately following theirs quite different than the two to three weeks of pain an adult man goes through IMHO.

Okay, I am pretty late chiming in here, but I just wanted to say that it is not the foreskin that is more sensitive, it is that the sensitivity of the glans (from, as you said, "what's under the skin") that is affected by circumcision. The foreskin protects the glans of the penis, it also keeps it soft and moist. The glans of a circumcised and uncircumcised male look very different to me. Also, and this might be too much info for some, the foreskin provides stimulation for both partners during intercourse.

My son is not circumcised, had to convince DH that it was a good idea (I think my MIL is still freaked out by it), but I really feel we made the best decision for him. I have to admit as the procedure is becoming less common, if I were a male and found out my parents had authorized having about 1/3 of my penis removed for no reason I'd be mad as heck!

~ 1stBreath

Umm, The skin that covers the end of the penis is what gets removed, not the actual penis. saying they are removing 1/3 of the penis is a bit dramatic don't ya think?

we were talking about this at work for some unknown reason. ALL of the men participating in the discussion agreed that they were glad they had been circ'ed at birth. Only one (a muslim) had been done for religious reasons. I think it is strictly up to the individual whether they decide to have their children done or not. Not having a penis myself, I left it up to someone that had a penis to decide for me (My husband, who had to have his done later instead of at birth). He didn't even hesitate when he said do it. Since, again, I don't have a penis, it seems a bit odd for me that so many women (who, I'm assuming, have also never had a penis) seem to KNOW exactly how sensitive the foreskin is, and how it is going to affect their children's lives in the future.
We did have both our sons done, Dad decided since he was the one with the penis experience. So far, they have not accused me of ruining their lives because of it, but then they are only 4 and 5. somehow, I think, of all the ways they will blame me for their faliures in the future, this one will probably not even make the list. I have never met a man yet that has been mad at their parents for having them circumsized at birth. What about it? Any of you guys out there mad at your parents for it?