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I don't believe in circumcision, I think it is unnecesary unless you have a little boy who gets infections. Having said that my DH is not circumcised maybe if he was i would have a slightly different view point. All I can say is if you do decide to circumcise your son please do it when he is old enough to have an anaesthetic, I believe it is way too cruel when they are newborn.
Goodluck with making your decision :)
Neither of my boys are done as we found out when having Kam we would have to pay $300 - $400 to get him done if we wanted it. Andrew was only done due to an infection as a baby and the doctor botched it anyway :-s
Love
Nearly everyone I know has had thier babies circumcised so before Yasin was born I asked around about the best time to do it and IMO its better getting it done as a newborn. You have a wider range of surgeons to choose from - lots of Drs won't do it after 6 - 8 weeks. It heals much faster so the pain is short lived (We gave Yasin a bit of Panadol beforehand, he cried for about 3 mins and then behaved normally from then on; if he had been in lasting pain we would have known about it) Older babies and toddlers are more active so they are more likely to rub it around or stick thier hand in thier nappy. The anesthestic in itself has the risk of side-effects. They routinely prescribe precautionary antibiotics for older babies but not new-borns, I'm not sure why, but antibiotics aren't very pleasant and best avoided where possible. Its about $100-$150 cheaper. Quite a few people I know with more than two sons, who got the older one circumcised later, decided to get the second one done at a younger age.:
All I can say is if you do decide to circumcise your son please do it when he is old enough to have an anaesthetic, I believe it is way too cruel when they are newborn.
We have just had a little boy and the idea never even entered our heads. Dh is circumsised because it was fairly routine then. I must admit im suprised by the comments on here as I did think it was something that really was only done in extreme circumstances. The idea of inflicting pain on a newborn is just too much for us to bear...not to mention..i think someone else mentioned it but being the same as dad is one thing..but most boys arent now so he will be different to other boys.
Jo
My fiance and I believe in not doing it, unless a medical emergency dictates a need to. For me personally, we will teach our son (if we have a son together - my fiance has two sons from a previous marriage) hygeine. We personally are not swayed by cosmetic or vanity reasons.
DH isn't done, and neither is Jacob. We don't feel the need for it to be done and trust that we can show him how to look after his bits and pieces properly ;)
Having said that, I do appreciate that there are medical and religious reasons as to why people may choose (or need) to have their son's circumsized.
Hi, just weighing in on the conversation.
DH is done, but we decided not to circ Pup. At our last GP visit before Pup's birth, we asked our GP about it. No-one in our town does it and only 1 or 2 drs in Geelong do it. We would probably have had to have it done in Melb.
In my time, I have had cause to see a number of penises (8-[ ) and I have never had sex with a man who is uncirc. So before our discussion with our GP, I guess I always thought that I would circ any baby boy I had. But the GP gave a convincing argument against circ, although he never suggested what we do either way. And to be honest, I didn't even think about it straight after the birth.
DH wasn't fussed about having it done and wasn't concerned that his boy wouldn't look like him. I think, like some of you, he didn't think it was a strong enough reason.
And yeah, so many boys are remaining "au natural" that I don;t think it is going to be a problem when they all compare later in life!! LOL.
As for the hygiene thing, well, I guess we will be teaching him to clean it - and the rest of his body - properly anyway.
Hayseed
i have to agree with shannon,
it is great to hear everyone's opinions without any feeling of judgement at all. thanks girls!!!
Linda
DH isn't done and neither are the boys.
I think it's a totally personal opinion.
Persoanlly, Im all for they're born that way for a reason and if there's no infection, then leave it. it's they way they're made so leave it the way they are.-- But it's a very personal thing as I said.
Good luck -hard decision for you.
Its such a widely debated topic! I brought it up with MIL and she said she had DP done but not his brother because it wasnt the "in thing" at the time...
:/
I have decided to leave it unless neccesary.
Each to their own ;)
We've just had Zac done.
I also had my older son done, but when he was 11, due to medical issues, it is much kinder I reckon to do it while they are young, I had no hassles with Zac, at 3 weeks, but a ful on nightmare with my older son at 11years!!!
But, each to their own, I think as long as the child is aware of good hygene then there is no problems leaving it, but sometimes no amount of good hygene can help.
I think perhaps it is one of the hardest decisions to make in regards to your son!
Well we just found out we are having a boy so yes our son will be done.
*hugs*
Cailin
Hey - Cailin - just thought you'd slip that in didja ? More little brothers. Congratulations :-)
Barb.
jackson isnt done, and we never considered having it done because we believe it is inflicting unneccessary pain on our little boy for purely a cosmetic reason. i think a baby is a little young to be having cosmetic surgery. i think that as long as they are taught how to clean properly there should be no risk of infection. i dont know any males that have had to have it done later on purely for a medical reason caused from poor hygene. lets face it, the vagina is a pretty intricate genital, and we teach our girls how to wash that properly and wipe from front to back etc, so we should be able to teach our boys how to keep their genitals clean
Matthew hasn`t been done, Mark has the same thoughts as Nadia, they are born that way so it`s there for a reason as long as we show him how to clean it all hopefully will be aok.
Thinking back we weren`t asked at all if we were going to get Matthew circumsised or not.
jillian, can completely understand why you would choose to have it done, saves a lot of pain in the long run for your lil' ones, poor Lochie!
I just wanted to say thank you all so much! This is the most unjudgemental and rational discussion I have ever seen on this topic and I feel so much better for it!
My son is circ'd due to recurring UTI's and was a really stressful time for myself and hubbie as he had to have a general anasthetic (sp?) etc.
I am a member of another baby forum also and even bringing up this topic (which I have done [-X ) becomes so hostile and antagonistic that people are reluctant to ask for opinions/advice anymore.
Thank you all again for being so supportive of others.