I've just had my first boy and DH and I discussed circumcision and have decided against it for the reason of not wanting him to be the odd one out.
DH wanted it done so that DS is the same as him (he's had it done) but then we thought about him at school - I don't have any figures or stats but anecdotally only two of my friends have had it done to their new sons so it seems in my area at least it is not common.
DH assures me that boys DO notice things like different penises, esp if they play sports as they get older and they are having showers and stuff after games (he played lacrosse for years and wants to get our kids involved in that or something similar). Once I pointed out that if we can reduce the number of things that our DS could possibly be picked on for, we should, he agreed to let it go.
That and I pointed out we'd have to have it done privately and it would probably cost us $$$... If we could find an Obs who would agree to do it for us!
The two friends that I know who had it done - one was for religious reasons as her hubby is Jewish. The other wanted it done in case they went on a mission trip to somewhere remote like Africa, to make sure no bugs got trapped in there - so also a religious reason. But then the Dr refused to do it. Fast forward to around 9-10mths, they had noticed his foreskin wasn't growing at the same rate as his penis, so he ended up needing a circumcision for medical reasons.
He had one done at 12mths and was fine. It was performed under general at a private hosp.
Bookmarks