.circumcision.

I remember, when I was pregnant, finding out our little "bean" was a little "she." I was so excited. There were so many things I started looking forward to: dressing her up in frilly clothes, doing her hair up in cute bows and pigtails, and not having to make the decision of whether or not to circumcise.

Honestly, before I got pregnant, I never really gave the issue much thought. If you had a baby boy, it was the "normal" thing to do, right? I didn't really have any strong feelings one way or the other.

Being "preggo" and anticipating being a mother definitely brought out the "mother bear" in me in every sense of the phrase. I was super protective of my little unborn baby and would have done anything to make life for her as wonderful and perfect as it could be.

This "mother bear" was the thing that pushed me to research, and ultimately opt for, a natural birth. This "mother bear" made it easy to change my less-than-healthy lifestyle to one of health and good nutrition. This "mother bear" forced me to take a step back and examine things I had never delved into before, including the issue of circumcision.

I dreaded having to make the decision for quite a while until we started taking Bradley classes. Our teacher was wonderful (Adrianna Costello-Martin, for anyone in the Salt Lake City area - she is fantastic!) and her lessons not only were informative, but thought-provoking as well. One class was on the things to expect after the hard work of labor and delivery were over. We discussed immunizations. We discussed breastfeeding. We discussed circumcision.

Adrianna's stance on the subject was that it should not be done routinely. She went into detail about why that was, siting dangers and ill-effects. We debated for awhile and afterward, Adrianna simply said that most parents aren't even with their babies when a circumcision is performed because it was too "upsetting" for them (imagine how "upsetting" it is for the baby). She emphatically drove  the point home saying that every parent had to make the choice for themselves, but that if the decision was made to circumcise, the parents should be there during the operation, not just for the baby's sake, but to actually see what goes on.  After hearing her impassioned speech, I determined to do some research.

Over the next few days, I read many articles and personal stories online. Finally, I made up my mind: If our baby was a boy, I would fight having him "snipped" tooth and nail.  It just didn't feel right to me. It sounds to me to be a painful and unnecessary procedure that is cosmetic in most cases ("I want him to look like his dad" or "I don't want him to be teased in the locker room"). True, there are probably medical reasons a "circ" should be done, but routinely cutting off a babies foreskin is a bit barbaric in my mind.

Plus, shouldn't that choice be left up to the individual who will have to live with its effects? The surgery can be done later in life if a person chooses to have it done. As for a child "not looking like" Dad/brothers/kids in the locker room, I offer up what a wise woman in our class said she would tell her sons (who are uncircumcised) when they asked. To paraphrase, she said, "I have no problem telling my boys that the reason they don't look like their dad down there is that we chose not to cut off part of their penis. I have no problem with that."

Click here to read an eye-opening article on the subject from an excellent blog called 'Woman, Uncensored.' Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of this entry; there are some interesting opinions from both sides of the arguement.

Here is an enlightening excerpt from one of my favorite birth-oriented sites, BirthingNaturally.org (click here to their fantastic full page of circumcision information):

Things to Consider

1. No medical organization in the world recommends routine infant circumcision.
2. Rates are dropping. "Everyone" is not doing it. In 2003 approximately 56% of newborn boys were circumcised and 44% were left intact. The rate has dropped quite a lot since you and your partner were born. Still concerned about the locker room? Read this.
3. Circumcision is not necessary for hygienic reasons. Circumcised males have to wash, too! It is easier to care for an intact infant rather than a circumcised one because the foreskin is attached at birth and all you need to do is wipe the outside. Once the foreskin is retractable a quick 3-second rinse in the shower is sufficient. It takes a lot more time and effort to clean an intact female. Circumcised boys have a wound that has to heal inside a diaper. After it heals, you must be vigilant about preventing adhesions (where the remaining foreskin tries to heal by reattaching to the glans).
4. The foreskin is not a birth defect. It has a purpose. It has sexual as well as health benefits. It is not a simple "flap of skin". For one it doesn't flap at all (it is attached during infancy much like a fingernail to the nail bed). For another it is densely innervated, highly erogenous tissue.
5. Your son won't care if his penis matches his dad's or not. Many intact American boys have circumcised fathers. It is not an issue that you need worry about. Many intact American boys have circumcised older brothers as well. Again, it's not something that should prevent you from letting your newborn son keep his foreskin. Each child is an individual. He will have unique physical and personality characteristics. There is a good argument that we should accept and love our babies as they are. If you don't want to circumcise, but your partner does please check out these articles.
6. Circumcision is not a simple snip. Circumcision removes what amounts in an adult to 15 square inches of erogenous tissue (the size of a 3 x 5 notecard), that's approximately 50% of the penile shaft skin. Here's a link to overviews of the various methods. Here is a video of the procedure.
7. Circumcision is painful and most babies do not receive any anesthesia. There is no pain relief that is 100% effective that is safe enough to use on fragile newborns. If you have studied pre- and peri-natal psychology you know that babies remember. You cannot brush off pain and trauma with a "he won't remember it, so it's ok". Your baby's experience of pain during circumcision is real and should not be treated lightly. Babies do not sleep through circumcisions. Some babies may appear to be asleep because they withdraw as a coping mechanism. When the baby is monitored for signs of stress and pain, medicated and "sleeping" babies have elevated levels, indicating that they do feel what is happening.
8. Circumcision has risks. Most of them are minor, but some are quite serious (including amputation or even death). One risk that is not commonly included is the risk that your son may not agree with your decision regarding circumcision. If you choose to circumcise and your son later decides that he would rather have his foreskin, there's nothing he can do. If you choose not to circumcise and your son later decides that he would rather be circumcised, he can have that done (with fully effective pain relief and fewer risks regarding too much/too little skin being removed).
9. Christians have no religious requirement to circumcise. If we did, we would have a religious ceremony attending it. During the Council at Jerusalem Peter, Paul, and the other leaders of the Church had to decide whether or not new gentile converts must first convert to Judaism prior to being baptized as followers of Christ. The Jews who became Christian wanted to continue following the Law of Moses, including circumcision, and wanted new converts to do the same. The Council at Jerusalem determined that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and circumcision no longer had any religious significance. Here is a well-written article on the Council at Jerusalem. Scriptural references against religious circumcision for Christians can be found in Acts 15:1 - 35, 1 Corinthians 7:19, Galatians 5:6, and Galatians 6:15. If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), read Moroni 8:8 and D&C 74.
10. Another item to consider regarding religious circumcision is that the form done in Biblical times is not as severe as what is done today during modern hospital circumcisions.
11. Medicaid in Utah does not cover routine infant circumcision.

Here are some more resources:

Loads of good general info:

www.Circumcision.org

More good general info:

www.BirthNaturally.org/ConsumerInfo/Circumcision

Infants feel and remember pain from circumcision (research study):

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1f21e.htm

Doctors opposing circumcision:

www.DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org

More mamas who feel how I do:

www.MothersAgainstCirc.org

Another article from 'Woman, Uncensored' (this one is heart-wrenching, I have to warn you):

www.WomanUncensored.blogspot.com/what-have-i-done-voices-of-circumcision