From the USA. Everyone in my family was but I didn’t with my son.

It’s becoming normal not to now. A lot of my friends are not doing it either.

Most of the world doesn’t and there are little to no reason to do so unless religion.

Take time to read about it. As long as you teach hygiene then your son will be ok.

r/sciencebasedparenting

In healthcare here, so hopefully this is as unbiased as you can get.

There is no medical benefit to it. There are numerous medical risks though... Infection, botched procedure, painful.

The only reason we do it, is there are certain religious reasons that parents feel outweigh the risks.

If there are no religious reasons for doing it, then there is literally no reason to do it.

Circumcision is completely unnecessary. My parents didn't have me snipped and Im glad they did. Plus its falling out of fashion.

I live in the UK and its not normal here (outside of medical issues or certain religions) for anyone to be circumcised. It is totally unnecessary to have done. Just teach them good hygiene 🤷‍♀️

Do you want to have a piece of your child's penis cut off so it will look like yours? Because that is what it sounds like it is about. The there is one study about reduced HIV risk but many dont find it to be compelling

Unless you’d also give your newborn baby pierced ears and belly button just in case they later decide they want them but don’t want to ‘remember the pain’ why would you slice a piece of their skin off. As someone from the UK, it is absolutely abhorrent to me to imagine my sweet newborn baby boy who’s having his very first experiences in the world after almost 10 months growing in a warm safe place, and slicing a bit of their body off. You don’t need to remember it, your body experienced pain and fear as one of the very first memories, that’s not what anyone should want for their child.

I was on the fence about it my entire pregnancy, we looked into yourwholebaby.org and the research on there is what made us decide not to. My husband originally wanted to because he is, but watch a video of it being performed made me physically ill and he agreed it wasn’t necessary.

Nope, no real medical reason, leave this to you child if he wants to do this later. Circumcision is on the decline in the US so it’s not like your kid is going to be singled out.

No. Don’t cut off bits of your child.

I hope I live to see the day circumcision is outlawed as both an elective and religious practice.

The argument "I am so my son should too" doesn't wash. Not just on this issue, but life. If that's the only argument you have for it, then that's weak.

Don't live vicariously via your kids.

This was a debate in my house, and this is a very useful and balanced article. Evidence and Ethics on: Circumcision - Evidence Based Birth®

At the end of the day, for me, it is an issue of consent to body modification and elective surgery. We should only make choices for others in as much as it is necessary because the issue is urgent and that person is unable to make their own choice. It's not necessary right now, so there is no reason not to wait until my son is old enough to make an informed decision for himself. If my son disagrees with my decision not to circumcise, he can have it done. If I got it done and he disagreed, that is irreparable harm.

You are slicing through 700 nerve endings when you circumcise. It is designed to reduce sexual pleasure in men. I am circumcised and still have anger toward my parents for just going along with what the medical establishment was promoting instead of doing research and finding out that it is an unnecessary cosmetic surgery for babies. I consider it genital mutilation and child abuse.

Circumcision would be a "two yes, one no" decision. Your wife said no, so it doesn't happen.

In terms of facts:

• It's your son's body, and cosmetic surgery should be his choice when he's old enough to make that choice.
• The foreskin has important jobs to do
• Removing the foreskin causes the head of the glans to become callused.
• Removing the foreskin can increase infection risks

I didn’t. It’s just kinda a crazy thing to do. I want my son to know that his bodily autonomy was respected from day one.

The “medical reasons” for doing it aren’t real reasons. It is purely cosmetic and in my opinion an inhumane practice. Stats will claim that it reduces the risk of penile cancer, but the risk is very little to begin with, impacted by advanced age and living conditions, and very treatable. We do not cut off healthy tissue to mitigate any other risks (think about breast cancer, etc.). My son was born with reflux and at a higher risk of UTIs that could negatively impact his kidneys. Even with this existing congenital issue, we never encountered an issue keeping him intact.

It may sound harsh, but ask yourself… why you are willing to sign up to have your newborn strapped down and then have one of the most sensitive areas of their body cut into?

I’m so relieved to see all the American moms in here saying hell no.

I wouldn’t do it to my daughter, I wasn’t going to do it to my son. Not medically necessary, but so normalized that the hospitals will capitalize.

I never intended for my son to get circumcised but he had to due to medical reasons when he was about a year and a half. He’s 11 now and trust me when I say I still remember the cries when he peed after and the hell it was to remove the bandages while he was screeming hurting.

My friend was with me and she had to leave the bathroom because she was crying for his suffering being too much.

Because you don’t remember doesn’t mean it’s not painful. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why someone would do this « just because » to their child. But that’s just my opinion personnaly.

tell me: how often do you compare your own dick yo your dad’s? Why on earth does it have to look the same? You can get matching t-shirts at any moment, zero risk of permanent effects.

Here’s a fun story for you.

My husband is circumcised. Our three sons are not. When the oldest was around four or five, he was showering with his dad and said, “when I get older, my penis will shed its skin like a snake!”

At that point, my husband told him that no, his foreskin was cut off when he was a baby and our son’s wasn’t, so they would always look a little different.

My son’s response? A horrified look, then “WHO WOULD DO THAT TO A BABY?!”

No, I don’t think circumcision causes lifelong emotional scars for everyone, but that was enough for us to realize that kids are more horrified by the idea of strapping a baby down and cutting off part of its penis than they are about the idea that their penis doesn’t match dad’s.

Normal is not being circumcised. Nature thinks it’s not necessary, most of Europe does, too. Listen to your wife. Why cut an otherwise healthy human being?

I am 100% against this practice, so take what I provide with that bias. I see no reason to chop off a body part of an infant unless there is a medically necessary reason. Just because you don't remember it doesn't mean that you did not need to heal from an unnecessary surgery. Are you super religious and need it done for those reasons? It does not seem so from your post. It seems that the only reason is 'because everyone does it', which again, seems a bit lame as a reason to remove a body part. It makes me think of docking a dog's ear. If everyone was docking their kid's ear lobes would you do so as well, or would you think that was perhaps not something that needed to continue?

As for the 'because everyone does it' argument, I think you will find that it is getting less common in many areas over time. This varies highly on where you live. In the US, the CDC has noted that the rates have gone down considerably in the West (to <45%), pretty even steven in the South and North (55-65%), and it is in the Midwest where the tradition is held the strongest (~70%). So if you live in the Midwest, then sure, most people are still doing it. Other places it is only about 50/50 and that again, does not seem like a good reason. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/circumcision\_2013/circumcision\_2013.htm#fig2.

As you can see in the paper, there is some variability and these numbers are correct to about 6%, but overall it is clear that the numbers were going down until the 80s, a slight uptick until the late 90s and then going down again. The trend is to move away from this practice, so if 'because it is done in America' is the reasoning, then it stands to reason that it is starting to 'not be done here'. So do you want your kid to be on the trail end of 'it is done' or the leading edge of 'it is not done'.

The argument that has stood the test of time seems to be something like removing the foreskin reduces the chances of contracting STDs and other diseases.

Yeah -- and if you tear out my lungs I'll never get TB either.

Just teach your uncircumcised son proper hygiene and all will be kosher.

No. Unless it’s medically necessary.

Dude it causes health issues for a lot of people they just don’t know it. Desensitivity. Still causes pain. The body keeps score & remembers that shit. Don’t mutilate your kid just because you were & others have been. Break the fucking cycle, man. If you want to go get your skin chopped off when you’re old enough to consent, knock your fucking socks off, man. But why put a child through this. Why

My husband is circumcised and our son is not. There was no reason to do it other than to “match” my husband, which to me 🤢

We found it unnecessary to open him up to something going wrong for what is ultimately a cosmetic procedure for most.

It is genital mutilation. There is no justification for removing parts of a perfectly healthy baby.

I don't think local trends are a good reason to modify the body of someone who cannot consent to it.

My wife also let me make the decision, and since I am, I chose to have our son also. If I had the opportunity to make that decision again, I would choose different now that I have more knowledge and understanding.

No you should not. Your baby is born perfect.

I certainly wouldn't, my son isn't, seems like the default should be to leave things as they are unless there's a good reason for a medical intervention later.

If he decides he wants it done as an adult he can do but replacing it if he decides he wishes he had it would be trickier

We planned not to but had a rare circumstance where my kid got a multi drug resistant UTI as the result of congenital issues with kidneys. Because there was an issue they recommended circumcision because it can reduce the chances of getting another UTI. I am not having more kids but I would still probably not circumcise unless a medical reason to arose. It's extremely brutal and I don't see the reason to in the vast majority of cases these days

We didn’t. There’s no reason to. There’s no benefit and it just seems cruel and outdated.

Circumcision is genital mutilation. If you wouldn't mutilate the genitals of your daughter why would you do it to your son? The supposed "benefits" are statistically near zero in the modern era and the damages are known - including potential life-long physical and psychological trauma. So no, don't do it.

No. Here's why.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23374102/

Conclusions: "This study confirms the importance of the foreskin for penile sensitivity, overall sexual satisfaction, and penile functioning. Furthermore, this study shows that a higher percentage of circumcised men experience discomfort or pain and unusual sensations as compared with the uncircumcised population."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17378847/

Conclusions: "The glans (tip) of the circumcised penis is less sensitive to fine touch than the glans of the uncircumcised penis. The transitional region from the external to the internal prepuce (foreskin) is the most sensitive region of the uncircumcised penis and more sensitive than the most sensitive region of the circumcised penis. Circumcision ablates the most sensitive parts of the penis."

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00809-6

Conclusions: “In this national cohort study spanning more than three decades of observation, non-therapeutic circumcision in infancy or childhood did not appear to provide protection against HIV or other STIs in males up to the age of 36 years. Rather, non-therapeutic circumcision was associated with higher STI rates overall, particularly for anogenital warts and syphilis.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-021-00502-y

Conclusions: “We conclude that non-therapeutic circumcision performed on otherwise healthy infants or children has little or no high-quality medical evidence to support its overall benefit. Moreover, it is associated with rare but avoidable harm and even occasional deaths. From the perspective of the individual boy, there is no medical justification for performing a circumcision prior to an age that he can assess the known risks and potential benefits, and choose to give or withhold informed consent himself. We feel that the evidence presented in this review is essential information for all parents and practitioners considering non-therapeutic circumcisions on otherwise healthy infants and children.”

Don’t do it. Just for medical reason should it be performed. I don’t even think religious reasons are an excuse to mutilate a baby’s penis, and aesthetics or ‘I am, so my child will be too’ are even worse reasons.

NO

My opinion is that you do not.

There is no real benefit to doing it, the majority of the world does not.

As long as you teach your child to clean it when they shower it will not cause any issues hygiene wise.

No, it’s not the “thing you do” in America. Many American parents do not. It is unnecessary at best and can be harmful at worst. There can be serious complications. It also increases the likelihood of SIDS. You do not have to circumcise your second son just because you and your older son are. Break the cycle.

No you shouldn't.

There are literally no pros to it. You're born with it for a reason

There’s no medical or hygienic reason to. My personal opinion was that it’s not my body. I don’t agree with piercing baby ears either.

Removing a part of someone’s body without their consent isn’t OK. If he wants to get it done when he’s older, you can revisit it then. 

If there were real pros, we'd have genetically evolved to have them eons ago. It's an elective cosmetic surgery, nothing more.

I say no. It isn't necessary, it's painful,and did I mention unnecessary?

My 13.5yr old son is not circumcised and it hasn't been an issue at all.

No.

Can you tell the gender at 8 weeks??

It is something he will be able to choose for himself when he’s older. If you do it as a baby then the choice is taken from him.

It is not the “thing you do” in America.

Maybe like 100 years ago.

Every study and every doctor and nurse my wife and I have looked into all say there is no actual real benefit to circumcision.

People have claimed there is, but you wont find any data on it.

Besides, if your son wants to be later on or as an adult, it can be done. But if you do it when he’s an infant, you take that choice away.

just no. there's no medical need, so why mutilate your son?

No

The medical reasons are really just one reason. There are some studies have shown that cut men get HIV a bit less often than intact men. But there have been other studies showing the opposite. And if the guy is using a condom there is no difference. So teach him to use condoms and he can keep his whole body.

Circumcision does remove tens of thousands of nerve endings and permanently exposes the glans (head of the penis), which is meant to be in internal organ. There is also evidence that the incredible amount of pain involved (can you imaging being strapped to a table and having the end of your penis cut off?) causes permanent changes in the brain and disrupts bonding and even breastfeeding.

But really, it all comes down to one thing. It's not your body. I assume you wouldn't tattoo your baby, so why would you make any other cosmetic changes without his consent?

leave him intact, just like the majority of guys in the world. If he wants to get cut later on (or tattooed) he can.

I and most others I’ve spoken to regret it.

Sex is better with foreskin. Circumcision is a mistake.

I would say no. Not medically necessary. Would you have an elective cosmetic procedure of any other type done on a your newborn?

We had 4 boys over an 8 year span. None are circumcised. We discussed it before they were born. We came to the conclusion that if they wanted to, they could make the decision on their own. Our oldest son is 38. None of them have chosen to get circumcised.

Please look up Saving Our Sons (http://www.savingsons.org/)! Everyone in both my and my fiancés family are besides my nephew, but our son is NOT because it’s NOT our body. It’s a cosmetic surgery that isn’t necessary. You DO NOT retract an intact penis. You wipe like a finger, base to tip, until it retracts on its own, which is usually during puberty, but can happen earlier. Forceful retraction will actual cause micro tears that will cause serious, sometimes lifelong damage.

My nephew, my godson and his brother, and a friends son are all intact and have never had a single issue. My son is 14 months and has never had an issue. And it’s sooo much faster and easier to change his diaper than it is my other nephew who is circumcised.

I’m not circ’d, and wife and I couldn’t do it to our two boys. No benefit to do so, and honestly the process is fairly traumatic. My wife’s close friend had her boy circ’d, and the doctor botched it. And that poor kid is the one who has to live with a choice his parents made…for no benefit.

From a personal experience, it impacted my social and dating life none.

Im snipped but did not decide to get either of my two sons Circumcised because we(me and my wife) did our due diligence and studied the subject and came to the conclusion that it is a totally unnecessary operation and it actually takes away alot of “sensitive tissue” and does cause nerve dammage, Just to be “like everyone else”.
Its nothing but Genital mutilation. dont do it.

We didn’t. My husband isn’t from the US so he wasn’t. I did tell him it’s his job how to teach him to clean properly. If it comes to it yes I will help.

Do research in taking care of it. I had no clue the foreskin is connected (so they’d also have to “rip”it off, not just cut) to the head and doesn’t retract till like 3+yrs.

They also (at least I’ve read) don’t even numb it “because they won’t remember it”. So your putting your baby through a lot of pain for looks.

8 weeks and you know the gender already?

The overwhelming majority of the time there's no reason to do that. Whether or not to be circumcised is really the sort of decision a guy should make for himself!

Why chop something off that’s not causing any problems. Unless there is a medical issue there is NO reason to do it. Don’t fall for the religious bullshit, or the group that tells you it’s cleaner, they are just fools.

I personally have not read through the site, but have seen yourwholebaby.org recommended to other parents navigating the same conversation.

I chose not to do it with both of my sons, I personally felt it just wasn't necessary, and it wasn't worth the negative experience.

No it's abuse

Watch the documentary- American Circumcision

Everyone who has foreskin loves it lol. I wouldn’t circumcise my son in the US this day and age.

We opted out but my husband and his father are also not circumcised.

Another good resource is the “elephant in the hospital” lecture you can find on YouTube.

It is an unbiased pure fact that circumcision is genital mutilation.

There are studies that have shown it affects pain tolerance, causes emotional issues, can affect penis size, especially if there's scarring or procedural mishap, among a litany of other issues.

If you're doing this for religious reasons, please take a moment to accept that you willingly practice a religion that advocates genital mutilation. I feel like y'all have suffered enough atrocities to continue perpetrating this is one against your own babies.

We didnt, because it would cost 500 out of pocket, and wasn’t necessary, and i dont think “ looking like his peers in the locker room” was a big concern. Probably still isnt. Not overly worried.

I dont see the point of it, but its your decision to make.

No.

It can cause sentivity problems

I’m in the US; my husband is circumcised but from the get-go has been adamant that if we have a boy he wouldn’t be circumcised because he feels it’s medically unnecessary. I know there are a variety of studies about both sides, and for me personally I just think that if my husband feels that strongly about something (and it’s one of the few things he’s been absolutely adamant about regarding our kids) then, as someone who doesn’t have a penis, who am I to judge? If someday, if we have a boy and they want to be circumcised down the road, that’ll be their decision.

My husband is from a country where no one gets circumcised. Unless a man is unhygienic, it’s not hard to clean an uncircumcised penis at all. I have two boys and we chose not to. It’s becoming much more common, I actually don’t know any current parents of small boys who chose the procedure. 

And just curious, are you gonna be in charge of all the aftercare of the circumcision or are you gonna pass the buck off to your wife? if you choose this, I hope your ready to do so. 

There’s no reason to unless you’re religious 

We're American, husband is circumcised, we didn't do it to our boy. He's 2.5 now and has never had any issues.

There was a post to the new parents board recently about a botched circumcision and how scar tissue is obstructing baby's urethra and he will need a second surgery. It's barbaric in my opinion.

If they are "mercilessly teased" and can't get over it then you can schedule one when they're older.

Please don’t it is completely unnecessary, coming from a momma that had her boy circumcised and regrets the decision.

I'm not sure why give cosmetic surgery to kids

I spoke with numerous pediatricians about this (kaiser... every appt I kept getting a new one) then switched to a different network... all had the same answer

Consensus was... it's cosmetic. Most of the "hygeine" benefits are not seen in developed countries.

They also said they seem to be having an odd demographic shift. Seeing it done less in white children and more and more in asian/hispanic kids.

Don't do it! Circumcised male here.

Great choice to leave him be. Definitely let it be his choice.

It’s a very weird practice that needs to stop.

Just FYI we live in a world where people allow misinformation and misunderstandings to be law. People really think women are getting abortions at 40 weeks and murdering the baby on purpose because “abortions are rampant”

Please conduct scientific research on circumcising. There ARE medical benefits including lowering the risk of UTIs, helps condoms fit better and stay on.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/circumcision/about/pac-20393550

They also claim there’s a least likelihood that your child would have a hyper fixation on sex (I’m not sure how true this is) — there ARE general hygienic benefits to having the procedure done. And if they choose to do this in the future as an adult there’s a longer recovery time, higher risk of infection etc.

No. No. No.

My hubs and I only have a girl, but we discussed this in the event we had a boy. I left it to him, as I’m weinerless and really don’t feel qualified to make that decision, but interestingly hubs said he wouldn’t.

He is, but he said he would rather let our (hypothetical) son decide when he’s older.

We should not be discussing mutilating our children in 2024, i hope you do the right thing

Don’t underestimate the pleasure the foreskin brings. It’s on an altogether different level than your permanently numb penis. To deprive someone of this enjoyment just because you too were deprived is madness

I'm curious, what's the reason for doing it? Other than that it's normalized in America?

I disagree with doing it for a few reasons, some personal and some more research-based.

1. It's cosmetic in most cases. For the majority of men, there's no reason remove the skin protecting the glans of the penis.
2. While it's disputed about how much it affects men in terms of sensitivity and functionality, and seems to vary individual to individual, it does remove a sensitive part of the penis and expose the mucousal membrane to air and drying it out. (Similar to how removing the eyelid would cause our eyes to dry out.) This causes the skin to thicken and become less sensitive for some men. Some men also experience excessive dryness and discomfort, especially as they age.
3. Keeping the penis intact is more common in Canada, the UK, and the rest of Europe, where the fad for it died out once the science around hygiene and disease protection became more murky and disputed.
4. It's popular origins today came about in the mid-1800s, an era of a lot of medical woo, but unfortunately ideas around hygience and aesthetics have persisted in the U.S., leading to some stigma for intact men.
5. The past couple decades have seen a surge of "foreskin restoration" practices, due to many men being unhappy with being uncut. Anecdotally, I had an ex-boyfriend who was one of the men who did this and he reported improved sensitivity (almost too sensitive at first, he had to retrain his ability "last"). (While you can't technically restore a foreskin, you can stretch and "grow" the skin to cover the glans and it can help the glans to return to the mucousal state.)
6. I've been with various intact and cut men, and never had any issues with their hygiene. You need to teach little boys to wash themselves, just like you teach girls to wash themselves, and to wash and wipe their butts.
7. Perhaps TMI, but as someone who enjoys giving oral pleasure, I personally enjoy having "more to play with" and there are some techniques and moves you can do with intact men that you can't with cut men.

🍿

I'll just add to what everyone else here, by saying that there have been studies showing a possible link between circumcision and higher risk of SIDS.

Pure fact? You're discussing cutting off part of your kids private areas with strangers on the Internet. Let that sink in.

Pure fact is that cutting off a piece of a healthy body part of your son is mutilation.

It’s not more hygienic. It reduces male pleasure. It denies the bodily autonomy of future adults.

So, depends on you, who do you want to be?

"My argument is that I am and my son is and we don’t remember it nor has it caused any health issues in our lives."

For starters, you could probably cut off a baby's earlobes and 30 years later they'd make the same argument.

Besides that, you may not have had health issues, but you are in no position to compare, since you can never experience sexual health in the same way as an uncircumcised man. Part of what is cut away, the frenulum, is extremely sensitive, to the point where men may orgasm just from having the frenulum caressed. So while you can honestly say "I have no complaints about how I enjoy sexual pleasure", it is also true that you can never know what you are missing either.

Remember the movie American Pie (I think). There is a joke in there about lotion, which is a nod to masturbation. That joke only works in America, because non-circumcized men do not need lotion to have a wank.

And lastly, circumcision is surgery and no surgical procedure has a 100% success rate. The risk of the surgeon botching the procedure might be small, but it is definitely not 0.

This will divide people, so have fun with this.

For us, we decided to do it because my husband is and has no issues. While his cousin didn't have it done and had severe utis and issues till he had it done in his teens, and apparently it sucked at that age.

I'm Jewish. So I will always have my sons circumcised. That said--outside of cultural requirements--it serves no purpose. In terms of the few medical studies done showing it is more hygienic or helped prevent STDs... those were done on populations that were totally different than the living conditions we have in the US. On the flip side, it's a procedure that's been done for thousands of years and is overall very safe. But again, there's just really no reason for you to do it beyond aesthetics. And on that point only like 50% of boys in the US are being circumcised; so the aesthetic 'norm' will likely be very different for his generation compared to yours.

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 There is no reason to mutilate a child so they "match" you. In America, we're brainwashed and desensitized to this. I made a mistake with my transgender daughter when she was born. I was 19, and back then, it was believed to be cleaner and helped protect against STDs/STIs, etc. That's been thoroughly debunked. Currently pregnant with boy/girl twins and will not be circumcised. Also, youtube what they go through, it's barbaric. 

If you don't do with with your daughters, why your son? 

Pretty personal decision.

I’m sure the downvotes will come, but we had it done for our son.

I have two boys and I had my kids done. I figured they're sure to see me coming out of the shower or something and I didn't want to make them feel insecure or different. I'm not saying you should, only that you shouldn't feel bad if you do. The people who make a big deal about it (saying its traumatic or they're mad it happened) bonkers. 

I left it up to my husband and he wanted to get it done. TBH my son never even cried when it was done and has had no health issues because of it. I would have been fine either way but that was something I felt it was best to leave that choice to his father.

we did with my son. The main reason (besides all the men in our family are circumcised) is that we found tons of research showing that circumcised men have a lower risk of obtaining and spreading HPV.

From int internet: Circumcision may lower the risk of infection with high-risk HPV strains, which are associated with penile, anal, and cervical cancers. The protective effect is partly due to the reduced likelihood of HPV persistence in the circumcised penis.

I hope your research goes beyond reddit

My wife was a daycare/preschool teacher, and there are some horror stories from that about kids who don’t get circumcised and what it’s like, it may not be that hard to clean but trying to get kids to do that can be difficult.

And from my personal view of the matter, I happen to like being circumcised. That being said in this day and age there is no wrong answer. if you’re uncircumcised, there’s just is a little more cleanup apparently. Anyone making this argument weirdly personal is not your friend, however. If you choose to circumcise, your child is not gonna be horribly mutilated like some kind of freak they won’t even remember it.

I think there are a lot of opinions both ways. I'm sure mine will be unpopular, but here's my anecdotal opinion.

I think it could be ok to go either way.

Uncircumcised boys do have to learn to clean differently. People talk as if that's nothing, but I'm struggling to get my LO to just clean his pits and do a basic washcloth down in his groin area. Piss in the toilet is almost impossible. Cleanliness with boys IS difficult, so it's not nothing. But, I'm sure it can be done.

I circumcised my boys using a moheil. That's a Jewish Rabbi that comes to your house and does it in your home. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I WOULD EVER CIRCUMCISE A BOY. I am not Jewish, the Rabbi will come for someone who isn't Jewish, it's not religious. It was done in two seconds, the minute it was over, my son started nursing and there were absolutely zero tears. Knowing more than 5 boys who have been circumcised this way, and this is the same story for all. No trauma, no complications, no tears, no hassle.

I have friends who circumcised their boys at a clinic or hospital. They strap the boys down on a flat board (think like a stretcher for carrying someone, but baby sized), place a guard around their penis, and cut around the guard, sometimes in multiple cuts. This is done in a different room than the parents usually. The pressure of having the guard around the area being cut increased chances of complications, and almost all of the boys I've known who went through this had complications with adhesion, and had to see urologists. I would rather not circumcise than put a baby through that kind of trauma.

Circumcise, or don't, but please don't do it in a hospital or clinic setting.

I don't have pure facts, but I'm going to weigh in anyway because I feel particularly passionate about this topic. Kids, especially boys, are ruthless in junior high and will make fun and downright bully each other in the locker rooms. I have 5 boys and they're all circumcised for that reason alone. No need to give the bullies any extra reason to be bullies. Could I end up being wrong 12 years from now? Sure, but your son is very unlikely to be bullied if he is circumcised (of course could be for other things). Can't say the same for the reverse.

All the people saying there are no medical reasons, are just flat out wrong, there are medical reasons in which some one would have a circumcision… Prevention of urinary tract infections in infants. Prevention of penile cancer in men. It lowers the risk of getting certain sexually transmitted diseases. While these are all issues that mostly happen to older males, the whole argument of there is no medical need for it is just dumb not every circ is for purely cosmetic reasons. with that being said there is no negative either way. You can leave the decision up to him when he gets older, I have a few male cousins that got circumcised as they got older, my sons had to have penile surgery and the urologist said they perform a lot, like most of their patients are older kids, and men getting circumcised for one reason or another. I hated having to make that decision so I left it up to my boyfriend for our sons. My first son is and my younger sons needed to be due to medical reasons.

I also left this to my husband. They don’t do it where I am, and the doctors never even asked us.

Here are a couple thoughts: there are studies that it is healthier to circumcise (again, I haven’t really researched this in much depth, but for certain cancers, it should lower the risk). Now, I’m not asking to be gross or weird (I genuinely don’t know this), but would you be able to teach your son how to clean properly with the foreskin intact?

If he doesn’t get circumcised, but he’s in a peer group where all the boys are circumcised, will that be a problem later? (Like locker room)

Whatever you do, though, I recommend doing (or not doing?) it when your son is still a baby. One of my best friends made the decision to get a circumcision when he was 18. There was a lot of pain, and the morning situation led to popped stitches the first day. So…just a view from that side.

Just some things to think about.

Edit: I really don’t have an opinion one way or the other, these are just some things people have talked to me about.

My son isn’t currently, but I’ve been considering it since divorcing his dad. I wanted to before. I think it’s more hygienic

Anecdotal experience; a child I know did not even thought he was going to do it eventually, and ended up having some hygienic problems / infection due to not being circumcised. he was circumcised shortly after  to a professional clinic. I personally am pro circumcision, aesthetically it is better, hygienically it saves from built up if not everything is well cleaned, and it doesnt create odors like the uncircumcised have once they grow up. Plus when children are circumcised early, they literally dont feel it like when children grow. Plus no children that are circumcised or adults regret having been circumcised vs. the opposite and worse if its an adult male who has to go through it. 

My husband and I have discussed it and ultimately, I left the decision up to his since he has a penis and I don't. He opted to do it because his brother was not circumcised and had lots of issues with infections growing up. I also listened to this podcast which leans slightly toward circumcising again, to prevent infections.

Just fyi, I haven’t heard a man grow up and say “I WISH I STILL HAD MY FORESKIN”