Circumcision: A Personal Decision
Nov 22 '00
My son was born almost eighteen years ago. When I was pregnant with him, circumcision was not something I thought too much about. My husband was circumcised, and I can't remember us having any conversations about it at all prior to the birth.
What does stick clearly in my mind was when he was two days old. The nurse came into my room and asked me if I wanted to have my son circumcised. We talked it over, and decided to go ahead. My doctor was a bit less enthusiastic about it, but sighed and said he would "go civilize" the baby and then bring him back to me for some serious cuddling.
He went through the procedure with no problems. It was very quick, and within just a few minutes he was back in my arms and nursing, a bit irritated but none the worse for wear. The incision site healed well, and we went on our merry way of getting to know each other.
Several years later, a good friend of mine had a very bad experience with her own child. She had chosen to not circumcise at birth, and when her son was six years old he ended up with a serious infection. This resulted in him needing to be circumcised at age six, and it was a terribly traumatic experience for both him and his parents.
Granted, with proper hygiene there is not supposed to be any more risk with or without circumcision. A child can be taught to clean himself properly, but there are no guarantees that this will always happen unless the parent is standing right over the child at all times. This could be seen as pretty inappropriate as the child gets older.
I think it is easier on the child to be circumcised when they are newborn rather than to have this happen at age six. My friend's son had a terrible time recovering from this, both physically and emotionally. My newborn son, on the other hand, experienced none of this.
Circumcision is essentially a personal choice, exactly like breastfeeding and whether to use cloth or disposable diapers. There are no right or wrong answers. I would like to see more complete information given to parents so that their decision is based on fact rather than misinformation, however. There are risks to both choices.
This is indeed a controversial topic, and people can get very upset on both sides of the coin. My philosophy is to allow people the freedom to make their own choices and to do so following the advice of their doctors. For some, the ideal might be to allow their child to get old enough to make their own decision. This may be a good way to go, accepting and understanding the fact that circumcision is much more difficult to heal from when the person is older.
I wish I would have looked into it more when I was pregnant, and been able to make a more informed choice. I don't know that I would have done it any differently, though, but I would have done a more thorough job of weighing out the pros and cons.
Things have turned out all right, so there are no regrets. I do advise new parents to do some research before agreeing to the procedure, so that there are no regrets for them either down the road.
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