Involuntary Genital Reduction Awareness

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I used to assist in circumcising babies
I am a former labor and delivery nurse for a major hospital. When I first started there, I assisted in infant male circumcisions. I hated it from the first but it was a part of my job, and I had children to feed.
The first circumcision I assisted in is burned in my memory forever. The screams of that poor child will never leave me. The doctor assured me that the baby felt no pain, that he wouldn't remember it, and that he was only mad because he was restrained. In order to make it easier on myself, I chose to believe that.
We were trained to never tell the parents the truth. We were always to tell them that the child slept through it, or he barely noticed, or he only cried for a minute. We would keep babies after the circumcision until they calmed down, so their parents wouldn't know how bad it was. A lot of babies did just pass out. The pain must have been completely unbearable. Very few OB's use any kind of anesthesia, believing that it's more trouble than it's worth. Only one doctor that I worked with ever used any anesthesia, and it was a lidocaine injection. Lidocaine injections hurt tremendously anyway, and the children would shriek in pain and terror as they were given the shot. I often wondered if it hurt more than the surgery would have. After that, the babies would still shake and scream through the entire surgery. Then I'd quiet them down and take them back to their parents and tell them that he slept through the whole thing and barely noticed it. Even if we didn't use anesthesia we were always supposed to tell the parents that we used adequate pain relief, which almost always amounted to a pacifier. That is what most OB's consider adequate pain relief and most likely what every child received, even if your OB told you different.
After 6 months I refused to do the circumcisions anymore, and I was willing to lose my job over it. I didn't lose my job, and I continued for three more years. But every time one of those babies was cut open it would rip at my soul. I could hear them screaming in the other room. The screams that came from the circumcision room were screams of utter agony, like dying animals. I used to pray that the babies would just pass out so their pain would be over. The lucky ones did.
I left L&D after almost four years, having assisted in nearly 100 circumcisions and been witness to hundreds more. I will be haunted by those children forever. All the babies whose bodies I helped destroy follow me everywhere I go, I can't get away from them. I now work for a pediatrician that does not perform circumcisions, but whenever I see a little boy with a circumcision scar, I can hear those screams again.
I have 2 daughters, and 2 sons. None of them are circumcised. I am lucky that my sons did not come until after my days on the L&D ward, and they were not subjected to the horrors that I participated in.
My punishment lies with realizing the horrible things I helped make happen, and living with that guilt every day. Anyone who tells you that the baby didn't notice, or slept through it, is lying. I know for a fact that no matter how well anesthetized a child is, he will be in pain. Even the children who received the blocks still screamed and thrashed in pain and fear the whole time, until they gave up fighting. Every baby boy hurts from this. The mother who says her child was looking around oblivious is either lying or is in such denial that she can't accept what she did to her child. I've been in that room hundreds of times. I know that there was never a single baby that did not notice. There wasn't a single one that didn't shake or scream. Your child was being tortured, too. Maybe you didn't know going into it, maybe you did. But don't discount his pain to make yourself feel better.
I hate myself for doing nothing to stop it, for helping it happen. I tried to tell myself that at least I could be there and hold his hand or try to comfort him, but there is no comforting a baby during that. I was just another one of his abusers, even if I tried to pretend otherwise. I helped strap down those perfect little boys and mutilate their bodies, and then lied to their mothers about how they didn't feel a thing. Instead of telling their parents the truth, which might have helped other children, I did what I was told.
Circumcision is wrong. It's as wrong as wrong can be. People who have their children circumcised are abusing them, and the doctors who perform them are doing it solely for money. A circumcision is easy surgery for the doctor and quick money. And those babies pay the price.
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"That's just the way we do things" -- One Man's Story
Like most Americans, I had no clue what circumcision was, exactly. As a child, I was told that it was simply something that boys had done. Instinctually, I knew it was wrong since it made no sense that every single male would be born defective. While at college in the late 1990s, I was browsing the web and came upon the topic. It was a crudely drawn diagram of normal male anatomy and the subsequent removal of the foreskin. It struck me as very creepy and primitive.
A few years later, I got married and soon was expecting my first child; a boy. Prior to finding out the gender of our child, I revisited the circumcision topic. I read all of the alarmist literature on the subject; doctors and parents talking about how circumcision prevents UTIs, penile cancer, cervical cancer, and all sorts of random infections. It struck me as fearmongering. I found out that no organization in the world recommends routine circumcision and haven’t in a long time, with the single exception of when circumcision advocate Edgar Schoen led the AAP circumcision task force. I found out that infant circumcision for is almost unheard of in most of the world and is seen as a religious ritual, not a medical procedure.
Later, I learned that my initial impression of fearmongering was correct. Girls get more UTIs than any boys and are treated effectively with antibiotics. Penile cancer is more rare than male breast cancer. Denmark has lower rates of penile cancer than the United States despite not circumcising babies. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV. The American Cancer Society doesn’t recommend circumcision to prevent any cancer. And most random penile infections are caused by improper care and can be prevented with correct care and treated with antibiotics or antifungals.
Worse, most of this was well known back before I was born. My father’s pediatric book, circa 1975, even said that circumcision was unnecessary and risky.
My son was born and, of course, the most common question asked by family wasn’t (to my wife) “How are you feeling?” or “How is your baby?” It was “So when are you going to have him circumcised?” as if making him a member of the American snipped dick club was the most important thing.
By this time my parents were well aware that I think that routine infant circumcision is a horrible way to start out life. At one point I asked my mother why she would do something like that to me. Her response was, “That’s just the way we do things.” No emotion. No apology. Just a curt response. Later, she told me that their doctor recommended it. Of course he did. He gets paid for it! The doctor excuse might have flown if my parents weren’t in the medical field, but they are. My father is a doctor. My mother is a nurse. In the 1970s, it was difficult for a non-medical person to have access to medical information, but they did have access. In 1979, the AAP did not recommend circumcision. They should have shown less blind trust and done their own research.
I hate being circumcised.
Again, for all you naysayers who think that all men, without reservation, love having a snipped dick:
I’m a man and I hate being circumcised.
I know I have problems due to being circumcised. They became even more apparent when I started restoring my foreskin. I have a traditional 1970s circumcision. In other words, the doctor shoved as much as he could plus 10% in his Gomco clamp and cut it all. Prior to restoring, my erect skin was so tight it was shiny and uncomfortable. Hair was pulled up from my scrotum onto my shaft. My glans, after years of exposure, barely had any feeling at all. The only part of my penis that actually had remotely intense was the small area on the underside of my glans where my frenulum was. Honestly, it was almost like having a dildo that could pee between my legs.
I have been restoring for about two years now. Its been a huge improvement. I don’t have tight, hairy erections anymore, since I have enough skin to accommodate my natural size. Since my restoration device covers my glans, I have significantly more sensation. I can actually feel oral sex now. The extra skin restored part of the “gliding action” (google it) which makes for new and very pleasant sensations during sex for both my wife and I. Still, there are a lot of parts that restoration can’t fix, that are just gone. Baring some huge scientific advance, I doubt I’ll ever know what sex should feel like.
Well, at least I protected my son.
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Tight Circumcision and Intimacy
I've only been with ONE person. Someone with a tight circ. I thought it was normal sex. What did I have to compare with? At thattime, the other women I knew, even if they'd been with multiple people they wereall circ'd. So, they didn't know any better either.
I do know a couple of women who had an encounter with an intact man as well ascirc'd. Those women seemed to think that the guy was particularly talentend andexperienced. They never seem to make the connection. One of them was with aRomanian athlete. Anyhow, she STILL talks about those months with amazement, aglow in her eyes (she's now married to a cut american engineer with two kids,two cut little boys ). The best sex she has ever had in her life. It wasn'tuntil after I suggested it may have something to do with the circ status thatthe wheels started turning.
The first encounter I had with a woman who outwardly professed the differencewas with my doula. She was engaged to an intact man. She called him "supersexual", and said that the simplest touch would evoke the deepest pleasure. Hewas easy to please and their sex life was amazing. She was very experiencedsexually (unlike myself) and told me that from her multiple experiences that she*knew* the difference first hand.
Anyhow, for all those years after I was married I thought what I was feeling was normal. That it was normal for a man to need such rough stimulation, that to pound away like that was normal. Sure, it hurt, and left me sore, but I thought that was my problem...KWIM? We had to buy extra lube, and that helped somewhat.
DH too thought that it was normal to have a mixture of pain/pleasure during masturbation/sex as did I. Even though things would feel "good" there were also many negative/painful sensations as well. And, he couldn't O unless there was rough pounding stimulation.
The first so many years after we were married, I thought there was something "off" but tried my best to just put it in the back of my mind. Didn't want to deal with it...especially as I was going to be having sex with this person the REST of my life. I figured I'd better tolerate/get used to it. As I got older, and pregnant, the rough stuff became even MORE disturbing to me. So, I started learning more and the circ stuff explained it!
I learned about this while reading about circ, then after having a bleeding episode while pregnant (due to rough sex) I started to just get fed up with it. I resented that I had to keep reminding him to slow down, tell him that it was hurting, and I would get so overwhelmed during intercourse I was feeling like I was being raped (seriously felt disconnect) and I would cry afterwards. Here I was, pregnant, and worried that he was going to cause me to have a miscarriage. I am not kidding .
Learning all the information (I had bought the book in conjunction with a DOC book on amazon), it made me realize I was not alone. That I shouldn't have to suffer these negatives and not speak out. That what I had been experiencing wasn't really "normal", well, it was normal for a typically circumcised penis here in the US, but it wasn't normal human intercourse.
Of course, DH was so upset at first, honestly he told me that I should just go start a relationship on the side with an intact man (I kid you not). Though, I was very reassuring that I did not want that, I just wanted him to be back to what he was meant to be so we could have the intimacy we were meant to. I told him..."if someone told you that you could have better sex and intimacy your whole life by doing this, wouldn't you at least CONSIDER it?"
So, we started the process of restoration. VERY slowly. It's already made a remarkable difference. DH went into it, for me , not expecting anything. It's been pleasantly surprising for both of us. Whole new sensations exist for him that didn't before. There have also been many benefits for me as well.
He's definitely not as intactivist as I am, though he will speak out if asked. Not about the restoration, but he is very proud that our son is whole!
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Day I withdrew from Nursing School
I want to share with all of you an event that drew me into intactivism
Back in 1996, I began an OB/GYN hospital clinical as a student nurse. One day, I was enlisted to attend a ‘routine circumcision.’ I did not realize how much that event would shatter the very foundation of a career choice made in ignorance. I appeared in the doorway of the circ room and saw the little newborn boy to whom I was ‘assigned’ for the day. Twenty years-old, and not having kids of my own, I did not anticipate the lurching sensation that gripped my heart. Laying strapped down to a table—so small and new, pure and innocent, trusting, all alone, and defenseless—I walked toward the baby and wanted to grab him off the table and shelter him, to tell him that nobody would hurt him.
In walked the doctor. Loud, obnoxious, joking with his assistant, as if he was about to perform a 10 minute oil change. Not once did he talk to this little baby. Rather, he reached for his cold metal instruments and then reached out for his object of mutilation, this sweet newborn’s perfect unharmed body. As I recall the screams of pain and terror, his small lungs barely able to keep up with the cries, I turned in horror as I saw the doctor forcefully pull his foreskin around a metal object. Then came the knife, cut, cut, cut.
I stood next to the baby and said, “You’re almost done sweety. Almost done.”
Then came the words as that son-of-a-bitch said while he dangled the foreskin in midair, “Anybody care to go fishing?”
My tongue lodged in my throat. I felt like I was about to vomit. I restrained myself. My duty was to then take the infant back to the nursery for ‘observation.’ Here is where I realized I couldn’t do it. I could not be a part of such a cold, sterile, out-of-touch medical model. Rather than observing, I cradled the infant. I held him and whispered comforting words as if he were my own. I’ll never forget those new little eyes watch me as if in a haze. He knew I cared about him. He knew he was safe in my arms. He knew that I was going to take him to his mommy, but deep in his little heart, at some level, I know he wondered where his mommy was while he lay there mutilated in what was supposed to be a safe and welcoming environment.
I made a note in the chart and then caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror. My chest and face had broken out in purple splotches. My next thoughts? I can’t do this. I refuse to do this. This is NOT for me. I took the baby to his mother, who was complaining about ’some pain’ she was experiencing. I never addressed her pain because I left to go to my locker. I grabbed my belongings and hoped that my rejection of this ‘medical system’ could serve as some type of redemption for the violation of that newborn that I cradled in my arms that day. The next day, I withdrew from nursing school and never looked back.
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Finally Heard the Screams
Many years ago, I witnessed an infant circumcision in person at the invitation of a mutilator. He invited me to attend, to prove to me that there is nothing wrong with mutilating babies. He also decided and told me that he would not do a complete circumcision, just a little dorsal slit, to minimize trauma, damage, injury, and blood loss. “I will cut on the center line. There are no blood vessels there.” (Right.)
I decided to go. White mutilator, black baby, southern USA, 1972 or so. With the first probe under the foreskin the baby screams a blood curdling scream and keeps screaming. With the crushing of the center line of the top of the foreskin with the hemostat the baby’s screaming and thrashing ratchet WAY up (he was restrained by tie-downs, put in place in preparation for this human hurricane they already knew from long experience was coming) and when the clamp comes off and the dorsal cut is made the baby begins to vomit—projectile vomiting—the most violent vomiting I have ever witnessed from any human being. Blood from the baby’s penis spurts everywhere. The vomiting interrupts the screaming and the screaming interrupts the vomiting. The mutilator takes out his sewing kit and starts sewing. With every puncture of the needle a new blood-curdling scream comes rushing out, with every pulling of the thread through the foreskin the baby turns bluer and screams louder and harder and finally, when I think the police are going to arrive, or the baby is going to die, or God is going to strike us all dead on the spot—the baby goes totally silent and completely limp. He passes out, knocked cold by the trauma of the mutilating. [Ed. Some babies dissociate and this may be what Mr. Lewis observed] The mutilator can now work in peace.
He finishes his sewing, cleans up, and we head for the stairs. On the staircase he looks at me and starts to talk. I thought he was going to tell me how he had never seen anything like that in his life, that babies never respond like that, or something at least. Instead, what he revealed with his off-hand question was that this was a normal operation, nothing out of the ordinary here. “Did you have any objection to that?” he asked.
I was momentarily speechless. What I wanted to do in answer to the mutilator’s insane question was kick him in his groin as hard as I could and then ask him, “Did YOU have any objection to THAT?” I supposed he would have objected to my reaction, so I didn’t do it. Also I didn’t want to go to jail; I wanted him to go to jail. So I responded calmly, “I think the baby objected to it.”
I have since learned from a reformed circumciser, who did scores of circumcisions, that he didn’t hear the babies he circumcised screaming. He was so intent on doing his work “correctly” that he literally, as hard as it is to believe, did not hear the screaming. Then, one day—why, he didn’t know—he heard it. He heard the baby and knew what the screaming meant. He was injuring the baby, deeply. He’s never done another one.
The mystery of how people can do this to babies and allow it to be done and think it normal gets deeper for me every day.
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"I used to cut babies"
As a medical student at America’s oldest hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, I was happy to be on the obstetrics rotation. While still in college, I had heard an obstetrician speak enthusiastically about his optimistic specialty. So now I was enjoying helping to bring babies into the world. While professors provided good background information in formal lectures, my real teachers were residents only a few years older than I was. They took turns talking me through normal deliveries.
Almost every doctor can recall the joy of delivering a healthy normal infant. This joy was shattered one day when one of the residents said, “There are some circumcisions that need to be done, go and do them.” At the time I guess I knew what a circumcision was, but that was about it. I had certainly learned nothing about the subject in medical school. Obediently, I proceeded to the newborn nursery, where another medical student was already waiting. I felt nervous, and he looked quite nervous, too. Strapped to a board on the long counter in front of each of us was a bawling male infant. Beside the infant was a surgical tray filled with instruments. Imagine our consternation when we found there was no one to tell us what to do. Obediently, we put on surgical gowns, then surgical gloves. Then we began to try to figure out how to use what I later learned was a Gomco Clamp.
As far as I know, I made a fairly neat job of it. But my abiding memory of that day is of my colleague. He was one of the more brilliant members of our class, and was planning to become a radiologist. As for surgery, forget it. He was all thumbs. I still remember him, standing beside me, fumbling with the complicated instruments, proceeding to use them on the helpless penis before him, all the while just shaking his head!
I look back on the only time I have ever performed any circumcisions with regret and resentment. I resent having had no opportunity to study circumcision in medical school or to consider whether I thought it a treatment for anything. I resent the resident commanding me to do it, while offering no further guidance or help. In fact, I was treated just as the medical profession treats innocent new parents today. Doctors tell them a circumcision needs to be done. Before the new parent has time to consider, it is all over. Then it is too late to say no, and everyone has to live with the consequences. I was a medical student, so a lot of the responsibility was mine. I clearly violated, all in one instant, the Golden Rule (I certainly would not have wanted that done to me), the major tenet of medical practice, First, Do No Harm, and all seven principles of the American Medical Association’s Code of Ethics. Mind you, I did not realize it then, just as unwary medical students do not realize it today. Now I know there are no valid medical indications for routine neonatal circumcision. I realize much harm can be done, evidenced by the thousands of men who have written their testimony and who have told me personally of the harm done to them. Now I also realize that I violated my patient’s basic human right to enjoy his entire body intact, while all he could do was scream his tiny head off. That was some years ago, but it might just as well have been last year.
The United States is the only country in the world that, for no religious reason, severs part of the penis from the majority of its newborn males. I speak out in the hope that many parents and doctors will read this before getting swept into the cultural madness of routine neonatal circumcision. What should one do if called upon to consent to or to perform circumcisions? Just say NO! In so doing, you will be taking the only ethical position there is on this issue.
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My Childhood Abuse
Try to imagine you are a healthy, natural boy of age 8 years. Life is good and your parents are loving. True, you suffer from too many ear infections, but no other health problems at all. During the summer of the year of your 8th year, you are told you will have a tonsillectomy to reduce the number of painful ear infections that you suffer. It’s not a great thought, but the ear infections are numerous and painful.
Imagine now that you awaken from the anesthesia and find that besides a sore throat, your most personal and private body parts are covered with a huge bloody gauze bandage. Try to imagine the horror and confusion. At age 8 you are unable to formulate words to express your feelings of abuse, assault, and fear you experience.
Yes, that is the beginning of my story. During the rest of the summer, I was unable to wear underwear because of the pain and irritation to my suddenly exposed inner body part. To the dismay of my parents, everywhere I went I held my pants away from my body to not touch the sensitive, previously protected end of my penis. My most private and personal body part was now a swollen, purulent, oozing, painful mess. I was horrified, humiliated and disgusted. Even my parents, who thought they were doing the right thing, were saddened and sorry for what had been inflicted upon me.
As I grew older, I was embarrassed by the scar on my genitals. I made certain they were always well hidden from view. At my school, we had to have nude showers after gym classes—my hands never allowed any other boys to see how mutilated I had become.
Instead of ‘getting over it’, as I advanced into adulthood, the embarrassment stayed with me, and I was unable to be sexual with anyone because of the shame of my appearance. It was many decades before I heard that others were also unhappy with their circumcision and were seeking ways to restore their brutally amputated foreskin.
What I could not express at that tender age, I now know that what I felt as a young boy was much the same emotion that one feels if one has been raped. Yes, raped. Without my consent, my genitals were manipulated, attacked and permanently altered. Fifty years later, I still suffer embarrassment, humiliation, and emotional pain.
Eventually, I became a Pediatric Registered Nurse and began an intensive study of the surgical process of genital alteration, commonly called circumcision. My only outlet is to attempt to educate and protect other innocent and unsuspecting boys from the life of pain, humiliation and embarrassment that I have suffered. Call me what you will; I know that there are tens of thousands of American men who came to realize the same thing that I did. I only realized it much, much earlier, for the sexual assault happened to me at an age that I was aware and knew how my natural body had been and was attacked and altered.
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American Female Circumcised by American Doctors
I am a white, anglo-saxon, protestant woman who was circumcised in the USA in the 1950’s. Some women advocate routine infant circumcision for males while decrying FGM in Africa. I cannot advocate cutting anyone, ever, for any reason.
What follows is my story. Thank you for reading it with an open heart.
As far as I can tell, I have scars on my labia set at 90 degree angles where flesh obviously met metal, and a “V”-shaped scar where a clitoris used to be. An expert on female genital anatomy told me I was also missing my clitoral hood.
My parents are both dead so I can’t ask them for details, but I have pieced events together and it seems to make sense that I was cut in two stages: the labia when I was one year old, and the clitoris and hood when I was six. I didn’t find out about it until I was over 50 years of age, so I lived in a bit of hell for many, many years.
My early photos show that I was the happiest of children — until I was in the first grade (see the photos on my website). Then a cloud came over me and after that time photos were full of anger, resentment and rejection. I lived that way for decades. I wanted to be dead. I rejected everyone and everything. I ran away or pushed away everyone who tried to love me… and I had no idea why. I was miserable and thought it was “normal”. I couldn’t understand how people could be happy and love each other. I had few friends. Although I usually had a boyfriend, I was always was exceedingly lonely. I am grateful that I did not turn to alcohol or drugs. A brush I’d had with an angelic voice when I was a little girl let me know suicide was not an option. Eventually, I learned all I could about healing. But nothing seemed to help me out of my own empty anger and grief.
No one could understand me, including myself. And then — a miracle! — I was wondering why most “men” were so different from most women and I realized that most of the men in the United States had been traumatized, when they were just babies, by circumcision. How cruel!. I was shocked, appalled, aghast. Due to my crisis counseling work, I knew that such a terrifying event could ruin an entire life. I felt quite safe around the people I met who were clear about not cutting children and I began to work with them to prevent circumcision. After I’d been involved for a couple of years, through a series of interesting “coincidences,” I discovered that I too had been circumcised. I had lost my clitoris, clitoral hood and labia. All of a sudden, my life made perfect sense. Knowing that I had been traumatized made sense of my feelings and behavior. A year or so ago, I met a wonderful therapist who was safe enough that I could allow myself to think about my childhood and piece together the memories. Healing the trauma came fairly quickly after that. After 50 miserable years, my little black cloud evaporated. I look in the mirror now and I see the happy smile I’d lost at age six. I am happy, at last, to be alive.
I found that I was always good at handling emergencies, so I specialized in dealing with people in trauma… at a crisis center and in private practice as a hypnotherapisst. This gave me a good background for dealing with my own situation when I discovered I’d been mutilated.
My entire life was hell before I found out I’d been cut, so when I found out, a lot of bad old feelings actually went away.. So I am hoping that healing can begin for many of my sisters and brothers who are still unaware that they were traumatized as children. Until they know the horror of it, and until they release the fear and terror around it, they might just be wondering why they kick the dog, throw the cat against the wall, yell at the wife, beat the kids, hate the boss, and frantically accumulate wealth to the detriment of their own integrity.
I hope this blog and my book will plant seeds of hope for your healing and/or compassion for the overwhelming number of people—both men and women—who have had this awful thing happen to them.
I am hoping to find out, by way of a book I wrote (and this blog), how many American women in the United States have been subjected to female genital mutilation. I suspect there are far more than we would ever imagine. I hope, if you were cut, you will get in touch with me. I am sorry it happened to you, and we can support each other in the process of healing the mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds… maybe we can ever figure out, like men have, how to restore our bodies to their original function.
You can read excerpts from my book at www.AesculapiusPress.com . I hope you will enjoy it and it will be of value to you.
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Movies:

"I cannot begin to tell you the great joy when I discovered that there was someone out there fighting against the evil of circumcision I did not realize how horrible this barbaric practice was until I met the man that was to become my husband. I had never imagined in God's great world that such horrible mutilation was ever possible. And the doctors talk about "acceptable" rates of mistakes in routine circumcision I tell you, no botched circumcision is "acceptable" if you are married to it. If there are any kind of support groups where "broken" men like my husband can find, please tell me about them." - P.P.
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"I am a 64 year old male who requested circumcision at the age of 22, believing the old wive's tales about cancer, diseases, etc. Now that I have the real facts at hand I regret that decision every day of my life. I would like to thank you and your organization for helping to stop this outrage.
I recently became a grandfather, and thank God I had the perseverance needed to convince my daughter and son-in-law of the truth about circumcision in time; that it is a senseless, painful, abusive operation that has no place whatever in a rational society.
Unfortunately, ignorance still has the upper hand. I pray every night that people will start taking heed of societies like yours and work to abolish circumcision from the face of the earth." -A.B
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"Deb tells a story however that is very frightening. It seems that a few hours after her delivery and while she was still sedated a nurse came into her room and told her that she had forgotten to sign a consent from regarding her baby. She took the paper and fortunately was able to read and understand it before she signed it. It was a consent form for circumcision She informed the nurse that she had not forgotten to sign it. She and her husband had refused to sign it because they did not want the surgery performed on their son. The nurse then asked, "Don't you want your baby to be normal?" Deb said she told the nurse, "Yes, we want our baby to be normal, that is why we do not want his healthy normal body violated and I would suggest that you do some reading and research on what is and what is not normal in the care of an infant male." Can you imagine, just how close this came to violating their wishes. It makes me wonder how often this might be a standard rather than an exception".- H.D.F
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"I am the father of a circumcised son, unfortunately he is one of those little boys in which "no reliable statistics" are known, he suffered complications from surgery. A hospital-born infection entered at the circumcision site, the result was seizures and profound brain damage. I'll watch my son go to be a man in a wheelchair, he does not speak, he does not see.
Dr. O failed to address the real benefit of circumcision; it's parked in the circumciser's driveway. Today circumcisers have the audacity to charge $150 for a fifteen minute procedure, one hour's work will make monthly payments on the B.M.W.
Medical insurance groups are wisely dropping the procedure from their health plans. The mutilations will stop when we TAKE THE PROFIT OUT OF CIRCUMCISION.
Time does not heal all wounds."- G.S.
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"In the 1950's we had annual school checkups by a visiting doctor and nurse. For reasons I have never been able to elicit, my folks had NOT had me routinely circumcised. While we are only 7 and 8 years old, it was nevertheless very embarrassing to line up stripped off and examined; no matter how briefly. After the first year's checkup I had to take home a note which I later fathomed was the doctor's suggestion I should be circumcised. Nothing came of this, but the following year at the annual medical, the examining nurse (or could have been a lady doctor) glanced at my genitals and remarked to the other doctor ( a male): "Good Lord, another boy needing circumcision." I didn't know exactly what it all meant, but sensed it involved something less than pleasant.
Briefly, it seems the medical examiners more or less demanded that all boys must be circumcised for hygiene reasons. Within a couple of weeks, I was dispatched to the local doctor's surgery in our suburb with little explanation other than along the lines that ..."and they just trim a little bit of loose skin away so you will feel nice and clean....etc." I can still remember much of it all, suffice to say it was incredibly painful, and apart from howling for a couple of days in resentment, I found it most uncomfortable even some weeks later back at school. Three or four other boys from my class and the adjacent one also underwent circumcisions at the same time.
Not much else I can tell you about my experience, except to say that I believe that it would be far more comfortable to have a foreskin. After I was circumcised (age 9) and during teen years, and even into the early 20's, I found great discomfort was caused by continual stimulation of clothing. The resultant frequent erections were not only maddening, but most embarrassing I can assure you. However, from the little I have since discovered, many circumcised men also have this problem, and find the lifelong discomfort becomes a burden that one has to accept. My cousin has also experienced this during the past 10-15 years. I had thought it is really that constant stimulation at every slightest movement, etc. There is probably a lot that has yet to be discussed and learned about the mainly negative results of circumcisions, and I hope that your organization and others can continue. My wife and I realize it is still not a "nice" subject to discuss in some circles, but seeing it has affected so many (and for so many years) it is time the facts were made available.
We agree it is wrong for parents to have children circumcised, however, we do feel that if an adult (say over 18) wants circumcision in any form for social or cosmetic reasons, they should be allowed to make up their own mind given all the data and facts about it. To push it for poor little boys though, is so totally inhumane and wrong." -W & J.H.
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"I am against routine circumcision (now more than ever) for many reasons. It is good to know that there are some in the medical community that do not recommend this procedure. One of the simplest reasons against circumcision lies in the old saying "if it's not broke, don't fix it." I wonder what the people who speak of birth trauma think about circumcision? What a paradox if they worry about slapping the upside down newborn baby on the butt, but go right ahead with the circumcision procedure in the next step." - W.N. T.
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"The other day, I noted in the local paper where Senator Jesse Helms is active in the abortion issue along with Sen. Lowell Weicker, so I wrote to him commending him on his interest in the infant before he was born, and forgetting the "next three days" when, if it is a boy, he will quite likely be circumcised? So you shrug it off and say that circumcision is a parent's prerogative, but what about the rights of the son? He has a right NOT to have it done." - J.C.C.
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"I remember as a very small child playing with several of my same age cousins who were intact (never circumcised) and the terrible feeling I had that a part of my penis was missing and I didn't know why. It was very traumatic and as a result I have never felt O.K about being circumcised or my masculinity, despite an outward, seeming acceptance of my condition.
Until I was twelve or thirteen I had difficulty urinating. I have had repeated episodes of unexplained urethritis and painful skin problems with the end of my penis. It was only after reading about the connection between infant circumcision and abnormal narrowing of the urinary opening (meatal stenosis) did I begin to realize the true extent of the physical and emotional harm circumcision has caused me. The last several months of my life have been almost impossible. I feel that I have been raped and robbed of much of my manhood, and that I am partnerless mainly due to having been circumcised. I have grown to resent my mother for allowing me to be circumcised, and this has driven a permanent wedge between us....My grief over ruined past relationships and intense rage toward society for doing this to me are and have been sheer agony, but out of it all has come a firm commitment to work toward ending routine circumcision" - L.R.S.
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"Routine neonatal circumcision while lower incidence in Canada than the USA, is still a major problem (compared with Europe and Scandinavia where it has never been in practice.) It is a paradox if we raise women's consciousness to refuse episiotomy for themselves, while they go on to have their sons circumcised. Whereas there is no extra charge for an episiotomy, there is an incentive to incise the penis. Doctors get paid for it. E.N. Massachusetts
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I personally had my perfectly normal, functional, significant and beautiful foreskin amputated at age 9 years, during a "routine" tonsillectomy, and was not forewarned that my penis would be involved in the surgery. I did know, and consent to the tonsillectomy, and it was supposed to limit my severe and painful earaches. It did not limit my earaches. I awoke in the hospital with a huge bloody dressing to my penis. I was horrified, humiliated, and felt anger, sorrow and deep personal loss. I now feel that I was raped, or at least sexually abused. I was unable to wear underwear for the whole summer. Any cloth or touch to the tender glans was painfully sensitive. I was left with ugly skin tags, skin bridges and emotional scars which remain with me nearly 30 years later. To this day I am apprehensive if anyone sees, touches, or becomes intimate with my penis. I have had a lifetime of inability to form a sexual relationship. - A .D. S - RN
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"When our son was born the nurse came into the room to get him. I asked what she was going to do. She replied that the doctor is going to circumcise him before we take him home. I told her that my wife and I had not been consulted about that and that we did not agree to have the baby circumcised. I told her that we are not of that religious belief and that we do not want the boy circumcised. In spite of my protest, she continued to move toward the door with the baby. Seeing that she was not paying attention to what I was saying, I moved to block her from exiting through the door. She told me it was doctor's orders and that the doctor was waiting. I told her very firmly, "NO". She left the baby and walked off much disturbed. After a short time the doctor contacted me. He told me that it was hospital policy to circumcise all male babies before they left for home. I politely told him that this is one baby that they are not going to circumcise. I further told him to prepare the mother and the baby to go home at once. He then proceeded to tell me about all the problems that can occur if circumcision is not performed. It was a very long list of terrible things. He was surprised when I told him that I had never been circumcised and that I have not experienced any of those or any other problems. Again, I told him to have the nurse prepare the mother and the baby to leave immediately or I am taking them just as they are. I was told that I would not be allowed to take the baby home without circumcision I stood my ground, "Get them ready to go!" He then said that the baby must stay in the hospital until the bill is paid. Where upon I took my cheque book from my pocket and asked how much the bill was. I had to go down to the business office to pay the bill. On the bill was a charge for circumcision I told them that the boy was not circumcised and that they should deduct the fee for that. After some argument they finally took the fee for circumcision off.
We never saw the doctor again. However, we did receive calls from his office stating that they had made arrangements for us to take the baby to a pediatrician. we told them WE would decide what to do, not them."- Dr. C.P.
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"I became a firm enemy of circumcision when I read an account of a lawsuit brought by a parents of a little boy who had the head of his penis cut off by a slip of a surgeon's knife. The article said that this isn't all that uncommon.
I know quite a bit about little boys, having been one, and being the father of three of them. I started thinking about what it must be like for that little boy to grow up in our sex-crazed world with a mutilated penis. I thought about what it must be like for him when he first realizes that he is different, about the cruel jokes of children, about nicknames and locker-room agony at school, about being forever an outsider in high school and college. Like Dostoyevsky, I concluded that all the supposed hygienic and ritualistic advantages of circumcision piled together on the scale of justice could not pay for the suffering caused to that one little boy with his mutilated penis."
Custom, Not Medicine "I applaud your efforts to eliminate this barbaric ritual that hides under the guise of a medically indicated procedure. I disagree with the American Academy of Pediatrics' (of which I am a fellow) passive stance on circumcision They totally missed the fact that most parents don't have their sons circumcised for medical reasons, it is done instead out of 'social custom'. As a neonatologist...I will not allow circumcision to be performed on boys born in this area since we began our 'campaign' all those years ago, Marilyn!" -J. M.,California
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Violated I am a 42 year old physician who was circumcised at birth. I now feel that my body was violated and my phallus mutilated. The work you are doing is admirable and the strength you have demonstrated in questioning the purpose of this barbaric ritual demonstrates undaunting courage. Please provide me information on foreskin restoration and support groups for unhappy males." - Dr. S.M. , California
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Bruised Penis "We had a harrowing experience with our 4 year old son who had a bruised penis from playing "ruff wrestling' at a picnic party with 8 other boys his age. we took him to the local emergency room because he kept screaming. The doctor's advice was to circumcise him within the hour! We left the hospital. Our son is fine and intact. we learned a great deal from our experience. Please send information to this doctor so he can keep on learning, too - L.W., Ohio
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Child Abuse I recommend the books by Alice Miller for anyone who is interested in the various forms of child abuse, their origins and the reason why parents and other adults take the side of adults at the terrible expense to children. We are all damaged as children and when we grow up, we act it out on society or on ourselves by self-destructive behavior (addictions, suicide, self mutilations, etc.) I believe circumcision is a major wound to males which is acted out by battering, wars, rape, child abuse, and random violence. " - M. L. Illinois.
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It's Just Not the Same "I would like to have information on reconstruction of a prepuce for myself before approaching my doctor to get this procedure done. I was circumcised when I was 12 and I just flat do not feel the same. my father insisted it be done. I would give just about anything to get a prepuce reconstructed. I have felt naked." - E.E., North Carolina
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Doctor Changed His View "I am not surprised that more people are concerned about their childhood circumcision and have decided to restore their foreskins. I became interested in this problem two years ago when a young, intelligent, rational male was concerned that he had no foreskin and wanted restoration. His sincerity had a major impact on me. I now see circumcision as an abuse and an assault without consent." A.O. M.D., California
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It's Those Screams Again "It makes me so happy that some organization is working to prevent the mutilation of infant males. The screams I've heard in various hospitals make me shiver." Dr. R.H.F. , Ohio
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Body Ownership Rights "I am totally against circumcision and have great resentment about it being done to me. I feel it should be a personal decision. It is my body, therefore it should have been my choice, not my parents or some doctor's." -S.B. Colorado.
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Efforts Acknowledged "Your campaign to put a stop to the unnecessary mutilation of small boys in the USA is well known and applauded by thinking people in this country. A lot of men who, like me, were circ'ed unnecessarily have been led to seek restorative techniques to relieve a distress which is not recognized by an otherwise enlightened medical establishment here. The fact that it may cause deep and abiding unhappiness and even psychiatric disorder, is of no consequences to them- or is just not understood." J.E., Bedford, England
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"What Hurt the Most... is not my own circumcision, but the knowledge that other boys are still being circumcised.. I was lucky in that I was not horribly damaged beyond repair, however I still feel bitter & angry at the loss of my normal healthy foreskin." J.W., Brooklyn N.Y.
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Hands Off! "My parents not only resisted medical advice for circumcision but also let my foreskin loosen at its own slow rate. I was about 12 years before my urethral meatus was visible and 16 before I saw the corona of my glans. Even with this slow loosening of the foreskin, I never expected irritation or inflammation. Before becoming sexually active, I spent a few minutes each day over a period of months gradually stretching the foreskin by hand until it would easily retract. This approach was simple, painless, and effective. There is a wide normal range, and my own experience convinces me that there is no reason to be too quick with the knife." H.M. , Illinois
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I personally had my perfectly normal, functional, significant and beautiful foreskin amputated at age 9 years, during a "routine" tonsillectomy was not forewarned that my penis would be involved in the surgery. I did know, and consent to the tonsillectomy, and it was supposed to limit my severe and painful earaches. It did not limit my earaches. I awoke in the hospital with a huge bloody dressing to my penis. I was horrified, humiliated, and felt anger, sorrow and deep personal loss. I now feel that I was raped, or at least sexually abused. I was unable to wear underwear for the whole summer. Any cloth or touch to the tender glans was painfully sensitive. I was left with ugly skin tags, skin bridges and emotional scars which remain with me nearly 30 years later. To this day I am apprehensive if anyone sees, touches, or becomes intimate with my penis. I have had a lifetime of inability to form a sexual relationship. --D.S. Hawaii
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As a man who was once a baby boy, I am responding to the letter "Family Decision" in the January 1992 Bulletin.
I have never read a letter or article written by a man on the subject of his own circumcision. for many years, I have thought of writing such an article, but I have not, because the hurt is too intense. But someone must write this.
Removal of a man's foreskin is mutilation, and it is a one-way trip. That it is common in our society does not change this fact. I read in a parent's advice column the following question: My son wants a tattoo. Should I go with him? The answer? "When he is old enough, he is old enough to go alone." This should be good advice for the removal of the foreskin, too. If circumcision were not common in our society, it would be considered assault and battery. I was two days old when it happened to me. When I have sex, I often experience pain, and occasionally I bleed, right near the old scar. Fairly often, I cannot reach climax. I had no sex life until after 40; I was held back by fear and shame.
Over the past few years, I have discovered suppressed anger. If I could roll back time, I would kill to protect myself from this "quick, painless, common procedure." At the age of 2 days, I was not able to understand what was being done, or to object or resist.
Am I alone? Are there mothers out there who can explain who I am full of baloney? Will this letter be a priceless gift to others who suffer silently, alone?
One time I was at a maternity ward, admiring a baby boy. Tied to him was a bright red ribbon marked "DO NOT CIRCUMCISE". Is this the only operation where we need such a device? I looked for a long time while the thoughts surged through my head.
You have my permission to publish this. Once in the mail, my hard part will be done.
J.D./ Medical Doctor Md.
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THE ABOVE EXCERPTS WERE PRINTED FROM LETTERS TO NOCIRC NEWSLETTER
P.O. Box 2512, San Anselmo,CA 4979-2512
The National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers publishes the NOCIRC Newsletter and provides a wealth of information. Thousands of individuals have joined NOCIRC in trying to educate the public and eradicate circumcision in America.
Your support of this National Organization would be very much appreciated. Marilyn Milos R.N., Editor, is to be commended for her work over the past years.
Hundreds of members of the medical profession and caring people from every other profession have joined in their crusade against circumcision. Please assist this and the many other similar organizations who are speaking out against one of the greatest violations of human rights in the world today. To remain silent is to condone a vary questionable practice. We need your help to end genital mutilation of both females in males in North America and throughout the world. Other human rights are of little value when we are denied the basic right to our own, intact bodies.
Above quotes in this section are from this site: http://med-fraud.org/

Television:

Notable Quotes/Comments(from this mens rights site )
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"There are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period." - Committee on Fetus and Newborn. Standards and Recommendations for Hospital Care of Newborn Infants, 5th edition. Evanston, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics. (1971). p.110.
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"Circumcision is not a medical decision. Preventing an improbably future infection is a spurious indication. The standard of care is antibiotics, not amputation." - Eileen Marie Wayne, MD, Letters (Nothing to debate on circumcision), American Medical News, (27 July, 1998). P.27.
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"My own preference, if I had the good fortune to have another son, would be to leave his little penis alone." - Benjamin Spock, MD
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"I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in creation born in the condition that requires immediate surgical correction is the human male." - Thomas Szasz, M.D
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"Historians of the future will find it incredible that we mutilated babies by cutting off the end of their penises in the name of medicine. There are now serious concerns this routine procedure may actually deprive adult men of a vital part of their sexual sensitivity." - Dean Edell, MD - Radio and Television Medical Advisor
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"Circumcision causes pain, trauma, and a permanent loss of protective and erogenous tissue... Removing normal, healthy, functioning tissue for no medical reason has ethical implications: circumcision violates the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5) and the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13)." - Leo Sorger, to American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology: Stop Circumcisions, Ob Gyn News, (1 Nov., 1994). p.8.
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"Circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed." The Fetus and Newborn Committee and the Canadian Paediatric Society. March 15, 1996 Recommendations published - CMA Journal.
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"It cannot be ethical for a doctor to amputate normal tissue from a normal child. In the case of disease, circumcision should only be used when there is evidence that conservative treatment is unlikely to be effective or when it has failed." John P. Warren M. D. - British Medical Journal - Volume 312, February 10, 1996. (Dr. Warren co-signed with other 20 signatures.)
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"Newborn circumcision raises serious ethical and legal questions. Do parents have the right to choose medically unnecessary and harmful cosmetic surgery for their children? I do not believe so.
"The United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, recently ratified by Australia, guarantees the rights of children of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities to enjoy their own culture. However, the Convention also calls for all parties to "take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolish traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children." Circumcision is prejudicial to the health of children, so its practice should be condemned." Dr. George L. Williams, M.B., Ch.B., F.R.A.P. Pediatrician/Perinatologist: Presentation to the Second International Childbirth Conference - "Reclaiming our Heritage: Creating our Future" University of Sydney October 7, 1992.
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Dr. Margaret Somerville from the McGill Centre of Medicine, Ethics and Law in Canada (in her personal correspondence to The Honourable A. Kim Campbell, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, June 10, 1992) questions the legality of male circumcision on present medical evidence. She stated that any wounding -- and clearly circumcision involves this -- is 'prima facie' illegal unless it can be justified. For a male infant, the informed consent of an adult is not possible. Circumcision is non-therapeutic and involves irreversible consequences or harm. She concluded that both female and male circumcision should be prohibited on legal grounds.
"Circumcision is not surgery, by definition. In his classic History of Surgery, Welch has defined surgery to include: repair of wounds, extirpation of diseased organs (e.g. sympathectomy). Routine newborn circumcision eludes classification. If it is not surgery, what is it?" George C. Denniston M.D., M.P.H. Preface to the Second Edition of "Say No to Circumcision" by Thomas Ritter M.D.
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"Besides all these harmful aspects, nonreligious circumcision, male and female, is a basic human rights violation - a violation by one person of the right of another person to an intact body.
"The solution to this ethical and human rights dilemma is simple. Do not perform circumcision on infants. By ceasing to perform infant circumcision, nothing is lost. Any adult with fully informed consent, may have a circumcision whenever he wishes. Most hopeful of all, caring physicians are reviewing this operation in the light of their own ethical standards and are ceasing to perform infant circumcision." George C. Denniston M.D., M.P.H. Circumcision and the Code of Ethics - Humane Health Care International, Volume 12, No. 2, April 1996.
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"Doctors who still perform circumcision are violating the first rule of good medical care - primum non nocere - first do no harm". George Denniston M.D., M.P.H. University of Washington School of Medicine.
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"Even if you found that there were absolutely no harmful psychological effects, it would still not justify doing an unnecessary procedure". Paul Fleiss M.D. University of Southern California Medical School
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"In addition to the obvious discomfort involved, there are now serious concerns this routine procedure may actually deprive adult males a vital part of their sexual sensitivity". Dean Edell M.D. National Radio Host
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"Whatever is done to stop this terrible practice of circumcision will be of tremendous importance. There is no rational, medical reasons to support it". Dr. Frederick Leboyer : Author : Birth Without Violence.
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"The thoughtless, wanton amputation of an exceedingly valuable segment of male genital anatomy never ceases to amaze me. It has always been difficult for me to understand why anyone would wish to subtract one iota from genital pleasure". Thomas J. Ritter M.D. : Author, "Say No to Circumcision".
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"My feeling is that it is a traumatic experience and I am opposing traumatizing the baby. I'm opposed to inflicting an operation on an individual without his permission. My feelings became more concrete when I talked to Dr. Leboyer and saw his birth film. It seemed so incongruous to have an non-violent birth and then immediately do violence to a baby by circumcising him". Howard Marchbanks M.D.
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"Circumcision is a very cruel, very painful practice with no benefits whatsoever". Asheley Montagu Ph.D.
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"There are speculations that the father who insists that his son be circumcised, in the absence of convincing medical or "social" arguments may be afraid to allow his son to have something that he himself lacks. Some male doctors and other practitioners who avidly endorse circumcision may not be doing so out of "glorified contentment" over their own circumcised state but instead may have a subconscious drive to deprive all other males of their foreskins". Rosemary Romberg Author: "Circumcision: the Painful Dilemma".
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"What a tragic statement of our society that we still continue such intrusion upon physical and psychological integrity as an 'acceptable form of child abuse!' "Dave McKnight D.C., D.P., D.C.P.
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"In summary, universal ablative surgery of normal structures in non-consenting infants can no more be justified than universal mastectomy, hysterectomy, or removal of ears for the prevention of sun-induced cancer.
"The problem lies in the fact the American literature has already lost credibility to a significant degree as a result of selective avoidances and suppressions related to the acrimony of the circumcision issue, and malpractice litigation more generally. For an accurate and meaningful account of the protective function of the foreskin in early life , you'll have to consult the British, and learn why they abandoned circumcision, and why you should too". John G. Swadey M.D. - St. Petersburg Florida.
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"The part of the baby that we have been throwing out with the bath water is the birthright of the child and should not be destroyed by the collusion of physicians and parents.
"In parting, I would like to paraphrase the words of Emperor Charles V who viewed the destruction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba and said, "What you have done could be done anytime - but what you have destroyed can never be replaced". James Leigh Snyder M.D., FACS, Past President of the Virginia Urological Society. Presentation to the California Medical Association Scientific and Educational Activities Committee - Anaheim, California
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" What these folks are supporting is the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars to torture newborn babies (of their own sex) because, as a society, we are too morally bankrupt, disorganized, and / or lazy to conduct thorough sex education. We are told that all boys should have a mutilating and excruciating experience in their first days of life, to prevent a few men (who have the understanding to deal with the operation and the guarantee of receiving anesthesia) from having cancer or VD, which can be prevented in a cheap and painless way. One can only guess at the sort of fundamental emotional outlook which can calmly rationalize this cold-blooded, wholesale cruelty". David S. Bates M.D. Letter to Medical Tribune
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"We in the United States are culturally acclimated to regard the foreskin as nonessential and even pathologic. We must not forget that the burden of proof is on the circumcision advocates. (To justify removing it) they must show cause and effect." Martin Altschul M.Sc., M.D. Pediatrician
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"It is an incontestable fact that there are more deaths each year from complications of circumcision than from cancer of the penis". Dr. Sydney Gellis M.D.
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"The best way to stop the complications of circumcision is to stop doing them". Mitch Ryder M.D.
"Widespread circumcision is a relic of a time when patients were not provided much of a voice in medical decision making. That era my be rapidly becoming to an end. It this case, the old dictum that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' seems to make good sense. Submitting your son to the procedure to prevent urinary infections makes only a little more sense that buying insurance against being gored by a unicorn in Riverside". Eugene Robin M.D. Stanford University Medical School
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"Were girls so treated, there would be widespread protests. In my opinion the socially tolerated abuse of males is one of the primary cause of unconscious male anger and violence." Aaron Kipnis Ph.D. Author : "Male Privilege or Privation?"
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"I remember how inflamed and painful it seemed to be to my brother...There is a compulsive inability to leave infants alone. The compulsive issue must be explored and addressed". Eileen Wayne M.D.
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"We urge you to protect unconsenting infants and children from surgical alteration of their genitals. As nurses who formerly participated in neonatal circumcision, we have had the occasion to witness many 'botched' jobs where the penile shaft was grossly denuded. Upon consideration of the issues, we have come to the conclusion that every routine circumcision is a 'botch' job, since it is a brutal assault on the child's sexuality and a violation of a child's right to a whole intact body". Betty Katz Sperlich R.N. and Mary Conant R.N. (Nurses for the Rights of the Child) in an open letter to pediatricians and the AAP.
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"Finally, we should ask ourselves whether it is likely that nature, in her wisdom, would permit every male child to be born with a useless appendage, the presence of which according to some, frequently leads to serious consequences, including death. Why do men in Europe live so long despite not being raped at birth?" William K C (Keith) Morgan M.D., FRCP (Ed), FRCPC, FACP, in his letter published in the November 1993 issue of the Canadian Medical Association - Journal 149 (10)
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"For its part, Canada and Canadian physicians cannot consistently espouse the principle of respect for people on one hand, and then agree to the practice that violates that principle. Canadian physicians cannot consistently accept the principle of respect for people in the name of medical ethics, and then perform procedures they know to be medically inappropriate, harmful and demeaning only because they do not want to offend a misplaced cultural sensitivity.
"With due alteration of detail, the same ethical reasoning holds for male circumcision. There rarely are medical reasons for performing the procedure; personal preference or religious values of parents usually underlie the request. If these are insufficient to justify the circumcision of girls then unless there are distinguishing medical reasons, they are also insufficient to justify the circumcision of boys. To argue differently is to be guilty of discrimination on the basis of sex. The fact that female circumcision is more serious intervention does not alter the situation. Both involve what in other contexts would be called nonconsensual mutilation of a minor for non-medical reasons". Eike-Henner Kluge Ph.D. Professor with the Department of Philosophy at the University of Victoria , B.C., in his article on "Female circumcision: when medical ethics confronts cultural values" published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal - January 1993, 148 (2)
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"It is high time that the medical profession took a more definitive stand on the issue of circumcision. I agree with Kluge's reasoning and conclusion that the circumcision of girls and boys is unethical and is "nonconsensual mutilation of a minor for non-medical reasons". Mary E. Lynch M.D., FRCPC, in her letter to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, July 1993, Male and female circumcision in Canada
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"Children who are legally too young to give consent to treatment must still be treated as individuals whose rights as members of society are not solely dependent on the legal definition of the day. Every child shall be protected from unnecessary medical treatment". JP Shield (Research fellow) and JD Baum (Professor of Child Health) Article entitled : " Children's consent of treatment" British Medical Journal, May 1994.
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"Despite the great concern about child abuse among scholars and legislators in the past twenty years, the same type of cultural astigmatism which prevented past generations from perceiving or acknowledging the most widespread form of child abuse today: child mutilation through routine neonatal circumcision of males ....from the perspective of a neutral outsider, neonatal circumcision is as barbaric as female circumcision, the removal of earlobes, fingers or toes, the binding of infant feet or other disfiguring practices around the world". W.E. Briggman, Professor of Law at the University of Louisville School of Law, Statement in the Journal of Family Law, Volume 23, No.3
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"Criminally, the circumciser is guilty of assault, battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, mayhem and child abuse. As children come to age and become aware of this, we should see many suits filed against those who took part in the bit of butchery. Parents who have consented based upon the advice of their physician might now reconsider, have themselves appointed as 'guardian ad Litem' and seek to recover for their sons the dollar value of the horror the innocent children suffered. The doctors and hospitals must might get financially circumcised". Richard W. Morris LL.B., Ph.D. Practiced law in California and the US Federal Courts. From his well publicized article:"A New Area of Liability for Physicians, Hospitals and Parents"
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"Perhaps one day we will grow weary of sticking skewers through man's noses and ears, cutting off his foreskin, tattooing his skin, and even 'conditioning' his mind and decree, and leave him free to develop what he has and where he wants it". Geoffrey Parker M.D. British Medical Journal
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"People still cling to their faulty old pre-1980's cliché complaining that men are insensitive and unfeeling or less intuitive, and yet these are the very same people who cannot find it in their hearts to tolerate an honest sensitive discussion of how we had a portion of our capacity for sensitivity and feeling (literally) surgically removed at birth.
"Not only do they offer no empathy for our feelings, but they offer no empathy for our feelings about our own circumcisions, circumcisions in general, nor do they offer any support in opposing its practices. The obvious bodily scars that we carry around with us have no place in their world view. The topic is simply ignored, repressed, forbidden, banned from the table, excised off, amputated and thrown in the dumpster.
"Now at last, we see the bitter truth about the women's movement. Despite what they say, they do not really want to acknowledge our sensitivity or capacity for feeling, except when they approve of it and it serves their goals. After all, as long as the world keeps us unaware of our full capacity for feeling, as long as we can be kept unconscious of the fact that a portion of our capacity for feeling was permanently taken from us by circumcision, then we will be more likely to remain safe feminist-supporting males who never go off seeking our own rights, questioning our own roles, staging our own rebellions, getting in touch with our own feelings. The perverse truth is that the feminist revenge of "keep them barefoot and pregnant has actually gone full circle and become "keep them circumcised and insensitive". LETTER FROM HAWAII to an anti circumcision activist.
"We are tired of seeing parents misled by doctors. We men are tired of being lied to and ignored by doctors on this issue. As men who were circumcised as infants and who live with the long-term physical and psychological consequences of a surgery we did not choose, we have a right and a responsibility to speak up about a practice we know has harmed us and continues to harm others".
MEN WILL NO LONGER BE SILENT
Tim Hammond, Founder of NOHARMM National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine Mutilation of Males. See Links Page for NOHARMM Web Site
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"Throughout his hapless history the circumciser has been wrong on all counts. And tragically on the basis of his incredible record, many millions of children have been sacrificed upon the altar of genital mutilation".Nicholas Carter Author: "Routine Circumcision: The Tragic Myth". Mr. Carter was a TV news anchorman in Los Angeles, California.
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"Thus, there is the continuing need for clarification to overcome the confusion generated by Fink and Wiswell. The worldwide rejection of routine nonreligious circumcision provides overwhelming evidence that this is the correct course to follow. In the United States, every relevant medical society has taken a public position in opposition of routine circumcision. No medical society has taken a position in support of the practice". Edward Wallerstein Author: "Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy" (1980)
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"If American men who were circumcised at birth could know the deprivation of pleasure that they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not permit their sons to undergo this unnecessary loss. But, how can they know this? You have to be circumcised as an adult, as I was, to realize what a terrible loss of pleasure results from this cruel operation". R.T. - Denver, CO
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"I'm a 42 year old man who was circumcised in infancy. I still suffer both day and night because of what was done to me. Until the day that I die, I'll probably be in constant discomfort. To me, being circumcised is like wearing a sock with a hole in the end of it and having my big toe protruding from it. I'm constantly trying to pull my sock over my toe. It isn't painful, but it's constantly irritating. (Try it.) As long as anyone (male or female) is forced into circumcision, 'civil rights' is just an empty phrase to me". D.P. - Colorado
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"There is another psychological benefit to keeping our sons intact. The work of Dr. Rima Laibow concludes that a man carries unconscious rage against his own mother for betrayal, abandonment, and the assault itself. In other words, the unconscious mind of the son blames his mother for his circumcision, not "tradition, the circumciser, or the father who wanted his son to look like himself" only the mother. It's just like some bad Jewish mother joke.
"Indeed, for a newborn, his world is mother. If she cannot protect him from violation in the beginning, a baby loses trust. And isn't lack of trust an issue relationships between the genders? Can sexuality be healed on a very deep, unconscious level during the prenatal period?
"A connection exists between crimes of sexual violence, rape for example, and circumcision. The first heterosexual encounter - with a female nurse prepping the infant male - as well as betrayal by the mother, is revenged in sexual assaults against women. As Marilyn Milos, founder and director of NOCIRC says, "Circumcision is where sex and violence meet for the first time". Jeannine Parvati Baker : "The Hand That Rocks The Circumstraint Board"
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"Circumcision. There is something very, very wrong and very frightening about a society that systematically tortures and mutilates babies". Mark Hulstrunk: American Cartoonist. 1989.
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"I have always despised being circumcised. Sometimes I can barely function at work. I think about suicide. words cannot describe the rage I feel toward the pervert who did this to me. There's something deranged about anyone who persists in circumcising babies after being confronted with the facts.
"I recently saw the movie Schindler's List, and it struck me that these are the same butchers who were murdering Jews in Nazi Germany. I think that every society has these 'closet sadists' who emerge only when societal constraints are removed. They now have found their niche as contemporary doctors who circumcise. For a brief moment they are God, with total control over another's sexuality.
"It is the perfect crime. Sanctioned by unsuspecting misinformed parents, the hospital, and an ignorant society, they hid under the guise of a respected medical profession. And the consequences only appear years later when they are long gone and their trail cold.
"Some doctors really don't know any better, and when told about the gravity of their actions, stop. But some just keep ..ting. There's something really frightening about the Finks, Wiswells and Gelbaums of our society. You're right - it's not circumcision that needs to be studied; it's circumcisers". From a letter to John A. Erickson from a man in Arizona.
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"Another important question to bear in mind is: Do we, as parents, have the right to make this life lasting decision for our sons? Shouldn't they be free to choose for themselves whether of not they may be circumcised when the are mature enough to seek out the facts and decide their own fate?
"It would seem that based on the facts concerning circumcision, the total elimination of this inane procedure would be a positive step towards the evolution of human-kindness. We can no longer excuse ourselves with the bliss of ignorance when it is obvious that many of the routine practices performed on children have been proven hazardous to their well-being. The information is available - it is high time we come out of our dark ways and seek the light of truth". Barbara J. Raisbeck :"Circumcision: A Wound Which Lasts A Lifetime"
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"Until now, most Americans of every political persuasion categorically refused to recognize the gross human rights violation of circumcision. While some may grudgingly accord the female the right to control her own reproductive organs, the male is denied such rights. We who know the truth of the intact penis must speak up. History will brand us as collaborators with a system of oppression if we do not act now to stop the circumcisers. We will be silent no longer". Frederick Hodges, A medical historian.
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"The procedure done to millions of babies, girls and women around the world that is euphemistically called "circumcision" is horrible and Ms. Goodman should be commended for speaking out against it. I do, however, take exception to one line: "Our bizarre analogy made between "female circumcision" and "male". Why does she consider this analogy to be so "bizarre"? There is really no difference, it's only a question of degree. It is just wrong to change another person's healthy genitals without their permission. Every baby born has the most basic human right to a whole body, and that includes intact genitals.
"The removal of healthy, erogenous, sexual tissue from another human being, male or female, without their expressed consent may someday be considered to be a crime. Until then, it remains a national and worldwide shame. Susan Peer, East Stroudsburg, PA Letter to the Editor.
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Books:

Visitor Content Feedback:
The following section is all from unedited personal messages sent to me in reaction to the content of this page and it's compliment: http://www.myspace.com/circumcisionvideos
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I thought your videos were so informative! I had never given the topic any thought what so ever. I have not had children yet but I'm blessed w/ having so much knowledge available to me before I bring a little one in the world.
Please continue your work and I thank you for it.
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i just want to say thank you for making this site... it really opened my eyes up to what circumsision really is!! i have a baby girl and i remember thinking when i was pregnant... if its a boy... i wouldnt want to get him circumsized.... and now i know for sure if i have a boy he will only get circumsized if he decides to when he is older!! thank you soo much, those videos almost made me throw up!! how could anyone willingly let their child go through that kind of pain!!!!!!! ugh im just sick right now! but thank you for sharing this information!
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I've been really unsure about what I wanted to do when my son gets here. And I've been told that having him circumsized would mean easier cleaning. So I am all for it. But after reading the information on you're site I have to say I have done a complete 360 on that idea.
I will NOT have my son circumsized!
Thank you so much for supplying people with all this information :)
Jessica
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I was just randomly browsing around and I came across this page. I have just always been nonchalant about circumcision, never strong for or against it. I thought it was a quick, mostly pain free procedure, but I watched one of your videos and I could barely sit all the way through it! I did not know circumcision was SO intense and painful for the baby. I couldn't watch. I felt sick and sad. I have definitely decided against circumcising my future childrens, DEFINITELY. No baby deserves to go through that barbaric act.
The US would go into an uproar if we started cutting off the genitals of baby girls, so this should not be done to boys. I have had boyfriends who were uncircumcised, it does not bother me at all. It's natural, and there for a reason!
Thank you so much for your information!!
Take care
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Hi, My first son was circumcised - I was young & didn't have any information on the subject. Having had 2 sisters & a polite father, my knowledge of penises was very limited. My now-ex husband figured that he was circumcised then our son should be too. I had NO idea what was involved & asked to watch ( I like to learn about as many things in life as I can. ) The nurse told me that I didn't want to know, and kept me out of the room. After that I did some research. One Dr. I read compared it to the pain of having your eyelids surgically removed, & the cause of MANY sleep disorders. My next 2 boys are intact. Several times a day I had to remind the newborn nurses that MY son was NOT due for his circumcision. This is one of the few causes that I get REALLY loud about. --- Yeah, I am seriously "pro-choice" GLAD IT'S NOT JUST ME !!! ;-)
Thanks for the ear!
ttfn
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Hi!
I just wanted to say that I just happened to come across your site. I wanted to let you know that I am so happy that my husband and I decided to keep our son as natural as the day he was born. We had a lot of opposition from family members and friends claiming that we did the wrong thing, but we know we did the right thing.
take care,
cham
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however we are going to have a baby, and we do NOT plan circumcision. we both work at ob/gyn and the doc there does circumcision, and more and more parents are choosing not to circumcise! dad is circumcised and we do not worry about baby "not looking like dad" or any of those other "worries" -- i was shocked when i realized that the "circumstraint" is a real thing... i thought is was a joke at first (although really not funny) i see moms getting a teary eyed, and just about to have their baby boy circumcised and then back out, and the doc is happy about it! other mom's just cry and leave the room while it happens... so strange to me...
~another mom keeping her baby whole.
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I had a very difficult time with my family because I chose to NOT circumsize either of my sons. All it takes is a little education for parents to realize what a risk they are taking. I personally know of 3 boys in my own family who had adhesions, and one had to have corrective surgery at 12. But, as always until I started asking the hard questions no one in the family talked about the medical complications these boys had had and none of them knew of the others! Yet the family will talk ad naseum about everything else...keep up the good work. I will be sure to send a link to your page to anyone I know who is pregnant :)
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Most of my friends are not educated about circumcision. Don't even know to question it. The way this story is tells it perfectly. I am honored to educate people or at least get them thinking. I don"t write or research much so I appreciate having stuff like this all ready to pass on. A couple of my friends have posted it already. Likely some have read it that never thought about it before. You are doing miraculous work for humanity one bulletin at a time. I had my son circumsized and it was absolutely traumatizing for my son and I. I am committed to educating others so they will not make the same uneducated decision because everyone else is doing it. Thanx for the badge
Corina
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Nice to meet you! I think you're doing a great thing by keeping people informed about this issue. Our son is 13 months old and intact. I had decided years ago that if I ever had a son he would be left as he came. My wife has seen a couple of the other boys in pre-school who have been cut. She thanked me all over again after seeing them. She was very surprised at how much skin had been removed. By the way, we have been told several times by teachers and other mothers that our son is so happy and easy going. They asked my wife why that is. I told her to tell them it is because we didn't cut half his penis off at birth!
Thanks again!
Keith
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For the record I come from a long line of healthy males that are un-cut. My two boys share this feature with me.
I wasn't born on the North American continent. I just live here now. The doctors tried to convince me to cut my sons but I insisted that it would not be acceptable. Our children were born at home with a mid-wife so there was no pressure at the time of birth to perform the proceedure. Before me my wife had never even seen of one un cut and actually had no idea that the cut ones were made that way through cutting.
What I never understood was that why is it bad to cut a female and not a male. In my opinion the foreskin is very sensitive and adds loads of pleasure to sex. Why mess with nature. A nice clean, hygenic natural protector .... and people want to cut it off. Eventually on a guy with foreskin it retracts and is pretty hard to tell the difference anyway.
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i am a little confused ive never thought about it till today browsing through your videos. im christian and thought it was a must to do the cir. is it??? [I wrote her back in detail how circumcision is not a christian religious requirement]
ok well thank u soo much. thanks to u honestly i will never circ my children if God ever gives me any. before viewing ur videos and reading your literature i was very sure i was gonna circ my children but now knowing all this info i have no right to make a decision this important without his consent they have a right to choose whether they keep it or not thank u sooooo much i hope u can reach more people and open their eyes as well thanks again!!!!
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Good to see the movement getting into the mainstream media! I'm circumcized, but we didn't circumcize my son (in the early 90s, I guess that makes us pinoeers). I think the reasons Americans circumcise are more complex and strange. It's something mainly in the subconscious and it says alot about culture and psychology. I also wondered if there was a semitic-sympathy component after WWII which helped trigger the trend? Whatever the case, now it may be seen as a racial/class mark, and American women grow up thinking un-cut is abnormal and dirty.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
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I am so glad you've posted these videos! It would be a better world if people knew what and why they were really doing something before they did it. Unfortunately, it's a world of blind followers.
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Hello I have one question or maybe more.
For the past year or so infant circumcision has been running in my mind.
It gets to me from time to time.
I don't tell people about how I feel about it.
I'm not good at proving my points and I just give up as not to upset others.
I've read all the studies and I believe that its not my choice its the child's alone.
How are you so open about it?
I think thats great what your doing showing people the truth.
I can honestly say that if my boyfriend wasn't not intact that my future boys if I had any would have been cut.
I didn't know that foreskin even existed.
I didn't know what it was for.
I found so much information about it.
I cried seeing what I saw, and I read some parenting forums.
I heard parents saying it looks nice and its cleaning thats why we had it done.
I feel for their sons.
I can say now that my children will be taught how to love their bodies and how to repect them.
My boyfriend's parents never taught him about his foreskin.
And he was very nervous about telling me since we are both virgins and I'm his first love.
He wrote it on a note one day saying he was uncircumcised.
After that he kept asking is that ok.
Because our socity says cut is better so it made him sad.
But at that time I had to look up the word uncircumcised and some other things.
I'm glade that people like you educated people once like me.
thank you,
Jaimi
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I just watched your video and I COULD not make it all the way through. I have 2 boys that I did that too And now I cant stop crying. I feel so horrible I had no IDEA the dr's just say it doesnt hurt and it is not big deal I am so angry. what can I do to make it up to my boys for doing that to them? is there ANYTHING?? i cant believe i did that to them. I think that is the worst thing in the world.
Angel Thank you for your reply. I did send an indepth email to one of my friends that is having a baby and it is a boy! I hope i get through to her. I will pass this on to others and get the word out further. thanks again
Angel
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I wanted to thank you for helping to educated people and try to stop this horrible procedure, I am also extremely against it. Keep up the work
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It is a heated debate over a child that is not yet conceived. I am so glad you added me because I was able to use alot of information from your you tube to bring to light the brutality of circumcision. Apparently, I am farther in the wrong than I was. All he does is tell me, I am thankful my parents did it and if we have a son, "MY son will be cut". Here is my opinion. I have to carry a child and push it out, I should have some say in it. People are blind to the screams and people dont know what goes on with thier babies. I am not even pregnant yet and I am on the verge of calling off a life with a decent man over this kind of issue. I dont feel that I have to subject my baby to it because I am told that it will be done if I like it or not. What if my baby does NOT like it. I am in a hole and dont know if I should dig deeper into life with this man, or turn right in the hole and build a new tunnel to get away from him. It turned into a huge argument. I thought there should have been some compromise. I had no reason to believe it would cause this much strain. I think that there is a new issue building for not just me, but other couples. What do you do in the heat of debate? I am thankful to God that the debate is now, and not in the birthing room. I am wondering what all the red flags are here to back out. Yet I dont want to really ditch a great relationship. But I will and just go get artificially inseminated if I really want to have a kid. Not looking for advice. Just thought you might find interest in my particular situation. Thanks for reading this far. Cause I feel better!
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My baby's circumcision is an issue that haunts me. I have such tremendous guilt over it and have shed many tears. Circumcision is a horrendous practice and I've always hated it. When my older son was born, they didn't even ask me if I wanted him circumcised. They TOLD me they were going to do it and that it was best, etc. and made it sound as though I had no choice.
This other doctor did ask and when I expressed reservations, he told me that it was best, etc. He's a good doctor, but grossly misinformed. He was delayed in doing the procedure and I told the nurse that I did NOT want it done, to please get the doctor to contact me. This was the day BEFORE they did it. I do remember speaking to a nurse and telling her that I did NOT want this, even though I can't remember her name or exactly what I said and I do remember her response was to blow me off. She basically told me that I was being emotional and hormonal, as if I were overreacting, and that it was best for the baby to be circumcised. She did not give the doctor the message. Other nurses said they would try to get in touch, but somehow it was not done. By the time the doctor came to see me the next day, he'd already cut my son. I was devastated. I will contact that attorney and see if I have a case or not. My thinking is that since I was impaired and cannot remember the nurse's name, I won't be able to prove anything. It really is horrible and difficult to live with this guilt. :(
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Thanks for having this site available. I will be showing many of your photos in a presentation that I'm doing to midwives at the Trust Birth Conference in Redondo Beach, CA. Foreskins for keeps, an idea whose time has come.
Gloria Lemay
www.trustbirthconference.com
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That constraint thing is one of the sickest things I've ever seen.
Circumcision isn't common here in the UK. I'd only ever heard of it being done for religious reasons, and had a huge shock when I discovered how common it is in America. I mean, I was really upset, crying for days, I couldn't believe this routine mutilation was going on.
For every person that doesn't circumcise because of your site, you have done such a wonderful thing.
And oh my god, I've just looked at the comparison pictures of intact and cut penises.
I am lucky enough to have never seen a cut penis before.
How can anyone think it is okay to do that????
I'm not going to watch any of the videos. I am already anti-circ enough, the descriptions I read around the time of my first discovery are enough (including one of a Jewish non hospital one). I don't think I could recover from the trauma.
Please keep up the good work.
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I dont know why you have dedicated a site to this topic, but fortunately I already know that circumcision is a useless barbaric practice. I would never let anyone torture my newborn baby like so many others have. As you may already know there have been many cases where the doctors have cut too much skin, one case where they said to raise the boy as a girl, because they cut so much of the penis.
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I completely agree with your mission, however, I cannot view any of your videos, it would break my heart. I had a tough time with my husband because I would not allow our son to be circumcised, he said, well, as a man, I think I know what's best for him, and I said, well as the woman who carried him for nine months and spent 36 hours in labour, you will not so much as allow anyone to touch one hair on his body, end of story. Well, that was that, I absolutely could not give in on this one. Now before you think my husband must be a real you-know-what, I must explain, he was not circumcised at birth, but at 16 years of age and for medical reasons. He was trying to spare our son from the same fate. My arguement was, it's not a genetic thing, what happened to you is very rare and will not necessarily happen to him, does that mean I have to get a hysterectomy because I may get uterine cancer ? I know sounds ridiculous. Anyways, he was given a local anesthetic, I hear this isn't so for newborns. completely different argument, but I won't get my daughter's ears pierced either, they can make those kinds of choices for themselves. They won't live their life without pain, I know, but why start life out that way?
Take care,
Sandra
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It really is quite a bizarre thing - over here[Europe], it just is not something that happens - I have only ever met one person who had had it done, and that was a guy of my age (26). I have never heard of a baby or child having it done. Why is it so popular over there do you think? Anna xx
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Hi,
My wife akelah just showed me your page, and I wanted to say thank you. it's such important info. Circumcision is one of those "Unquestioned Assumptions" that our american culture is riddled with.
For the Sake of Children Everywhere,
Michael
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It was easy to protect them because I stayed home and birthed them into a safe gentle environment. If we had had to go in, I had a birth plan that explicitly stated my baby was never to leave my sight, or be circumcised, and had someone done so I would have needed to be physically restrained from attacking them for assaulting my child. Tell your readers to put NO CIRC explicitly in their birthplans for the hospital. It should say I DO NOT CONSENT to circumcision.
carrie
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You have an amazing amount of vital information on your site! Thank you for your work!
-Jessica
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It pisses me off that people are so stupid and blind also. They "know" about circumcision but yet don't want to see a baby in a circumstraint. What blind fools. I get so angry. They should see everything. I wonder how many people would be persuaded to leave their sons intact if it was mandatory that they had to watch circumcision videos before making a decision....
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i am a married mother of two,consider myself a good mother who truly feels for her boys. i chose circumsion for both my boys. i feel this was the right choice for them (my husband agreed). i will admit your images are truly disturbing and i sobbed big fat mommy tears. but i know now why my doctor ( whom took good care of me for 14 years) ASKED me to leave the room. i sat in the waiting room,could hear them cry and yet i knew they would soon forget the whole thing.i asked many and i do mean many man their opinions. I learned that both "natural and unnatural" men had good points and bad. i didn't see any of the good things about circumcision on your site. If you trust your instincts you will make the right decision for your family.i know i did. [Note from Pat: never underestimate the powers of humans to rationalize away the pain of others]
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I think that this page is wonderfully informative, but it makes me feel horrible. I did what I thought was the right thing and got my son circumsized...I'll never forget his first diaper changing. I just stood over him crying, while I changed his bandages. I wish that I had this information prior to his birth.
Take care, and have a Blessed Easter,
~Rose
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I have a 1 1/2 year old son who is not circumsized! My husband is dominican and there culture doesn't do that. I also thought it was terrible to do and when I had him they asked me if I wanted to and I asked the doctors about it. The doctor told me there was no medical proof that it was either better or worse and that he refused when His son was born. So I opted not too. My older sister who has a son and is circumsized was trying to convince me to go back and get it done but I just couldn't find any logical reason to do something so painful when there is no benefit to my sons health in the long run. Trust me I have heard alot of critisism about it and I really could not care less.
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Hello,
I was wondering if you may be able to help me with something?
My husband and I are parents to three little girls, so we have not really had a lot of conversations about circumcision.
We have thought about the possibility of a little boy, and would like to someday have a fourth child. When we have talked about circumcisions, my husband says that his boy should be circumcised like his daddy, and also brings up that it is written in the Bible that how a penis should be.
I was wondering if you can help me, by giving me a little more fuel that this should not be done. I would feel awful if there was a part of my body cut off.
I am almost tempted to give up on the thought of having a son... three children should be "enough", and then the circumcision argument would not have to be a battle for us. That may sound like a coward's way out. I do long to have a little boy though.
Thank you so much for the info!!!
Shelly
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I have a 3 year old son whom I would not circumsize. Couldn't be happier with my decision. He has never had issues with it and he already knows how to take care of himself quite well. I am pregnant with a boy now, and he will not be circumsized either.
xoxox
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Thank you for taking the time to reply. I did go back to MDC. I havent' posted my story as I'm sure they get alot of same stories daily. I've been reading others similar stories. They are soo educated and creative with words on that website. I posted alot of their stories on my CIRCUMCISION blog. I don't see how anyone can make the choice to Circumsize after reading them. I want to send some knowledge or GUILT to these doctors who preform this surgery on innocent helpless newborns & demand that they educate theirselves & MAKE A CHANGE! Thanks Again.
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the one of the actual procedure was VERY helpful (even though it made me horribly sick watching it) it actually changed my good friend's mind completely and a few random girls that saw it. and well i also showed the ones of the RNs and one other i'm not sure which one (i did this like a week or so back) and i posted them in pregnancy/mother forums.
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I just picked up 'What to Expect the First Year' (at a thrift store) and it's already irritated me. Under pros/cons for circ it said 'it is surgery, but minor...it is not believed it is painful for the baby and if it is, it's only short in duration'. WHAT??? And added that since the use of the padded circumstraint it's become less uncomfortable for baby. WHAT? So it's was the lack of padding that made it so awful NOT the hot blade removing part of his penis??? Right...
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Hi Pat,
My mother in law actually used that "locker room" argument. It didn't falter our decision. It was annoying having to defend it though. All I can say is that we never had a cranky baby on our hands. In fact, he's not one of those babies who freak out during every diaper change.
Thanks for such an informative site. I only wished people would question the terrible act they're about to do to their sons rather than go ahead with it because "everyone else is doing it."
take care,
camilla
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I have always personally been against circumcision, and I am so glad both my sons are not. I got only about 20 seconds or so into one of the videos on your page and was sick at my stomach. Keep up the good work of keeping people informed.
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i am wondering if you can offer any advice on what i can do for my first son who was circumsized. i was on the fence about it, actually i was against it, but left it up to my husband to decide. well when brandon was 5 days old we took him to get his vit k, pku and circ. i was against vit k as well, but they wouldn't do the circ without it. i didn't not go into the room where they injected the vit k, nor did i go into the room where the pku was done. both were very quick and i didn't hear him cry. then we proceeded up to the labor and delivery or wherever it was they do circ's and we had to sign a consent form. they expressed how rare and complications were and we felt ok about those odds. the doc assured me brandon would not feel any pain because they numb before the do anything and besides, all they would do is put a rubberband around his penis and it would suffocate the skin and the skin would fall off. i felt comfortable knowing that it wouldn't hurt.
my point, much later, when he was old enough to talk when changing his diaper, he would tell me his pee pee hurts. this was from accumulation of dust or clothing getting under his skin up on the rim of the head of his penis, i think i said that right, basically his penis is small and tucks in his skin, looks like a turtle barely poking his head out. well debris would get up in there so we had to pull back the skin, by pushing back on his fat area and clean that off, it was very red, and we would put gentle cream on it. anyways, because of always hearing about his pee pee hurting we started to think about the circ and wondered if it has anything to do with it. i did some research and saw the show on HBO criticize circ's and have since found you here. obviously now i am totally against it regardless of what any man thought, no one will EVER do that to one of my babies again. i have a second son and he was born at home with unassisted husband/wife childbirth. everytime i change his diaper i am reminded of the huge mistake we made with our first. i wonder if there is anything we can do to reverse his pain. it's one of my biggest regrets in life. i would have never gone to the hospital that day had i known what i know now. sorry this is so lengthy. but it really bothers me that i have caused psychological and physical pain to my newborn baby. i assume now it was painful despite what i was told by the so kind to us doctor. i can't bare to even watch the video of a circumcision. well let me know if there is anything we can do to reverse the damage. my son is extremely emotional and cries over the smallest thing. we think it's his virgoism but my goodness, sometimes we are just blow away at the tiny things this boy cries over. he is 4 now. well thanks if you made it this far in reading this and thank you soo much in advance if you choose to respond! have a very merry christmas!
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When we were expecting our first, I did not want to circumsize. My husband did. So, we asked our midwife about her thoughts on the subject, and she said "Most boys just want to look like daddy." NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
Needless to say, I have 2 boys who are both complete with foreskin.
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Thank you for putting these pictures and comments out. I'm a Dutch born male who came to Canada in 1981. In most European countries circumcisions are only performed as the result of medical need or religious reasons. I had a younger brother who was circumcised at the age of 5. He was not too happy about the results, but it was believed that it was necessary, since he could not retract the foreskin.
In 1989 I married a fine Canadian girl and we had our first son in February of 1992. Even though my wife had not seen an uncircumcised penis until she married me, she realized that circumcision without a medical reasons was a form of abuse. There had been some comments made by my in laws, but after a talk with them they also realized that there was no reason for our son to be circumcised or for that matter any child without medical need there off.
December of 1992 we adopted a son and one of the first questions to us was; "do you want him to be circumcised?" Of course our answer was no.
In 1998 I was diagnosed as having a neurogenic bladder. This requires me to intermittently use catheters. Even with this my urologist did not see me being uncircumcised causing or adding any problem.
The worlds view point regarding circumcision needs to change. Most people will admit that circumcision of females is abuse. There is no difference in altering the penis in males.
Thank you and please continue to advocate against infant circumcision.
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I'm pregnant w/#2. we've decided not to find out the sex of the baby...but if it's a baby boy my partner 'demands' a circumcision. he won't even read the facts about it. any ideas? tamara
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hey great profile im uncircumcised its good to no your telling people the truth about foreskin
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Thank you for putting up such wonderful information and graphics about circs. =o)
Blessings & Harmony,
Missy Jo
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Greetings! I wanted to tell you I just LOVE your site here! It really terrific. I run an intactivists group on here: http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/TheWholeChild I would love to have you come over and join us.
Peace & Wholeness,
Lauren
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