Do You Parents Not Care About Us Guys Not Wanting To Be Circumcised

My wife does not want our son to be circumcised due to misinformation. How do I handle this issue?

So, I have a 2yr old son. He is not circumcised. This decision led to heated arguments with my mother and other family members as well as other mothers.I did a lot of research before making a decision. The pros, the cons, the risks. I spoke to the pediatrician.Pediatrician: There is no medical reason to perform a circumcision. It was originally done for religious purposes. In more recent times it has become more common practice. It is believed that it is cleaner and ultimately safer for the baby. However, I have dealt with more infections in Male children due to circumcisions. This is because it is an open wound, inside a diaper where feces is. It is hot inside a diaper, so germs and bacteria thrive in there. Babies urinate and defecate on a constant basis. When you have an open wound in those conditions the the chance for infection is high.The pediatrician fully supported not circumcising. The foreskin acts as a natural protectant, keeping dirt and such out. It's also very easily moved out of the way to clean the baby up. If you teach your son how to properly clean himself, there won't be a problem. We teach little girls how to clean their parts all the time.The pediatrician at the hospital also supported our decision, she actually shook my hand. She gave me the same information as our doctor did and said she was glad to see that we weren't just following the norm.The main argument from family and friends? His penis would look different from the other boys in the locker room and he would get made fun of. Give me a break.I don't know what information your wife has that you feel is false. I do not advocate either direction. I feel it is a personal choice. For me it was an easy choice. I was not ok cutting parts off of my brand new baby for no real medical reason. They don't numb them, they strap them down and snip it off. It's painful, and remains painful until it heals. Infection risk. Nah.Do some of your own research. Talk to doctors. Most importantly, talk to with your wife

My partner wants to circumcise our son when he's born and I am strongly against it. What can I do to make sure we don't go into war over this?

If you were in the UK, just say no. Doctors require the informed consent of both parents. I’m guessing you are in the USA where the myth persists that genital mutilation without informed consent is somehow “healthy”.Why does your husband think otherwise? There is no serious academic research which still supports that fallacy.I was circumcised in infancy and it has left me in later life with much reduced libido and sexual functionality. This is a very common consequence of circumcision. But I’m lucky. Another well-documented side effect, if rare, is death.To the very marginal extent that circumcision might offer some health benefits, it requires the individual (a) to be basically incapable of personal hygiene and knowing how to take a shower, and (b) to be sexually active.Your baby will not be sexually active. So let him decide whether he wants to be circumcised or not, when he is old enough to give informed consent.I have a pretty strong idea of what his answer will be.Circumcision in boysYou may also find a new documentary film, “American Circumcision” helpful.American Circumcision - A Documentary Film

Is it wrong for a parent to get their son circumcised, against the other parent's wishes on the grounds that they don't want their son to be teased and bullied for being uncircumcised?

I think it's totally wrong. Why it continues to exist is frankly beyond me there is no possible excuse for male genital mutilation unless the person has some form of condition that requires it e.g Phimosis where the foreskin is too tight. Frankly I think it's completely barbaric and I have a large number of American friends who agree with me although in most cases it was too late for them. What amazes me is that when they come and stay at my house in Europe and go to the pool or the gym they can't believe everyone is uncut. What really upsets them is when I refer to someone who is uncut as "an intact male" a friend of mine in Fort Lauderdale was discussing his boys planned circumcision and his son wasn't even due to be born for week or two - not a good start in life is it :-) he said to me he thought it was a good idea for the health benefits and I explained that I have never had a problem and neither have any of my friends in Europe or Canada who are not cut so these "perceived health benefits" are completely nonsensical in the same way as the North American obsession with extracting wisdom teeth. When a teenager tells me his wisdom teeth have to come out I ask myself a question "as most Americans are of European origins how come most of them have their wisdom teeth extracted when most Europeans have retained them" when you think about it it doesn't make sense.Returning to the issue of my friends son and the proposed circumcision I said if you think it's a good idea why not leave it to your son to make up his own mind when the time comes? What baffles me is that when we are talking about female genital mutilation everyone is tearing their hair out but when we talk about male circumcision in the US its frequently looked at differently though in Europe people are strongly opposed - time to smell the coffee over here in the US I reckon!!