Circumcision Information and Resources ~ AlternaMoms Unite!

Circumcision

Circumcise me??

Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis. In the United States, about 3500 of these procedures are done every day to newborn baby boys. Since Victorian times, the medical community has come up with a host of reasons why this procedure should be done, from stopping masturbation to curing insanity to lowering the chances of cancer, urinary tract infections (UTIs) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, any studies that have "proven" these things to be true have been debunked again and again.

NEW AAP CIRCUMCISION POLICY RELEASED
"Circumcision is not essential to a child’s well-being at birth, even though it does have some potential medical benefits. These benefits are not compelling enough to warrant the AAP to recommend routine newborn circumcision. Instead, we encourage parents to discuss the benefits and risks of circumcision with their pediatrician, and then make an informed decision about what is in the best interest of their child,”
~ Carole Lannon, M.D., MPH, FAAP, chair of the AAP’s Task Force on Circumcision.

70% of parents who view a circumcision
decide against the procedure.
It is my opinion that anyone who plans to have their son cut watch a circumcision being done. This link goes to pictures, video, and .wav files. They are graphic, as they should be. Circumcision isn't just "a little snip." It's the removal of what would amount to a piece of skin the size of a 3" x 5" card.

82% of the World’s Men are Intact
If circumcision were so necessary, wouldn't it be universal? Yet it isn't.

Why can't you have it done using anesthetic?
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But the problem is that anesthics have neither been approved or tested on infants under six months. They can be highly dangerous for children this age. This link discusses the inherent dangers of using EMLA cream (a topical anesthetic) on newborns. Why put a child at risk for a procedure that doesn't need to be done?

But shouldn't a boy look like his father?
Will he have his father's nose? If he doesn't, will you have cosmetic surgery on him when he is a day old to make it look like his father's? Of course not. Besides, by the time the son's penis looks like the father's, they shouldn't exactly be comparing them, should they?
A better idea is to make the father look like the son. Foreskin restoration by nonsurgical means is possible.
The National Organization of Restoring Men is an excellent place to start.

I am a Christian. I have to circumcise my son - don't I?
No, you do not. Please follow this link to a complete look at circumcision from a Christian point of view, complete with Biblical quotes. Thanks to Ulrike for her research!

The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD
Published in Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living, Winter 1997, pp. 36--45. This is the article that I credit for saving my son's foreskin. We had been undecided about having him done, with both my mother and mother-in-law telling me that I should have it done. After Christopher and I read this article, we knew that there was no way in hell we were ever going to put any of our sons through such a painful, unnecessary procedure.

Separated at Birth: Did Circumcision Ruin Your Sex Life?
by Mark Jenkins
Published in Men’s Health, July/August 1998, pages 130-135, 163

Foreskin care
Newborns: Care of the Uncircumcised Penis
by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Other Links

In Memory of the Sexually Mutilated Child	Mothers Against Circumcision	Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)
Circumcision: The Virtual Journal	Circumcision Resource Center	Circumcision Information WebRing
National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine Mutilation of Males (NOHARMM)	Circumcision Information and Resource Pages (CIRP)	National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC)

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