If circumcision were a choice I had to have made, I would have
run frantically from the hospital with my newborn son to protect
him from the procedure. His father would have chased me down,
insisting his son “look like he did.” All I can say is I’m
terribly relieved I didn’t have to live through that. Nor did I
have to make the agonizing choice of protecting my baby from
pain or disrespecting my husband. It would have been a huge
battle of conscience. I was spared and given daughters.
The decision to circumcise an infant boy or not is, in the USA
and I’m assuming, most of the world, still a parent’s sole
responsibility. More and more doctors and pediatricians are
recommending against routine circumcision. The controversy is
beginning to reach epidemic proportions and will soon be a major
issue facing new parents. I feel very sorry for those parents.
They will be bombarded with opinions at every turn and surely go
though hell with it, unless they have settled this issue between
them before the baby’s birth. Hopefully, they will agree. The
problem I foresee is the parents not agreeing on circumcision,
creating a stressful situation where there should be only joy.
Cultural tradition and religious practices notwithstanding,
there is no longer a medical or rational reason to circumcise a
child other than for purely “cosmetic” reasons. Circumcision is
a very painful procedure, performed on a completely innocent and
unsuspecting baby. This procedure rattles me to the point that I
have refused to attend the Bris of more than one friend’s baby
son. (A Bris is a Jewish ceremony whereby a Rabbi circumcises an
infant boy ... with a lot of witnesses.) Please understand, I
have absolutely nothing against the Jewish faith. I have nothing
against any faith, even if I do not agree with their beliefs or
practices. I DO, however, have something against anyone who
inflicts pain on an innocent child. This would include some
cultures that also routinely circumcise adolescent girls. If we
agree that this is a barbaric ceremony, can we then apply some
of that sensibility to infant boys? Sure, male circumcision does
not alter a boy sexually but it does cause considerable pain to
our babies without any apparent benefit to the child. The issue
of cleanliness is no longer a factor. In modern society,
frequent bathing is as common as brushing one’s hair.
Routine circumcision is obviously not malicious intent to
senselessly cause pain to an infant, however, there is much
information available today, most of which supports the case
against circumcising. Not at least questioning this practice is
burying one’s head in the sand no matter how the parents choose
to proceed.
Consider the recent poll numbers obtained by American Baby
magazine on circumcision:
57% chose to circumcise 42% chose not to 2% were undecided 20%
said it was a hard decision to make.
Granted, as life decisions go, circumcision is not one of the
most enormous in relation to the impact it will have on our
babies. I believe it is more an issue of questioning generally
accepted practices that no longer serve logical purposes. As
neonatal circumcision is still performed on the majority of
boys, (at least in the United States), this controversy should
continue for a number of years. It will be interesting to see
how our culture progresses and what the poll numbers will be
like ten years from now.
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