Forsake The Forskin Vs Tolerate the Turtle-neck

[UselessForeskinHiddenSurgeon]

When our DC arrives (approx 4months) should we be blessed with a boy (we don't know/want to know) , my partner (Jewish) would like to perform Brit milah on DS. This ceremony must occur 8 days after birth. My folks (Muslim) would also appreciate possible future grandson being foreskin free for similar but slightly different religious purposes. I am not particularly religious and nor is my partner (hence marrying out)

I was circumcised at the age of twelve and have clear (though not painful) memories of the event (carried out by Muslim surgeon at home along with my two younger brothers) Do remember being a little scared and i suppose it might have been a bit of an ordeal... Do have at least one amusing anecdote from it so i can't be that scarred surely?

Despite my own experience I don't like the idea at all. my first instinct is to put it off until later in the hope that everyone will just forget... i mean how often do you think about someone else's foreskin? There are some health benifits, among them; significantly reduced risk of HIV, HPV and also reduced incidence of genital warts among circumcised men. These are not enough to swing my opinion. Now my folks may be cool with leaving it until later since they themselves left it until i was a little older, but she is adamant we have it performed after 8 days (as per Brit Milah tradition)

AIBU to want to make a fuss about this? perhaps i should just cross my fingers and hope for a girl. We shall call her Queenie and she defo won't need to go for a chop thanks. I'd like a girl anyhow and it would make it easier for sure... since this is the case we're bound to wind up with a boy. Comments, Opinions, and possible strategies please!

Cheers people.

Chip, no, in Australia. But his dad was Irish Catholic and he was "done", as were all his family. I was under the impression that it was a "done" thing for Irish Catholic males back in the first half of the 20th C (DH's dad was born in that time) but perhaps not.

DH likes being 'cut' - he thinks it's better but he doesn't know any different.

Yes, I can't imagine discussing my grandfather's penis with him at any point in time - it was bad enough with my Dad!! I can't even remember why he told me, although he also told me about his brother needing to have his done when he was about 10, iirc, because it was too tight. Anyway!

Thumb, I had never heard this and am dying to ask but can't think who I would ask! >>>

I'm not sure how common it was but our mother's first husband (m 1938, d 1939) may also have been 'cut'. Their son (our half-brother. b 1939, d 1997) was 'cut' as far as I know, so it may have been more common than one thought, for Catholics from Eire.

I was the last of 5 and without any reason to do it, I assume my Mum decided against having it done (20 years after her first son was born).

I can understand the 'be like Dad' argument a tiny bit, but to be frank, never remember any situation where I saw my father or he me to even know whether my Dad was 'cut'.

chipmonkey - I had not been aware but based on some of the answers *> here

NB I wrote 'generally against it' as despite the vehemence from contributors, it is clear from Wiki that under medical situations, there's no objection.

Ah, we're always a bit behind the times over here!

My mum once asked my then 11 year old brother if he wanted to be circumcised to look like his dad, I think is response was eff off!

I think to 'look like daddy' is one of the most ridiculous justifications. At an age when they might want to look the same as dad, foreskin or no foreskin, they ain't going to look the same. At an age where they might, I don't think they'd care.

Make the stand now and say "no". You'll probably find parents and in laws wont even be that surprised (I bet they're just waiting for this announcement). They'll get over it just like they've grudgingly got over your wife (well they haven't disowned you have they and seriously they wont now, not when their first gc is on the way?)

Go with it on the other hand and you'll need to brace yourself. Give an inch and they will take a mile. Expect fresh arguments and slanging matches (love the descriptions of your Mum's rants) at every milestone. And before you know it you'll be at his Bar Mitzvah...

this is interesting(ish) - it is a page about circumcision in Ireland that mainly contains a testimony from an Irish Catholic man who had his done, by preference, at age 35. The three interesting bits are:

1. a nun told him how the procedure was carried out (so there you go, chip - you could ask your aunt!)
2. it varied enormously in his own family
3. about 30% of the boys he was at school with were cut. And no one ever talked about it because it was "down there" and not to be mentioned.

hello :) just thought I should let people know. We had a wee look and it's 95% sure we are having a girl! Everything appears to be going well and frankly i am utterly, utterly astonished. DW is over the moon and words failed us both. the excitement has me doing little dances on the sly.

bloody lovely

You'll have to be a bit more contentious in your threads now you know the baby's a girl...and start a thread on the baby names board

(I meant bloody lovely you're having a girl (I've got two), not that you don't have to worry about the thread subject now)

zigzag I KNOW. for now subjects like names are up front. woooohooo. got my heart set on Queenie. that should get a few gobs foaming yayeah! i wonder if the spelling ought to be queeny? hmmm names board...

oh crap, a dozen or so gender specific future concerns just filled my head full of worry again. arse