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Original poster

WTF? "Half of all uncircumcised males will, over the course of their lifetime, develop some kind of medical issue related to their foreskin."

903 replies

missingwelliesinsd · 04/04/2014 21:11

Question as a Brit in the USA. I just read this news article on the never-ending debate (in the USA at least) of whether it's better to circumcise male babies. Some paper just issued by the Mayo Clinic concluded that the benefits out weigh the risks 100-1 and it would be unethical to not circumcise a male baby just it it would be if you don't get immunizations for your child. WTF?

I know that circumcising can help reduce STD transmissions - but hey, just use a condom! What I can't believe is that "50% of non-circumcised males have medical issues with their foreskins." That would make 50% of most of the male population of Europe having foreskin issues at some point. Can this be right? I tend to think it's just American prejudice against foreskins after decades of snipping. I'm TTC and if I do and we have a boy, no way am I snipping the poor thing.

Here's the article:
jezebel.com/circumcision-rates-decline-in-the-u-s-1557539810

OP posts:
Misspixietrix · 08/04/2014 17:18

Not the definite message though. Apparently it prevents / reduces the risk of HIV etc too.

BoneyBackJefferson · 08/04/2014 17:36

fatlazymummy

young boys often see other boys penises when urinating at school.

fatlazymummy · 08/04/2014 18:58

boney they don't have to urinate in front of other boys. Boy's toilets also contain cubicles .

UncleT · 08/04/2014 19:02

Of course fat - routinely using cubicles instead of urinals definitely won't make them feel different or stand out eh? (yes, kids will notice).

thebody · 08/04/2014 19:11

Can there be any more daft reasons for pointless surgery?

QueenStromba · 08/04/2014 19:15

I remember someone saying on here that her DH wanted their DS circumcised so that his penis would look like Daddy's. That's a pretty daft reason.

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 19:36

I don't think either of my sons ever got naked in front of other people.

I have yet to know a young lad who hasn't got his willy out to his friends at some point.

LibraryMum8 · 08/04/2014 19:54

YANBU but...ds was born 4 weeks premature. We didn't have time to decide what we were going to do yet. He is 12.5, and back then it was the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that baby boys NOT get circumcized.

Anyway, we ended up not getting ds snipped and he IS having problems. Once it was a really odd bladder infection that they attributed to him not getting snipped.

Also, the foreskin is so tight that he has gotten infections before (one very severe) because he can't pull and wash like he is supposed to. I'm worried sick the next well visit we take him to that they are going to suggest we take him to get circumsized NOW at almost age 13.

If I had to do it again I would in a heartbeat. I'm just so angry that the Academy was recommending NO circumcision and now they ARE.

bakewelltartandcustard · 08/04/2014 19:56

Aaah, the US of A, where puppies routinely have their tails and ears cut off, just cause it's the accepted look.
How does the US feel about FGM?

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 19:56

Anyway, we ended up not getting ds snipped and he IS having problems. Once it was a really odd bladder infection that they attributed to him not getting snipped

Absolute rubbish. Sorry but it is. I'm guessing your in the US? I can't believe they're using that as an excuse.

Regarding the tightness...NOW there is a problem you can sort it out. It doesn't mean you have to do it from birth, you didn't know there would be one. Just like we've been discussing, should we remove other body parts/organs just in case?

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 19:59

I'm still gobsmacked at 'attributing a bladder infection to not getting snipped'. Who the frig worked that one out.

The problem is because of the tightness of the foreskin. NOT because of the foreskin. And NOT because it wasn't removed.

Seriously.

What that doctor is basically saying is the same as 'oh this breast cancer is attributed to her not having a mastectomy'

TruffleOil · 08/04/2014 20:01

The American Academy of Pediatrics enthusiastically recommends FGM, bakewell.

Liara · 08/04/2014 20:06

Interestingly the sort of FGM that is practiced most commonly (snipping the clitoris) is actually more reversible than circumcision. It can be more or less totally reversed in a 45min operation under local anaesthetic. Circumcision can't.

And yet the same people who will call it mutilation for women blithely recommend it for men. Confused

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 20:06

I didn't know that Liara thanks for that info

IamaBreastfeedingTramp · 08/04/2014 20:09

What do they recommend that for?

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 08/04/2014 20:19

Canada too. I had one boyfriend out of many who was not circumcised, all the rest were. Dad and brother are. DH and all his male relatives are. All photos of penises in Health class were. Most porn. And on and on. It is hard on here to convey just how status quo it is/was, how expected and accepted. The teasing of the odd Eurpoean exchange student in the locker room who has this weird dangly unexplained ugly wrinkly foreskin. Kids are cruel.

When I was pg with DC1 (here in the UK) I could not get my head around it. If we had been in Canada I expect it would have been a no-brainer (actually, I wonder if that is true. I wonder if things have changed. I should ask some friends still back home). In the end I told DH that as the family owner of the only willy at the time, the decision was his. He looked horrified and more scared than I have ever seen him. Thank goodness we had 2 girls and never had to face the decision. We probably at the time would have made the wrong decision.

I still can't get used to the look of an uncircumcised penis. Total conditioning.

TruffleOil · 08/04/2014 20:21

What that doctor is basically saying is the same as 'oh this breast cancer is attributed to her not having a mastectomy'
If cancer were bacterial and the cancer-causing bacteria gathered underneath the breast, then that would be a good analogy.

BoneyBackJefferson · 08/04/2014 20:23

fatlazymummy
"they don't have to urinate in front of other boys."

Yet most will use the trough.

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 20:26

I sort of meant truffle that if the breast tissue wasn't there, then there would be no abnormal cells to have developed and duplicated..cancer mutation would not have happened.

So I think it still works as an analogy.

TruffleOil · 08/04/2014 20:27

But you were speaking of the bladder, weren't you? Confused

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 20:29

Sorry I don't understand you

fatlazymummy · 08/04/2014 20:35

My boys school primary school didn't even have a 'trough'. Just cubicles.

NurseyWursey · 08/04/2014 20:36

Even in Juniors? How did you know btw?

LongTimeLurking · 08/04/2014 20:48

I'm shocked at the number of people here who argue circumcision of young boys is a good thing.

Unless there is clear medical need at the time of doing it then I don't think it is dramatic to say it is a form of child abuse.

StackALee · 08/04/2014 23:07

"Also, the foreskin is so tight that he has gotten infections before (one very severe) because he can't pull and wash like he is supposed to. I'm worried sick the next well visit we take him to that they are going to suggest we take him to get circumsized NOW at almost age 13. "

I don't think it is recommended that you 'pull and wash' a penis.