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Original poster

Circumcision for boys

27 replies

Sml · 02/08/2001 16:14

Information please...Does anyone know of any studies showing any long/short term health benefits or otherwise of circumcision for boys?

OP posts:
Bells1 · 02/08/2001 16:16

Not off the top of my head, but I would have thought that internet sites based in countries like Australia (where it remains popular) and which are pretty thorough at providing health related information might be a good place to start.

Bloss · 02/08/2001 16:57

Message withdrawn

Pupuce · 02/08/2001 20:32

As we are on the subject.... my mother just babysat my 19 months old for a week and thought that his foreskin should retract more. It currently only goes a fifth (+/-) of the way.... I must admit I have no idea how far it has to go. She fears that we might need to have him partially circumcise because "it" is stuck... any views/experience ?

Thanks

P.S. I'll ask my GP but mumsnet is a good place to start !

Pj · 02/08/2001 22:49

Pupuce, do you retract your son's foreskin regularly? I have never cleaned behind(under?) my son's foreskin (he's 15 months), I was told it was unnecessary, now I am wondering if I have been doing it wrong all this time.

Chelle · 03/08/2001 04:45

Bells1, how long since you looked at circumcision in Australia? It is rarely done at all in most urban areas now but, I admit, is still popular in some rural areas and with men who went to certain schools.

In the rural towns near us you can not have a circumcision performed but have to wait until the baby is old enough for an anaesthetic and then travel to another town to have it done. The AMA (Australian Medical Association) are against the routine circumcision of babies (for aesthetic reasons only) and no hospital in NSW is allowed to perform one without the patient being anaethestised (I can't comment on the situation in other states) and they won't allow the routine anaesthetising of newborn babies!

We have not had our sone circucmicised (I personally think it is barbaric and usually without any medcial basis) but do know of people who have had it done and they certainly had to try hard to find someone to do it!

Bloss · 03/08/2001 05:25

Message withdrawn

Bells1 · 03/08/2001 06:48

I was thinking of the 60's in Oz Chelle where it was certainly a lot more common than in the UK (as far as I can tell it is almost unheard of here except for religious reasons). Given that there are large number of relatively young circumcised men in Oz, I would have thought they would have pretty good statsistics on side affects ets. Just guessing really.

I was surprised to learn when I arrived here that it was so rare in the UK as certainly my 3 brothers were done and so were all my boyfriends (not that tha was many!). No idea why it was done by the way....

Pupuce · 03/08/2001 09:43

My relatives on the continent are told to retract the skin once everyday - I haven't asked them by how much though...
My Mum told me that she retracted my brother's skin everyday - so my DH does it but not necessarily eevryday and we never "push" it...

Suew · 03/08/2001 10:32

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

Lil · 06/08/2001 08:16

SML - the UK websites are VERY anti-circumcision, no balanced discussion at all. They come up with mental and physical problems that are not proven in the slightest. I don't know what these people's agenda are! The US sites on the other hand are much more balanced, as the majority of men have it done over there. Is your husband muslim? They would have plenty of information on it, I'm sure.

BTW Of the circumcised men I've met, they're all pretty happy with it, and are more than happy for their sons to have it. As a female I prefer it (can I say that?!)But having said all that i didn't do my son as the NHS seem to frown on it and it didn't seem that important at the time.

Chell · 07/08/2001 18:43

hello, your notice caught my eye as my youngest son had to circumsised for health reasons.i have two boys and the eldest is 6 and i have never pulled his skin back to clean him, they shouldnt have any problems if everything is as it should be.my younger son however, his foreskin was far to tight, and i was adviced by my GP that if it was to be pulled back i should take him to the A&E to have them pull over again as it would be very painful. he was operated on 5 weeks ago, it wasnt pleasent for anyone involved, it hasnt emotionally scared him any way though. he made a very quick recovery.this is something i would only do on medical grounds though.he was scared to go to the toilet before because it was painful but he is making good progress.

Pupuce · 07/08/2001 21:22

Chell,

Sorry to ask more details - what do you mean it was too tight ? Could you pull it back yourself and by how much ?
What about your eldest - how far can you pull it back ?

Original poster
Sml · 08/08/2001 12:05

Thanks everybody for feedback. I've heard the same as you Bloss, but would like to confirm it.
Actually, Lil I haven't been to any religious websites because they're hardly likely to be unbiased either! I'll try some Australian websites.

OP posts:
Christie · 09/08/2001 12:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Shiv · 09/08/2001 22:40

There's no medical reason for having baby boys circumcised, except in extremely rare cases. babies are too little for anaesthetic and exposing them to the pain and the added risk of bleeding for aesthetic reasons seems a touch dare i say it selfish. As a nurse I witnessed a couple of circs on bubs and eventually made sure I was rostered off or up to my eyeballs in other stuff when it was going on. It just broke my heart. I have also seem a baby bleed quite heavily after this op. scarey stuff indeed.

suzeg · 31/01/2002 21:22

My twin boys were born in the NYC, where circumcision is a valid and supported choice. My o.b. (who delivered the boys) had warned me before their arrival that we would be asked in the first 24 hours of their lives, if we wanted them done - so we had plenty of time to research it. Having come to the same conclusions as Bloss on the pro/cons medically, I left the ultimate decision up to my husband, after all - he knows what it is like to live with a penis .... and he is not circumcised. Interesting therefore, that he chose circumcision for the boys. The procedure didnt seem to unduly upset the babes, and everything healed quickly and easily. And as others have written - we dont have to worry about cleaning or tight foreskins. Talk to your doctor aobut sources of information, or a specialist pediatrician about the procedure itself.

MalmoMum · 31/01/2002 23:14

Why do you think he chose circumsion?

Usmum · 06/02/2002 11:28

We?re from the US and my first son was circumcised four years ago, a day after his birth. At that time, our thoughts were that it was healthier (e.g lowered his risk of certain penile cancers), my husband had had it done and most of the boys at school would have had it done. I think people underestimate the importance of being like other kids. We had it done in the hospital and the doctor used an anaesthetic, although she didn't normally and it was only at our insistence that she did with him. He didn't seem to be in any discomfort immediately after the operation or during the healing. That's not to say it didn't look yucky-- it just didn't hurt him.

I don't think we would have had done it for our second son if we hadn?t for our first. It seems to be getting less common and the purported health benefits have shown to be slight if any. But we thought it was important for both boys to be the same. It was done a week after his birth by a paediatric surgeon who used an anaesthetic as a matter of course and thought it cruel to do otherwise ( basically a white cream that numbs the skin completely). Our son was annoyed at having his clothes taken off and stuff done to him, but he didn't seem to be in any pain and calmed down the second I picked him up. It healed fine.

Again, I do think it's important to be like the other guys. It's not that painful if you use an anaesthetic and is, truly, a minor operation. I'm
guessing the reason it's never been done here in the UK a lot is because the NHS doesn't support it.

Fizz · 06/03/2002 19:18

Could someone tell me if this is normal? My son's penis balloons up when he urinates although it doesn't seem to hurt him. One doctor suggested he may need a circumcision whilst another didn't think it necessary. I don't want to put him through the operation if I don't have to.

dawnharvey68 · 05/06/2007 23:26

Sml wrote: Information please...Does anyone know of any studies showing any long/short term health benefits or otherwise of circumcision for boys?

__

Try:

Male circumcision: time to re - examine the evidence

www.studentbmj.com/issues/06/05/editorials/179.php

A well written summary of the latest research

Furball · 06/06/2007 06:57

I think - seeing as the original poster asked the question nearly 6 years ago. She has sorted it out Dawn.

dawnharvey68 · 06/06/2007 20:41

Lol, I know! But I decided to post the link in case others are wondering the same thing!

lilymolly · 06/06/2007 20:43

why oh why would you resurface this?

SweetyDarling · 06/06/2007 20:59

Bells, I don't think it's really still popular in Aus. Apparently it is now v difficult to get it done unless for medical reasons. Still the norm is the US I believe.

SweetyDarling · 06/06/2007 21:03

Re the whole "being like the other kids" thing. We were talking about this amongst my DH's family and DH (30) said that at school it was about 80% cicumcisedto 20% not. His younger brother (4 years younger) said that his year was more like 60/40, and his youngest sister's bf (21) said that his year was 40% done/ 60% not. So it looks like the tide has well and truly turned a long time ago - in Aus anyway.