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GiftofLife
10-06-2008, 18:57
But after some discussion in another thread, I have decided to share my reasons for circumcision.

I had been adamant that I did not want to do this, as it is my experience that people who usually ask me 'Why?' are not genuinely interested, but are looking for flaws in my thought process that they can pick at.

After considering it though, I have realised that I was too quick to lump everyone into the same category. Which is not fair, I would not like that to happen to me. Having said that, I am glad that I chose not to discuss this in the other thread, as that thread was not about this.

Ok, so here goes........I would like to add, that if people are only going to express their disgust at my choices, I would rather they did not post. Of course I cannot stop them, but I will ignore their posts and report them if necessary. I do hope that by telling my reasons I will help some people gain an understanding as to why some of us choose to circumcise.

My first reason was fairly simple. I did a lot of reading on the subject and I was very interested in research that proves that circumcised men are less prone to infection, and STD's. This interested me, as I know that young people are not always sexually responsible and if I could spare my sons from any kind of STD, or even AIDS, I would do so.

Secondly, my DF is circumcised and is very happy with it. He is completely glad with his parents decision and fully believes that circumcision is the way to go. Seeing as he is the one with a penis, I did take a lot of notice of what he had to say on the subject :laughing:

My third and most important reason involves my own personal experience with circumcision (well as personal as it can be for a woman, lol). When I was 4, my little brother was born. He was my parents first and only son and they were very excited about having a boy. They decided right away NOT to circumcise him, as they saw no reason to put him through an unnecessary procedure and so he was left intact.

At the age of 2, my mum noticed a small lump under his foreskin, but she thought nothing of it. The next day it was much bigger and she decided to take him to the GP. The GP looked at it and said he would need to squeeze the lump to excise the smega that had accumulated under my brothers foreskin. My mum trusting her Dr allowed him to do so. My brother screamed in agony and my mother had to hold him down, which was very distressing for her.

The lump seemed a bit smaller and the Dr said that it would sort itself out and not to worry. But the next day the lump was HUGE!! My brother was running a fever and was very ill. His penis had swelled up like a melon and he couldn't urinate without screaming.

My parents rushed him straight to the ED and the Dr took one look at him before declaring that he would need to be circumcised straight away. He was taken into surgery and circumcised under a general anesthetic. Afterwards he was still very sick with the infection that had spread to his blood. His penis was swollen and raw. He couldn't wear a nappy for a fortnight and he would scream when he had to wee. Even at six, watching my brother endure this was VERY distressing and I still remember it to this day.

My mum is now extremely pro circumcision and hates that her baby went through so much unnecessary pain (who can blame her?).

This played a big, if not huge part in my decision to circ. I would never want to put my sons through that. I have made sure that nothing like that will ever eventuate. They will never have to worry about the hygiene side of things.

Another reason that did come into play, although not a major factor, was that some studies suggest that circumcision prevents certain types of cancer in men and their partners. Although this has not been proven as fact, it is still something that scientists believe to be likely.

So there you have it. I am sure some of you will shoot me down, but I've got my big girl panties on, and as long as your criticism is constructive, I'm sure I'll deal with it :laughing:

Mummaholic
10-06-2008, 19:12
Hi, I don't believe in circumcision myself. I don't necesarily agree with the reasons you have given.

But that's OK, we're all different! And I feel no complusion to shoot you down, just wanted to say good on you for posting your reasons and I hope no-one disrespects you for your choices. :)

SorenLorensen
10-06-2008, 19:20
ouch your poor brother.

QTB
10-06-2008, 19:49
Hi, I don't believe in circumcision myself. I don't necesarily agree with the reasons you have given.

But that's OK, we're all different! And I feel no complusion to shoot you down, just wanted to say good on you for posting your reasons and I hope no-one disrespects you for your choices. :)

well said! i agree.

thanks for sharing your reasons OP!

GiftofLife
10-06-2008, 19:56
Hi, I don't believe in circumcision myself. I don't necesarily agree with the reasons you have given.

But that's OK, we're all different! And I feel no complusion to shoot you down, just wanted to say good on you for posting your reasons and I hope no-one disrespects you for your choices. :)

Thank you!! :) I totally agree, we are all completely different and the only time that we encounter problems is when we try to bring others around to our way of thinking. Of course this was not my intention with this thread. I have strong beliefs about a lot of things and at times I can be very passionate. But I try to refrain from being overzealous and forcing my opinion on others, that's not to say that I have never come across that way, lol.

Cheers to anyone who got though my novel, and hopefully I can make people understand, that those of us who choose to circ, really do have our sons best interests at heart, just as those who choose not to circ do :goodvibes:

Ange&Seth
10-06-2008, 20:58
hopefully I can make people understand, that those of us who choose to circ, really do have our sons best interests at heart, just as those who choose not to circ do :goodvibes:


:yelclap::yelclap: Fantastic post GiftofLife! Your reasons for circing your son closely mirror my own and I'm so happy that someone has articulated the reasons in this way. Thankyou :yelclap:

bubs_and_us
10-06-2008, 21:22
whilst i dont agree with any of your reasons to circ, i respect that it is entirely your (and your DH) decision, and you are trying to do what's best for your son, as am i.

thankyou for explaining (in a rational, non defensive manner) the other side of the circ 'debate' :)

GiftofLife
10-06-2008, 23:02
:yelclap::yelclap: Fantastic post GiftofLife! Your reasons for circing your son closely mirror my own and I'm so happy that someone has articulated the reasons in this way. Thankyou :yelclap:

I'm glad that I was able to get it out without letting my preconceptions of anti circ'ers get in the way :laughing: Having often been on the end of scathing attacks from others regarding my decisions, it becomes hard to talk about it without getting defensive.

Thanks so much to everyone that has replied. I'm so glad that you all have chosen to be civil with your replies. I understood that some of you would not agree with my reasons and that's fine.

But I am also glad I put it out there. We're all mums who love our kids and I think it is important that even if we don't agree, we always keep that fact in the back of our minds.

Leisa21
11-06-2008, 08:07
I wasnt going to post in here because I am anti circumcision but in light of recent post I thought you need some support. I think what you did was ballsy unfortunately I think you are right the reason people want to know why you chose to circumcise is so they can shoot you down and tear apart your reasons. We are all good parents wether we circumcise or dont, immunise or dont, co sleep or dont. We are all going to be different but thats what makes the world an interesting place. I dont think anyone who circumcises is wrong or whatever negative comments people say. I think people that deliberatly try to attack people for believing something are wrong JMO. The really silly thing GOF is that people who criticise you for circumsiing your children are just wasting their time. You have already chosen to circumcise and had it done. Their comments are simply just redundant. But people will say things and thats their perogative(sp). I think you giving your reasons is great and it will hopefully help other people who also chose to circumcise not feel like monsters and feel confident in their decisions so well done and if anyone says something negative its not worth your heartache :yes:. Your a great Mum:flowerz::flowerz:

GiftofLife
11-06-2008, 08:14
I wasnt going to post in here because I am anti circumcision but in light of recent post I thought you need some support. I think what you did was ballsy unfortunately I think you are right the reason people want to know why you chose to circumcise is so they can shoot you down and tear apart your reasons. We are all good parents wether we circumcise or dont, immunise or dont, co sleep or dont. We are all going to be different but thats what makes the world an interesting place. I dont think anyone who circumcises is wrong or ******** or whatever negative comments people say. I think people that deliberatly try to attack people for believing something are wrong JMO. The really silly thing GOF is that people who criticise you for circumsiing your children are just wasting their time. You have already chosen to circumcise and had it done. Their comments are simply just redundant. But people will say things and thats their perogative(sp). I think you giving your reasons is great and it will hopefully help other people who also chose to circumcise not feel like monsters and feel confident in their decisions so well done and if anyone says something negative its not worth your heartache :yes:. Your a great Mum:flowerz::flowerz:

Thanks Mate :D Funny thing is that at this point in my life, I am so happy and comfortable with the decisions I have made, that people who carry on with this stuff might as well be banging their head against a brick wall, my care factor is zero :laughing:

I knew that there would still be people who would only reply to pick it all apart. The fact is that I could tear her retort to shreds, I just don't see any point.

Once again, thanks to the people who replied in a civil manner. :)

Leisa21
11-06-2008, 08:22
Thanks Mate :D Funny thing is that at this point in my life, I am so happy and comfortable with the decisions I have made, that people who carry on with this stuff might as well be banging their head against a brick wall, my care factor is zero :laughing:

I knew that there would still be people who would only reply to pick it all apart. The fact is that I could tear her retort to shreds, I just don't see any point.

Once again, thanks to the people who replied in a civil manner. :)
No problems, I'm glad you decided not to reply because I have seen what happens when people do reply to things like that. They say your defensive and obviously the reason your so upset is because your not really sure you made the right decision and your looking for reassurance :ecomcity::ecomcity: lol. You obviously know you have made the right decision and kudos for your confidence. I'm getting there lol but I'm a first time mum and sometimes its hard to know if I'm doing the right thing all the time. I hope soon I can feel as confident in my decisions that you are :)

chicky2lala
11-06-2008, 08:30
I'm completely against circumcision but reading your post, I can kinda see were you are coming from and why you chose to circ your sons.....you did it to minimise the risk of anything as awful as what your brother went through happening to your own sons.
We all have our own reasons for parenting the way we do, we all think what we do we are doing for the best as that is all we want for our children. We would never intentionally put them through something we didn't think was going to benefit them, whatever that 'something ' is.

Jakois
11-06-2008, 08:32
GiftofLife, thanks for sharing your story. Although I am Anti-Circ, I see that there is always another side.

GiftofLife
11-06-2008, 08:33
No problems, I'm glad you decided not to reply because I have seen what happens when people do reply to things like that. They say your defensive and obviously the reason your so upset is because your not really sure you made the right decision and your looking for reassurance :ecomcity::ecomcity: lol. You obviously know you have made the right decision and kudos for your confidence. I'm getting there lol but I'm a first time mum and sometimes its hard to know if I'm doing the right thing all the time. I hope soon I can feel as confident in my decisions that you are :)

I too have seen that happen. It's really quite amusing if you ask me, but then I'm easily amused :laughing:

It sounds to me like you are very self assured and I'm sure that you'll feel confident as a mum in no time. I can lend you my four if you need practice? :laughing:

Thanks again :D Hopefully this thread will stay on topic now. I am fully aware that people are not going to agree with me, but I really didn't start this thread to spark a debate. I can't be bothered with that kind of thing!!

Angelmist♥
11-06-2008, 08:50
Giftoflife, good on you for sharing your reasons:thumbsup:.

I chose not to circ my sons but I would never disrespect or argue with someone who has.

Lillynix
11-06-2008, 09:09
The thing I just really don't understand is, you made a deicion to circumcise your son, based on one reason to avoid the pain that your brother went through.

However, what your brother went though is rare, so you caused your son pain by having him circ'd to avoid something that may just never, ever happen? I fail to see the logic in that, I really, really do.

But I also agree 100% with what jjj199 said :)

GiftofLife
11-06-2008, 09:16
The thing I just really don't understand is, you made a deicion to circumcise your son, based on one reason to avoid the pain that your brother went through.

However, what your brother went though is rare, so you caused your son pain by having him circ'd to avoid something that may just never, ever happen? I fail to see the logic in that, I really, really do.



That's fine, and thanks for asking me a genuine question. It's one which I am happy to answer. The pain that my brother went through, can in no way, shape or form be compared to a straight forward circ. My children were subjected to minimal pain, in order to prevent what can turn into a HUGE pain.

To me it's the lesser of two evils, iykwim.

Cheers :)

Mariposa
11-06-2008, 09:34
thread closed for cleaning

Chickadee
11-06-2008, 11:09
I have deleted nearly 20 posts in cleaning up all the argument here. Warnings and infractions may follow to some of you.

Keep it nice. Constructive discussion and comments, not argument & hate.