I plucked the courage up to ask my dr

[mummasbubbas]

I finally plucked the courage up to ask my GP of 10yrs to get a referal for our soon to be son circumcised.

Well lets just say that it didn't go well and I didn't get the referal that I was wanting.

He rolled his chair back and said, you tell me why you would want to cut off a piece of your sons penis? He wanted a list of reasons why I would do that. Ask me if I would cut of my daughters labia etc. How would I feel if there was a problem ie infection, botched job etc. I of course replied, of course I would feel guilty and horrible, but that would be natural.

He said, wait until he can decide for himself. And in any case, I can't give you a referel for somebody who doesn't exist atm. He said ask your OB when he is born. The problem is I already had a lecture from my ob when I was pregnant with my daughters (we didn't know the gender) along the same lines.

I rang the dr who performs the circ and his receptionist said that my ob will give a referel as he has in the past.

I can't help but feel that I am getting into trouble all the time. A child health nurse told me that it was ******** etc.

I walked in and said to my GP, that my DH and I have read the literature, spoken to child health, researched on the net and it is something that DH and I still feel strongly about. That was my speach, but it didn't gel with him.

Has anyone else had a response like such and if so what and how did you respond and feel?

[Justin1988]

I finally plucked the courage up to ask my GP of 10yrs to get a referal for our soon to be son circumcised.

Well lets just say that it didn't go well and I didn't get the referal that I was wanting.

He rolled his chair back and said, you tell me why you would want to cut off a piece of your sons penis? He wanted a list of reasons why I would do that. Ask me if I would cut of my daughters labia etc. How would I feel if there was a problem ie infection, botched job etc. I of course replied, of course I would feel guilty and horrible, but that would be natural.

He said, wait until he can decide for himself. And in any case, I can't give you a referel for somebody who doesn't exist atm. He said ask your OB when he is born. The problem is I already had a lecture from my ob when I was pregnant with my daughters (we didn't know the gender) along the same lines.

I rang the dr who performs the circ and his receptionist said that my ob will give a referel as he has in the past.

I can't help but feel that I am getting into trouble all the time. A child health nurse told me that it was ******** etc.

I walked in and said to my GP, that my DH and I have read the literature, spoken to child health, researched on the net and it is something that DH and I still feel strongly about. That was my speach, but it didn't gel with him.

Has anyone else had a response like such and if so what and how did you respond and feel?My baby boy was born at North Shore Private Hospital and his circumcision was done the day he and his mum were discharged. Being a private hospital there was no problem having him circumcised there.

I had no problem, I just asked the OB and he organised for a paediatrician at the hospital to circumcise him.

You don't need a referral to have your son circumcised. Most doctors who perform circumcisions from what I have heard just do them.

Everyone has their reasons for doing things, my reason was for him to be the same as me. Some people think that is stupid, but it is what is done in my family. All my brothers were circumcised as well. For me I just feel better if he has something I am used to, as it will be me who teaches him to go to the toilet and how to wash.

Where do you live, someone might be able to find a doctor who wont ask for a referral.

[SalTheGal]

With DS we spoke to the Ob who attended to check on DS after his birth. She gave us the relevent information and wrote the referral. And yes you do need a referral for it to be claimable on medicare.

I think you need to do as much research into it as possible and make sure your decision is an informed one. It is your choice at the end of the day, and you will find a GP/Ob who will write a referral. You may need to look a bit further afield though. :)

[DQ]

I feel terrible for you :hugs:

Regardless of your GP's views, he/she should remain neutral. Who else can you go to for the referral if you are attacked like this :confused:

I hope you get your referral without being attacked for YOUR CHOICES.

Good luck :)

[Blueberry Crumble]

All of your medical practitioners are probably against it because it is an outdated procedure. Not as many boys get it done anymore, and society is increasingly deciding against it for whatever reason.

Im sure you will find someone who can refer you.

[Justin1988]

And yes you do need a referral for it to be claimable on medicare.My doctor said there was no referral needed. Even though it was done private we could still claim it on Medicare.

Some GP's do circumcisions as well from what I heard.

It just depends on whether you're being referred to a specialist or not. If the doctor doing the circumcision isn't a specialist, then no referral is needed.

But I would have had him circumcised even if there was no Medicare refund.

[mummasbubbas]

I feel terrible for you :hugs:

Regardless of your GP's views, he/she should remain neutral. Who else can you go to for the referral if you are attacked like this :confused:

I hope you get your referral without being attacked for YOUR CHOICES.

Good luck :)

All afternoon, since my apptment I have been trying to think what bothered me so much about my GP and also my OB and I think you hit the nail on the head.

What upset me the most is that my drs and other health professionals that I have spoken too, seemed to take it personally and weren't able to give me a nuetral aspect. SO THANKYOU, now I know where my frustration was coming from.

THANKYOU to everyone for replying.

It has been a big decision and it is something that we didn't decide over night and for some reason I can't help but feel that the drs seem to think we did. Of course we love our children and of course we want what we think is best for them.

If this is how our gp reacts I can only imagine what the pedatrician (sp?) will say when we have our fortnightly checkup after he is born! Opens the nappy and sees no foreskin or the plastibell!

I guess I'm not one for confrontation.

[Justin1988]

If this is how our gp reacts I can only imagine what the pedatrician (sp?) will say when we have our fortnightly checkup after he is born! Opens the nappy and sees no foreskin or the plastibell!

I guess I'm not one for confrontation.No.

When I took my baby boy to the doctor, he said "you looked after that pretty good, it healed well", and he was not even the doctor who circumcised him.

If you want your son circumcised, you should have him circumcised.

If you're not worried about a Medicare refund, you could probably just go and get him done without a referral.

I just did a search on Google and found a list of doctors for you. I'll PM you.

[MummyStar]

It's a shame that after being your GP for 10 years he didn't give you the information that you asked for.
We didn't need a referral when we had our Boy Circumcised in December 2007.
Look up www.circumcision.com.au (http://www.circumcision.com.au), they are located in Macgregor, Brisbane. They were really nice, if you decide to give them a call you can make an appt. for after your Baby is born for a consultation to discuss the procedure before having it done.
Try not to think about the GP & Child Health Nurse's negative reactions, they don't sound very understanding or sensitive.

[babywez]

Every time I have to take DS to a dr or health nurse I am so worried that I will be attacked as you were. I think it is a dr's responsibility to make you aware of ALL risks, but not in such a manner as your dr did. We did not need a referal here on the coast, and we got some back on medicare. If you're on the sunny coast, there's a good dr in Brisbane.

[MissSookyLaLa]

yeah i didnt think you needed a referral either??? strange!


good luck- your GP sounds like he was trying to BS to put you off

[lizzo]

Your Dr has a duty of care of you and your baby, he is supposed to look after your health and wellbeing - not judge you.

If he really was doing his job properly he would have given you the names of some competent Drs to carry out the op safely...all he has done is left you feeling frustrated, distressed and belittled because your opinions arent the same as his. What a Twat!!

anyway, you shouldnt need a referral, there are lots of Drs that will do it for you...best bet is to keep on asking and ignore all the ****!

[PrestonPie]

MummyStar,
that's where we had our baby done too. Dr Russell was excellent.

[MummyStar]

Hi PresetonPie,
I agree, he was a lovely man & he gave our son a perfect circumcision, no problems at all. Our Obstetrician gave us his contact name straight off the top of his head when we asked where we go if we have a boy & he gave us his contact details. We mentioned to Dr.Russell that our boy had Colic at the time & he told us about Donnalix which no one else had mentioned to us (including our Paedeatrcian & Health Nurse) so we apprecaited him getting us onto that as we found it really helped, more than Infacol.

[Lil Mamma]

Im sorry that happened to you. I needed a referral for both of my boys, I went to a different doctor each time and both gave me a referral immediately with no questions asked. I would be disgusted if my doctor spoke to me the way you were spoken to, that is unprofessional and isn't their business to lecture you. If they were uncomfortable with giving you a referral they could have just said so, but the lecturing and so forth is not necessary.

[kamb1403]

I was lucky enough that my ob who looked after me for my twins worked in a medical complex that had a doctor who performed circumcisions. He gave the referal without any problems.

With my third son and our new baby boy, we haven't needed a referal.

You could have a look on Yellowpages.com.au under doctors and then choose circumcision under procedures and that should give you results for places that perform them.

I was lucky enough that the one place I new of gave me the name of another doctor as they were fully booked. The doctor I am seeing will only perform them on babies under 6 weeks.

[HART]

I think it is absolutly discusting that a Doctor would make you feel so bad about a decision you had made after careful research. With my first son I needed a referal and while my GP didnt agree with the procedure he gave me one and didnt pass judgement, with my second son I didnt need a referal. With both I recieved money back on medicare and never have I come across a GP, health nurse or peditrition who have made me feel bad about our decision to circumsize our children. Good luck in achieving the result you want.