Circumcision

[Tannie]

these threads always get too hot.......so all I'll say is no way I would ever submit my child to such an unnecessary procedure......I believe it's ******** and has no place in modern society.
Despite what one poster says, I don't believe the trend is anything like 50% of country boys and 20% of city......legitimate surveys show it's more around 12-15% these days and falling. I work as a nurse and there is no way that 50% of boys coming in are circ'd.........very rare to see it these days in boys under 15-20 yrs.
When we were in hospital after having our bub a circ was done on a baby in the treatment room up the hallway (We knew that what is was as I went for a walk and heard the dr ask if they were all set up for the circ ready to go......) Frankly, it was horrific to hear the baby scream like that & several other parents came out of their rooms to look in fright........my hb and I both started crying and I get tears in my eyes just recalling it.......my hb is circ'd and wonders how his parents could have let it happen.

It is no longer recommended by the Paediatric society in Aust or UK & that has to tell us something? esp as most doctors are male and would certainly understand the pro's & con's of keeping their penis healthy & happy
T

[myf]

I spent one evening recently surfing the net in some depth following an appointment with Dr Russell at Mt Gravatt with my husband and two lads (4 & 6 yrs).
During that evening I came across this site (and countless more opposing circumcision) and I have to say that having read each and every post on the subject I was horrified at the choice we had made... to have our boys circumcised. I woke my husband up at 3.00am in a state telling him that I couldn't go through with it and that everything I had read in the last 6 hours was against the procedure!!!
To be continued due to dinner.....................

[2under2]

We decided not to have our baby boy circumsised, even though nearly everyone else we know has been done without their consent at birth or shortly after. I feel that is (for a normal, healthy baby) completely unnecessary and ******** in this day and age. I understand that everyone has a right to make their own decision. If it wasn't meant to be there, it wouldn't be part of the plan at all!

[myf]

............continued

My mind had been made up for some years now that I would have my sons circumcised, eventually. I had previously been put off after consultation with a private urologist when my first son was 15 months old and had put the whole subject on the back burner.

By the time my second son was 2yrs or so, I had already been to my local GP on several occasions with minor irritations with both boys, which granted the antibiotic cream prescribed did its job and we moved on.
However each time, the subject of circumcision arose between my husband and I, why hadn't we done it by now? My husband is circumcised, but never pushed the case although I do know he would cringe at the sight of the inflamed penis, shake his head and blame it entirely on the presence of the foreskin!

The final straw came the day my eldest son was in the shower and discovered his foreskin had totally detached from the gland, he screamed in horror at the sight of the smegma which had been locked underneath the foreskin (and stays there until your child can finally pull back his foreskin completely) and now thickly coated the head of his penis proving almost impossible to remove!! I had to run a bath and let him have a long soak, having been totally horrified myself to see him standing in the shower with the nail brush attacking his 'willy'!! (he hobbled about for a couple of days after that episode!!)

Personal hygiene is of utmost importance in my household, anyone who knows me would almost definately class me as fanatical! So I could never be accused of neglect in that department. Even Dr. Russell commended me on my boys penile hygiene ( even after a 6hr day of school; we had a 4pm appointment!).
In addition he pointed out the smegma trapped beneath my 4yr old foreskin, which was still adhered to the head. The only way to get rid of this smegma at this stage is to detatch the foreskin, forget the warm soapy bath water!
With this in mind I was greatful that I only had 6 days to wait before my lads were finally rid of their foreskin for good!!!!

[myf]

My 2 lads were circumcised last week at Dr Terry Russells rooms at Mt Gravatt.
The elma cream which is applied topically to the penis for 2 hrs prior to the procedure is a welcome alternative to a general or local anesthetic. A small amount of pethadine is injected according to the weight of the child which merely relaxed my lads. This did not appear to produce any side effects whatsoever.

Neither child was stressed or anxious. They were actually able to vocally claim that they felt no pain at all throughout the procedeure. My eldest played his gameboy the whole way!!!
I took the liberty to administer a dose of panadol to each of them before leaving Dr Russells rooms, more to be ontop of the pain relief rather than letting the pain ( I was expecting them to experience ) get hold of my boys.
Sensible doses of panadol for the next 24 hrs ( 4 hourly ) and warm salt water baths have seen my kids recover rapidly from a procedure I was dreading!!

Dr Terry Russell is the most informative and approachable medical proffessional I have ever encountered. He is sensitive to his patients and their parents alike. Listen to his advice and follow through with the care he recommends and you too will experience a pain free straight forward procedure for your sons.

[willsmum]

myf,

I think that in your case, things are a little different to most other. You waited until your boys were older, they had some prior problems with infections, and they were able to have anaesthesia and pethidine. Not so newborns.

I still fail to see how anyone can do this to helpless little days-old people. Maybe everyone should wait til their boys are older like you did, then they will definitely know if it is the necessary thing for them. In my book, chopping off normal body parts just in case there is a problem later is a bit like pulling healthy teeth just in case they get decay.

[Narelle]

If our baby is a boy we decided we will not get him circumcised.
I think Tannie is right about the stats, we were told it's not really that common anymore.
A friend of mine got her son done because she wanted him to look like his daddy
down there, but if you base your decision on appearance I think it's more important to look like all the other kids at school rather than your dad.
If you need it done for medical reasons fair enough but I agree with Elle "if it aint broke don't fix it" where I live if you want it done you have to wait until they're six months old and as far as I know they have to have a general anesthetic.
Good Luck with your decision!

[myf]

Actually my lads didn't have any serious problems, just the normal stuff that comes with the foreskin remaining intact but I could see the potential danger down the track. Afterall I won't always be able to oversee the cleaning of my lads penis', my 6 yr old is already closing the bathroom door!
Lets face it with all the emphasis on keeping the penis clean, ( don't circumcise just teach them how to keep it clean, thats pulling back the skin etc ) in my mind there has to be some pretty treacherous lurgies breeding underneath that foreskin!!

As to your comment to newborns, although Dr Russell does not administer pethidine, he does I believe use the elma anesthetic cream. A friend of mine had her little guy done at his rooms @ 2 weeks old.
To be honest I wish I had done the same. My guys have gone to back to school today and we are still waiting for the plastibell to drop off, not painful, but I kinda want to be there just incase theres a drama. Theres no keeping my kids away from school they want to be with their pals especially after the hols. Plus if they were babies they wouldn't be tearing round the yard, swimming and rugby tackling their mates and each other!! The skin on the newborns penis is much thinner too so the plastibell falls off much quicker than with the older boys.

As far as having your kids done cos Daddys done! Well thats just not a goodenough reason for Dr Russell! He really needs you to do your homework before you see him and put your reasons out on the table. That's just another reason why I speak so highly of him.

[WeThree]

im sorry but i just dont believe in getting your child circumscised for no good reason, neither of my boys are circumsised and neither has had any trouble(although obviously i wouldnt hesitate if it was necessary ) my husband and i continually teach them about good hygiene and my husband isnt done and he has never had any trouble either, i just dont understand how anybody can let someone do that to their darling newborn baby for no good reason! its supposed to be our job to protect them. i wonder how we would like it if we were held down and had part of our labia or willy chopped off... ggrrr
Remember we are our babies voice!

[myf]

I appreciate this is a very personal subject.
You have to feel passionate about it, to actually to go through with the procedure no matter what your childs age. It's not a flippant descision and that should be considered when questioning a parents reasoning. No-one in their right mind would want to inflict unnecessary pain or harm upon our children.