There are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding circumcision. Doctors have claimed that it cures a host of illnesses over the years, yet no medical benefit has ever been proven. Rumors continue to circulate even in the medical profession Is it any wonder that this is such a tough choice for parents to make? Accurate information is so hard to track down. Who can you trust? Trust me. I have nothing to gain by convincing you not to circumcision. Let me set the record straight.
1. Nearly every major medical organization in the entire world recommends against it, considering it unnecessary. Yet circumcision remains routine–routine but not mandatory, as those are two different words with two different meanings.
2. None of the medical benefits are proven, as research is highly flawed. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls the data inconclusive. Yet for some reason, doctors and nurses continue to preach about these so-called benefits as if they are proven facts.
3. During most circumcisions in the US, no pain relief is given. The child sucks on a finger dipped in sugar water. Parents must request anesthesia. Even when it is used, often times it is not used properly. Doctors do not wait an adequate amount of time after applying it before beginning the procedure.
4. It’s not a quick snip. It’s a surgical procedure. The foreskin is forcibly retracted and then separated from the glans with a rod that rips it away. It is stretched beyond the head and then crushed with a clamp. Surgical scissors are used to cut off the skin.
5. Circumcisions last at least a few minutes, during which the child is in intense pain. The child remains sore throughout the recovery period. Unfortunately, many circumcised men have tight or painful erections as a result of circumcision, so the pain doesn’t always dissipate forever.
6. Only 60% of boys are circumcised. That means 40$ are not, making intact penises less common but certainly not so unheard of as to be weird. Soon it will be split 50/50, and intact will be just as common.
7. A man loses 15 square inches of length during circumcision. This skin is rich in nerve endings, all of which are lost. The foreskin keeps the glans smooth, moist, and sensitive by protecting it from rubbing it against clothing. It also lubricates during sex. The truncation of the foreskin alters a child’s future sex life permanently.
8. Many circumcised men chose to restore, although they can never truly get back all they lost–just a poor imitation. Once progress is made, nearly all report an increase in penile sensation and better sex.
9. The complication rate is between 2 and 10%. Children may bleed to death, become infected, or lose too much skin–amongst many other problems.
10. Little boys don’t care if their penis matches daddy’s. All penises look different, and daddy’s will be bigger until the child is a grown man anyway.
11. Your intact son won’t develop a complex and can get circumcised as an adult if he chooses. Your circumcised son, however, may someday feel awful about what he has lost but can never get back. Many men feel a sense of helplessness and loss of control due to being circumcised as infants. Some remain angry about it or at their parents for quite a while. They feel raped, robbed of a useful organ, not quite whole, and upset their choice was taken away.
12. It originally became popular as a way to prevent masturbation. Because circumcision desensitizes the penis, it actually results in more masturbation–often with harder jerking and more raunchy mental images as more stimulation is needed.
13.Men who’ve had sex intact and were then circumcised usually regret the choice and report less gratifying sexual experiences after the procedure. No one has had sex circumcised and then intact, so men who were circumcised at birth can never know what they are missing.
14. Not only do men regret being circumcised as infants or getting circumcised as adults, parents often feel terrible guilt, shame, and remorse when they learn the truth about circumcision.
15. Because of all this male circumcision is just as bad as female circumcision. It’s genital mutilation and has the same side effects and results. Circumcised males lose sensation just as circumcised girls do, and they may grow up to have similar feelings as victims of female genital mutilation. The number of men feeling that way would be higher if male circumcision were less common, as it should be according to various medical organizations across the globe.
If you don’t believe me, prove me wrong. Find 3 major medial organizations that do recommend Routine Infant Circumcision. Find evidence proving that anesthesia is routinely and correctly used; the AAP actually issued a paper stating the opposite. Prove that it’s just a quick and painless snip. You can’t; it’s not. There are men who are angry about RIC, but can you find an intact adult angry at NOT having been circumcised at infancy?
Routine infant circumcision is wrong. It has no benefits, only negative side effects. It is useless and dangerous. Let’s put an end to it.
