Birth As We Know It: Circumcision
If circumcision is too horrible for parents to see,
surely it’s too horrible for babies to experience.
1 comment November 13th, 2006 Posted by: Ash
Posts filed under 'Circumcision'
Circumcision… Again.
![[Stop Infant Circumcision!!]](http://www.theshaffers.org/all/graphics/no3.jpg)
My views on medically unnecessary infant/child circumcision are pretty much set in stone, but I feel the need to clarify my feelings about parents who, in the past, have had their son(s) circumcised.
Firstly, it totally depends on whether they knew the harm they were doing to their child. Sadly, most parents are not told the truth about what circumcision entails, and the detrimental effects it has on the penis. Many parents just assume that circumcision is something that happens to every baby boy. Kind of like baby boy = circumcision. This is especially true if the father, himself, is also circumcised.
This misconception is compounded by the highhanded attitude of doctors when they unlawfully approach the parents of boys, and ask them if they want their son circumcised. They also create the false impression that circumcision is good by whitewashing what it entails when they tell parents that it’s just "a little snip", equating it to something like cutting the umbilical cord. It’s not. Circumcision is a full-blown surgical procedure with all the inherent risks all surgeries have. Up to, and including, the death of the child. They also regularly cite circumcision’s unproven benefits, never telling parents that NO MEDICAL ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD supports, or recommends, routine circumcision for newborn boys. I find this shameful.
When Morgan was born, I was personally asked by two different doctors, from the obstetrician practice I saw while pregnant, about whether I wanted him circumcised… All without bringing up the subject myself. If Pookey & I had been like many parents today, totally ignorant about the harm circumcision brings, then we might have made a mistake and said yes. Thankfully for Morgan, that was not the case.
Also: My best friend has two sons. The eldest is in his mid 20’s, and the younger is Morgan’s age. The older one is circumcised, and the younger one isn’t. Why? Simply put, she knew more about circumcision the second time around to make a truly informed decision, and she chose to leave her youngest son whole. After talking with her about it at length, she wishes she had known more when her eldest son was born, then she would have never had him circumcised. She doesn’t beat herself up over that fact though, as there is nothing she can do about it now. I respect that.
So, if parents are (or were) truly ignorant about circumcision, then I can’t hold them responsible. Not really. A lot of parents have found out the facts too late, and if they had known then, what they know now, they would have never allowed their son to be circumcised. I just feel sorrow for those parents, but I feel the most for their son who had no real choice but to submit to, and survive through, an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
6 comments November 4th, 2006 Posted by: Ash
Public Service Announcement…
Circumcision! Why? Visit www.nocirc.org.
Add comment September 24th, 2006 Posted by: Ash
Why???
From michaelschaap.com Mother, Why Was I Circumcised?
This is the first time that a (critical) film about the circumcision of boys has been made in the Netherlands, and this broadcast led to a strong public debate. In this broadcast, a number of questions are put to the MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which she subsequently put to the Minister of Health. (Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the controversial Dutch MP who made the film ‘Submission’ with filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was subsequently murdered by a muslim fanatic). On Friday, 17 December 2004, the Minister decided to exclude the circumcision of boys from the Dutch National Health insurance scheme. 90% of the circumcisions were carried out for religious, rather than health reasons. [Continue Reading]
Though it was heartbreaking to watch this documentary, it was very powerful & well made. Hopefully it will make people change their minds about mutilating their son’s genitals.
Pookey & I chose not to circumcise Morgan. Why? Because we did not, and do not, believe we have the right to make such an alteration to his body. That is something for him to decide for himself, if he would even want to do so in the first place, when he is older. We are merely the custodians of our son’s body, not its owner.
What people fail to realize, time and time again, is that circumcising non-consenting infants/children is wrong because it is NOT your body to do with as you please. People have NO right to remove a healthy & functional part of someone else’s body without their informed consent. Ever. The bottom line is that circumcision is immoral, unethical, and violates the child’s basic human rights. Just because it seems “everyone” is circumcising their sons doesn’t make it the right thing to do!!!
Parents need to put themselves in their children’s place and imagine what it would be like to be tied down against your will, and have your genitals cut at with inadequate or no anesthesia at all. How can people subject a infant/child to such a painful, inhumane practice and defend it? Especially when it would be assault if it was done, without their consent, to an adult.
I think about circumcision this way… If I wouldn’t want some one to mutilate and permanently damage my genitals, then why would my son want that done to him?
I feel a deep sorrow for any parent that has found out too late the truth about circumcision and the harm it causes, but I feel the most for the child that has no real choice but to submit to & survive through an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
10 out of 10 babies oppose circumcision. Shouldn’t you?
1 comment January 15th, 2006 Posted by: Ash
Question & Research…
It saddens me that more parents don’t question the necessity of circumcision. They just take for granted that it’s something that every baby boy has done to them. Circumcision is a practice that should not be done to even one baby boy, but THOUSANDS are subjected to it every day.
I’ve heard quite a few parents say that they would not have chosen to circumcise their son(s) if only they had truly known what a circumcision entails. My question to them is, “Why didn’t you question & research it before your son was circumcised?”
I question and research EVERYTHING that might be done medically to my son. If it is not absolutely necessary, and the cons far outweigh the pros, I refuse to have it done. It’s my belief that a parent’s duty to their child is to be FULLY informed about any surgeries or procedures before considering, or consenting, to them.
I think about it this way… If I wouldn’t want someone to mutilate and permanently damage my genitals, then why would my son want that done to him?
Just because it seems “everyone” is circumcising their sons doesn’t make it the right thing to do..
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
For more info about circumcision go to:
Add comment January 11th, 2004 Posted by: Ash