Parents, Stop Circumcising Your Baby Boys¶
Your mind is probably screaming at me right now. Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Jesse. I won’t pretend to be a doctor. I’m a concerned citizen and father of four boys and I did not take my own advice. I’m not high right now. I won’t advise you to make a tinfoil hat to prevent aliens from reading your minds nor will I tell you to stop vaccinating your children (though the libertarian in me says you have that right and I’m very much pro parental rights). But, I am imploring you to read with an open mind.
And we are off!
This is just a short list of your potential reactions. Let’s start with the benefits of male circumcision directly from the Mayo Clinic.
Easier hygiene—Circumcision makes it simpler to wash the penis. Washing beneath the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis is generally easy, however.
Decreased risk of urinary tract infections—The overall risk of urinary tract infections in males is low, but these infections are more common in uncircumcised males. Severe infections early in life can lead to kidney problems later on.
Decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections—Circumcised men may have a lower risk of certain sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Still, safe sexual practices remain essential.
Prevention of penile problems—Occasionally, the foreskin on an uncircumcised penis can be difficult or impossible to retract (phimosis). This can lead to inflammation of the foreskin or head of the penis.
Decreased risk of penile cancer—Although cancer of the penis is rare, it’s less common in circumcised men. In addition, cervical cancer is less common in the female sexual partners of circumcised men.
I believe all of this is true. So the conversation is over. Stop reading, you heard it here! (No please keep reading so that my ego is sufficiently stroked—dammit that’s some poor wording in a piece about circumcision… who is editing this piece of—)
Let’s dig into these facts about circumcision.
Easier hygiene… sure. How can I dispute this? Moving on to urinary tract infections (UTI). Who wants one of those? They are terrible and sent from the devil (speaking of the devil… If your reasoning is religious, I respect that). But what are the chances you will get a UTI? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, your baby boy is ten times likelier to get a UTI in their first year of life if they are uncircumcised. OMG! Ten times! Why this is true, here are the actual numbers.
“It is estimated that 10 of 1000 (1%) uncircumcised male infants will develop a UTI during the first year of life compared with 1 of 1000 (0.1%) circumcised male infants.” Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information
So the chances go from .1% to 1% and can be reduced through good hygiene.
“Ok, but what about the decrease in sexually transmitted infections (STI)?”
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
When a man isn’t circumcised, he still has the foreskin on his penis. The inner lining of the foreskin is different than other types of skin on the body and has more of the cells that HIV infects. The foreskin may also tear during intercourse, providing a way for HIV to infect the body. In addition, HIV may be able to survive in the space between the foreskin and the penis. Finally, uncircumcised men have a higher risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as syphilis or herpes, which can increase the risk of getting HIV if they or their partners have sores on their skin.
Male circumcision reduces the risk of an HIV-negative man being infected by an HIV-positive woman by about 50%. Source: Center for Disease Control
This sounds damning. 50% is significant. In addition, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) adds that there are “… over 40 studies which shows that male circumcision provides significant protection against HIV infection; circumcised males are two to eight times less likely to become infected with HIV.” Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information
So, how many Americans have HIV in America? The CDC says there are more than 1.2 million Americans with HIV and 1 in 8 do not know they have it (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/ataglance.html). They also go on to say that men would contract HIV at a rate of 4 per 10,000 exposures and women would contract it at a rate of 8 per 10,000 exposures through vaginal intercourse (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/estimates/riskbehaviors.html). I will note that a Ugandan study concluded that contracting HPV and Herpes increased at rates of 30% and 25%, respectively. Though in their tests, “8 percent of circumcised men and 10 percent of uncircumcised men in the study caught herpes; 18 percent of circumcised men and 28 percent of uncircumcised men contracted HPV. (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/circumcision-cuts-risk-of-herpes-hp-2009-03-25/). I think you get the point. It’s low. And, whether or not you’re circumcised, be careful out there (the government made me add this part).
Finally, we get to penile cancer, which effects less than 1 in 100,000 people globally (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139859/) and phimosis, of which nearly all cases clear up by the child’s teenage years (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/442617-overview).
But if the benefits are marginal, why did I personally have my sons circumcised? That’s a good question. For my first three, I really didn’t even think about it. It was just something you have done and the doctors would whisper sweet nothings into my ear about it. Then came my fourth son. Finally, I had done more research and I talked to the doctor about not having the procedure done (he was a real jerk about it, too – test your doctor). His most convincing argument was, “Why now?” I hadn’t done it with three boys. Did I really want this one to be different? My answer to that was, “no”. A regretful, “no”.
If you have already had your son(s) circumcised… why did you? The “benefits”? Or maybe it had to do with looks? “Normal,” is in the eye of the beholder and it’s dependent on where you live. In the United Kingdom, for instance, less than 10% of males are circumcised while in the United States it’s around 81%.
“But, Jesse, what’s the harm in having it done?”
I won’t lie to you. The negative aspects, statistically speaking, are even more marginal. There are conflicting studies about whether being circumcised has a positive or negative effect on your sex life. Many of the studies are done on men before and after circumcision. I think it’s fairly obvious that removing the skin protecting the head would decrease sensitivity( see… I know what circumcision is). I’m still not a doctor, but I think this would desensitize the head because of it coming into constant contact with everything (jeans, underwear, I don’t know what you do with it). Pain, taking too much or too little of the foreskin, or the foreskin healing improperly, are other minor side effects.
“What’s the point?”
Before you make a decision that cannot be undone, I want you to ask yourself why. Why circumcise your baby boys? Is it for looks? Should we treat our children like they are no different than an animal getting their ears clipped? Why have an unnecessary procedure done at all? If something were going to be done to you that was permanent, wouldn’t you want to make that decision yourself? I won’t tell you how to raise your children and I trust parents to make the best decisions for their families. But, you have options. Don’t allow a doctor to talk you out of it like I did. Hopefully, this makes you think twice and understand that circumcision isn’t the only way.