There are so many myths associated with intact penises.
Myth Vs Fact:Circumcison
Fact – Surgically removing part of a baby boy's penis causes pain, creates immediate health risks and can lead to serious complications. Risks include infection, hemorrhage, scarring, difficulty urinating, loss of part or all of the penis, and even death. Circumcision complications can and do occur in even the best clinical settings.
Myth – Circumcision is just a little snip.
Fact – Surgical removal of the foreskin involves immobilizing the baby by strapping him face-up onto a molded plastic board. In one common method, the doctor then inserts a metal instrument under the foreskin to forcibly separate it from the glans, slits the foreskin, and inserts a circumcision device. The foreskin is crushed and then cut off. The amount of skin removed in a typical infant circumcision is the equivalent of 15 square inches in an adult male.
Myth – Circumcision is routinely recommended and endorsed by doctors and other health professionals.
Fact – No professional medical association in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world recommends routine circumcision as medically necessary. In fact, leaving boys intact is now the norm in the U.S., with circumcision rates well below 40%.
Myth – The baby does not feel any pain during circumcision.
Fact – Circumcision is painful. Babies are sensitive to pain, just like older children and adults. The analgesics used for circumcision only decrease pain; they do not eliminate it. Further, the open wound left by the removal of the foreskin will continue to cause the baby pain and discomfort for the 7-10 days it takes to heal.
Myth – If I don't circumcise my son, he will be ridiculed.
Fact – Times have changed and so has people's understanding of circumcision. Today, although the popularity of circumcision varies across geographical areas, more than 60% of all baby boys born in the U.S. will leave the hospital intact. Most medically advanced nations do not practice child circumcision. Three quarters of the world's men are intact.
Myth – A boy should be circumcised to look like his father.
Fact – Children differ from their parents in many ways, including eye and hair color, body type, and (of course) size and sexual development. If a child asks why his penis looks different from that of his circumcised father (or brother), parents can say, "Daddy (or brother) had a part of his penis removed when he was a baby; now we know it’s not necessary and we decided not to let anyone do that to you."
Myth – Routine circumcision of baby boys cannot be compared to Female Genital Mutilation.
Fact – Rationales offered in cultures that promote female genital cutting – hygiene, disease prevention, improved appearance of the genitalia, and social acceptance – are similar to those offered in cultures that promote male circumcision. Whatever the rationale, forced removal of healthy genital tissue from any child – male or female – is unethical. Boys have the same right as girls to an intact body, and to be spared this inhumane, unnecessary surgery.
Myth – To oppose male circumcision is religious and cultural bigotry.
Fact – Many who oppose the permanent alteration of children's genitals do so because they believe in universal human rights. All children – regardless of their ethnicity or culture – have the right to be protected from bodily harm.
Myth – Circumcising newborn baby boys produces health benefits later in life.
Fact – There is NO link between circumcision and better health. In fact, cutting a baby boy's genitals creates immediate health risks. The foreskin is actually an important and functional body part, protecting the head of the penis from injury and providing moisture and lubrication. Circumcision also diminishes sexual pleasure later in life.
Myth – Male circumcision helps prevent HIV.
Fact – Claims that circumcision prevents HIV have repeatedly been proven to be exaggerated or false. Only abstinence or safe sex, including the use of condoms, can prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
This myth vs fact exerpt from http://blindedbythelightt.blogspot.com/p/myth-vs-factcircumcison.html
*Also, to add my own little blurp here: Many people have expressed to me their concerns over how clean it it to be uncircumcised, or intact. But let me assure you, cleaning the intact penis is just like cleaning a finger, you do not retract anything and it is just wiped clean. Personal hygiene is important for any person no matter the foreskin or lack thereof, and can be just as clean or unclean depending on the level of hygiene.
Some tidbits of Info you should know:
Here are some facts regarding circumcision that most parents are unaware of, and some websites and many physicians fail to mention:
- About 117 boys die each year in the United States as a result of their circumcision, most from infections or blood loss.1
- The current U.S. circumcision rate is steadily declining. In 2010 it was 32% 2. That’s a huge drop from 56% in 2006 and 65% in 2002.
- Most physicians do not have their sons circumcised.3 Why not, if circumcision is medically advisable? Since most have performed the surgery as part of their training, they are the ones who should know more about its consequences than anyone else.
- Contrary to frequent claims, infants do feel pain as intensely as adults, and very possibly even more. 4
- Circumcision regularly removes a shocking 3/4 of the penis’s sensitivity through the removal of the ridged band, foreskin “lips,” and most often the entire frenulum. 5
- Anesthesia is used in only 45% of circumcisions; the type of anesthetic varies.6 The most effective method does not eliminate all pain, and the most common type used, a topical creme, does almost nothing to reduce it. In fact, a major clinical test of the various types of anesthetics, on actual infants, was halted for humane reasons because of the intense pain.7
- As adults, men circumcised in infancy are 4.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with erectile dysfunction (ED). They are also 1.6 times more likely to suffer from alexithymia, a psychological trait disorder which causes difficulty in identifying and expressing one’s emotions. 8
- Circumcision has never been proven to be effective in either reducing or treating cervical cancer, penile cancer, urinary tract infections, or sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. 9
- Not one medical association in America, or anywhere else in the world, recommends infant circumcision; some even recommend against it. 10
- Bollinger, D. Lost Boys: An Estimate of U.S. Circumcision-Related Infant Deaths. Thymos: J Boyhood Studies, 2010;4(1), 78-90. ↩
- El Bcheraoui C, Greenspan J, Kretsinger K, Chen R. Rates of selected neonatal male circumcision-associated severe adverse events in the United States, 2007-2009 (CDC). Proceedings, AIDS 2010, Vienna, Austria. 5 Aug 2010. ↩
- Topp, S. (1978, January). Why not to circumcise your baby boy. Mothering, 6, 69-77. ↩
- Anand KJS, for the International Evidence-Based Group for Neonatal Pain. Consensus statement for the prevention and management of pain in the newborn. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:173-80. ↩
- Sorrells ML, Snyder ML, Reiss MD, Eden C, Milos MF, Wilcox N, Van Howe RS. Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. BJU Int. 2007;99:864-9. ↩
- Stang HJ, Snellman LW. Circumcision Practice Patterns in the United States. Pediatrics. 1998;101(6):e5. ↩
- Lander J, Brady-Fryer B, Metcalfe JB, Nazarali S, Muttitt S. Comparison of ring block, dorsal penile nerve block, and topical anesthesia for neonatal circumcision. JAMA. 1997;278:2158-62. ↩
- Bollinger, D., Van Howe, R. S. (2010). Alexithymia and Circumcision Trauma: A Preliminary Investigation (in press). ↩
- Van Howe RS. A cost-utility analysis of neonatal circumcision. Med Decis Making. 2004;24:584-601. ↩
- CIRP. Medical organization official policy statements. Available online at: http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/ ↩
*And lastly, if you have the guts, watch this video. It is nitty gritty, gets down to the core of the issue, and very profane. But its good and very informative. *
http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=vF6plsoKFocM
Think before you make this decision for your baby boy. He was born perfect, why would you change that?
