kwlalonde@watrose.UUCP (Ken Lalonde) (01/17/84)
For those interested in all aspects of circumcision, I recommend correspondence with a group called INTACT. In the states, check phone listings of large cities. In Canada, call your local midwife. Some doctors may also have information on the subject. Some myths and answers about circumcision: M: Men cannot keep themselves clean unless circumsized. A. Even men aren't that dumb. :-) M: Poor hygiene in uncircumcised males leads to penile cancer. A: In cultures where there is little sanitation and no circumcision, this is incredibly rare. Why perform surgery? It's like having radical mastectomies to prevent breast cancer. M: Uncircumcised men are dirty and so can give cervical cancer to sexual partners. A: True, but who would sleep with them? That's what you get if you turn out the lights when making love and don't check for smegma, women of the world. Teach the guy to wash, or do it for him. Would you cut off the hood of you clit, or your vulva instead of washing? Myth: Babies don't feel the pain. A: Bullcookies! Most babies cry, many sinking into a temporary catatonia, which is in turn mistaken for lack of sensation. I believe newborns understand a lot more than we know. By the way, there is often no anaesthesia administered during circimcision. If you do decide to have your son circumcised, please make sure he is given a local anaesthetic. For practising Jews and moslems and those of other religions, I have fewer qualms. The ceremony involved is much better than having the child strapped to a steel table in a cold operating room. But, like non-practising Christians who baptized their infants, many people have the boy circumsised without question. I feel this is wrong, because it is a operation. M: Circumcision is a simple procedure. A: Watch out for this one. Unless the baby has a shot of vitamin K (hospitals do this routinely), he may haemorrhage and die, since babies don't clot well until they're about six days old. Vitamin K is serious stuff - it can cause jaundice. In hospital the operation is usually done on day 3 or 4. In that sense I think the Jews have the right idea - they do it on the sixth day. And, although it is rare, the operation is not without risk: about one in 50,000 are botched, and the baby boy is surgically and hormonally made into a girl. M: He should have a penis like his dad and brothers. A: Why? When he starts looking at his friends, they won't all be the same. I think he'll handle it. M: It prevents masturbation. A: This was a biggie in the forties. It didn't and doesn't work. In fact, many now feel the opposite is true. If there are real medical reasons of course, the operation is necessary. Conclusion: I think its very important for parents considering circumcision to see what really happens and to be there during the operation. Learn about the procedure. In the hospital, the procedure runs like this: The baby is strapped down on a "circumcision tray" He may be given an injection of a local anaesthesia (painful and complication inducing in itself). A bell or clamp is applied to the penis to surround the foreskin for removal. Some brands are better than others...what does your doctor use? Most midwives and a few doctors also have slides to give you an idea of the operation. If you decide to have your son circumcised, try to be with him. Afterward he will need hugs. - Madeleine Clin
rao@utcsstat.UUCP (Eli Posner) (01/18/84)
Correction. Jews are circumsized on the EIGHTH day not the sixth. -- Eli Posner ...utzoo!utcsstat!rao
alex@aecom.UUCP (01/31/84)
Jews are cirmcumcised on the EIGTH day, not the sixth.
Your other information is also suspect. Babies often sleep through the
entire ceremony or after being given a little ceremonial wine.
As for 1 out of 50,000 being botched, the operation (and it IS an
operation) is such a simple one that I doubt your figures apply to anyone
qualified.
--
Alex S. Fuss
{philabs, esquire, cucard}!aecom!alexpc@hplabsb.UUCP (Patricia Collins) (02/02/84)
Two anecdotes: We had our son circumcised last year. His only objection was to being tied onto what the nurses refer to as "the rack." My husband and I were there for the surgery and I nursed him immediately afterward. He never showed any signs of being in pain, although he responded quite negatively to other benign procedures like the pin prick for removing blood for jaundice tests. HOWEVER, we did not realize that it was very important to pull back the foreskin and wash the glans daily. He now has a slight adhesion which his pediatrician assures us will "unstick once he begins self-manipulation." One reason for circumcising him is that my father was *not* circumcised and developed a serious constriction in middle age which had to be corrected by circumcision--he WAS in a lot of pain. Our pediatrician related the story of a medical student (resident) performing a circumcision in which he removed ALL of the foreskin-- right to the base of the shaft. So, serious errors due occur! I won't go to a hospital connected with a medical school under any foreseeable circumstances. I've heard too many horror stories. P. Collins hplabs