merrill@raja.DEC (Rick) (03/27/85)
Good suggestion for deciding upon circumcising a male infant is to follow the father's example. A couple we knew had a son and the pediatrician asked the mother if they wanted the child circumcised. She expressed some uncertainty as to the pros and cons of the "operation" and the pediatrician advised that the son be the same as the father. This particular mother did not KNOW whether the father was circumcised or not! I bet the doctor was barely able to conceal his amusement! Naturally he waited to talk to the father, which he probably should have done in the first place. RMM
topher@cyb-eng.UUCP (Topher Eliot) (04/01/85)
I am not circumcised (and never have been :-). I was going to let this all pass, since reason seemed to be prevailing, but some recent postings have changed my mind. All "quotations" of previous articles here are just from memory (mine, not my computer's). > You should make your son like his daddy so he won't wonder why he's > different. I am not circumcised. My daddy is. It never DAWNED on me to be troubled by this until I saw this discussion. Perhaps this is because my parents weren't too nervous to teach me about what a foreskin is and why some boys have them and some don't. (Now on the other hand, my daddy still has a very full head of hair, and I started going bald at the ripe old age of 23. THIS is troublesome :-) > Little boys can get nasty infections under their foreskin . . . They can also get them in their ears, between their toes, etc. So teach them to wash! Yeesh. > Grown men can get nasty infections and end up needing to be circumcised. Can anyone document this one? > Grown men can tear their foreskins and end up ... Where DO these men stick their . . . just kidding. Seriously, I once did get an unpleasant little rash on the OUTside of my foreskin. Never could figure out where it came from. Thank heavens I had a foreskin to protect the glans! It did the job nature intended it to do. Cortisone ointment cleared up the rash nicely in three days. I wish I could say the same for the time I ripped my toenail off. Should my parents have cut off my toes at birth? I am grateful my parents left this decision to me. I urge everyone to do likewise. Cheers, Topher Eliot Cyb Systems, Austin, TX {gatech,ihnp4,nbires,seismo,ucb-vax}!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher