Well, one of the main reasons I wanted to have a girl first is because I didn't want to have to think about what to do on circumcision. Some people reading this might be wondering- "What's there to think about?" That's probably what I would have said too if we weren't in Korea. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that actually practices routine circumcision. It's becoming popular in some countries where it has traditionally not been done, but by and large, the main countries that routinely practice circumcision are the U.S., Canada, and countries in the Middle East (think Muslim and Jewish). The fact remains that most of the world is intact (around 80%). See a map here: http://www.circumstitions.com/Maps.html. I had heard that they don't do circumcisions in Korea. But with the large number of foreigners living here, I'm sure it would not be impossible to find. Originally, I was under the impression that Korea does not practice circumcision, but that's not entirely true. I found out last week that circumcisions started in Korea in the 1950s. It is a very new practice. Guess where it came from? The US involvement in the Korean war.
Before the Korean War, circumcision in Korea was basically unheard of. I found this so interesting! It doesn't really have any roots unlike other cultures that practice it for religious reasons, or out of tradition etc. Its basis in Korea is pretty much solely due to the Western influence that began around 60 years ago. Strange, huh? I thought so. They also don't perform circumcisions here until late childhood/early adolescence- around 10-12 years of age. So again, I'm not even sure where I would go to get it done. More info on circumcision in Korea can be found here.
All that to say that we had to start exploring the issue of circumcision since we were under the impression that they were not even performed here in Korea. This got us thinking about this whole issue. Like I said, I probably wouldn't have given it much thought if I was in the States, but I felt that I was forced to explore the issue more in depth.
As I started researching, I realized that there are much fewer pros to circumcision than cons. I think most people think it's the other way around. I always did. I had always heard that circumcisions were cleaner, less risk of infection, and of course the big 2 reasons- we didn't want him to look different from his dad/peers or get made fun of.
Let's talk about some of the common reasons for/against circumcision.
Reasons For Circumcision:
1. It's cleaner/less infection
-this is really the main one for me. As you'll see with the information below, a lot of the things we believe about circumcision are myths.
-So is it really cleaner? Well, people think that you have to do a lot of extra work to keep uncircumcised boys clean. That's actually not true. When they are infants and children, you clean them just as you would a circumcised child. When they become older, they must be taught how to keep themselves clean.
-Links about the cleanliness issue:
http://www.circumcision.org/benefits.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/circumcision.htm
http://www.circumstitions.com/Cancer.html
http://www.cirp.org/library/hygiene/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/more-circumcision-myths-you-may-believe-hygiene-and-stds
2. He will get made fun of in the locker room!
-Not actually. Circumcision rates have dramatically fallen in recent years. 25 years ago, the circumcision rate in the U.S. was 85-90%. According to a report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the circumcision rate fell to 35% in 2009. (citation: El Becheraoui 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.) That means that WAY less than half of male infants leaving the hospitals these days are uncircumcised. Experts believe this sharp decrease in circumcision is due to parents becoming more informed about this procedure.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/circumcision-social-sexual-psychological-realities
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/health/research/17circ.html?_r=1
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/08/us-circumcision-rate-falls-to-33.html
3. He won't look like his father
http://www.noharmm.org/raising.htm
http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/A_Dad_s_View_of_Circumcision_Momversation
4.Circumcision is routinely recommended and endorsed by doctors and other health professionals.
Actually, no professional medical association in the United States or anywhere else in the world recommends routine circumcision as a medically necessary procedure. The American Medical Association calls it "non-therapeutic." At no time in its 75 years has the American Academy of Pediatrics ever recommended infant circumcision.
http://www.intactamerica.org/node/8
5. I'll go ahead and include religious reasons here, because Jews and Muslims practice circumcision for religious reasons. But for Christians, I think it's just an excuse when they say it's for religious reasons. Circumcision was practiced in the Jewish faith historically- not the Christian faith. In fact, there are many scriptures in the New Testament that talk about how circumcision is not necessary. Below is a link to more info. about Christianity and circumcision. After doing some research myself, I found that the way that the Jews practiced circumcision from the beginning is drastically different from the way it is done now. A Jewish sect called the Maccabees had a revolt and changed the practice of circumcision into more of what it is like today. This is not the same circumcision that God commanded Abraham to do. If you study the Hebrew, you'll see that.
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/06/information-on-circumcision-for.html
http://www.stopcirc.com/christian.html
Reasons Against Circumcision:
1. There is no medical reason for it- see #4 above
-The rate of complications occurring in the hospital and during the first year has been documented as high as 38% and includes hemorrhage, infection, surgical injury, and in rare cases, death.
2. It hurts
-It is an excruciatingly painful procedure even if an anesthetic is used. The baby feels the pain of a raw wound into which he urinates and defecates.
-The newborn baby will very likely wail, tremble, and hold his breath from the surgery
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/11/circumcision-how-much-does-it-hurt.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/babies-voice-their-objections-to.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/infant-pain-impacts-adult-sensitivity.html
http://www.circumcision.org/response.htm
3. It can cause infection and negatively affects breastfeeding
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/11/massive-infection-takes-over-body-after.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/11/circumcision-leads-to-breastfeeding.html
4. The foreskin is not a birth defect. It actually has a purpose.
http://www.circumcision.org/foreskin.htm
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/functions-of-foreskin-purposes-of.html
If you want to do more research on your own, here are some websites to check out:
http://www.circumcision.org/
http://www.intactamerica.org/
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/
http://www.circumstitions.com/
http://www.cirp.org/
http://www.noharmm.org/
http://www.studentsforgenitalintegrity.org/
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/14/post/2011/10/psychology-today-a-5-part-series-on-circumcision.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/cut-vs-intact-outcome-statistics.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/foreskins-in-oprahs-facecream.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2011/10/circumcision-i-changed-my-mind.html
So if you are a soon-to-be parent of a boy or ever plan on becoming a parent someday (with a 50% chance of having a boy), I encourage you to educate yourself on this issue before just doing what's always been done. There is plenty of information out there, and I have provided quite a few websites here. To get started, you should check out these links. They include a circumcision decision maker, quiz on what you know about circumcision, and myths about circumcisions that people believe. Have fun!
-10 reasons not to circumcise: http://www.intactamerica.org/resources/decision
-Myths about circumcision: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/myths-about-circumcision-you-likely-believe
-http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/
-http://www.intactamerica.org/learnmore
-http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/are-you-fully-informed.html
-Quiz http://www.intactamerica.org/quiz
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