As I previously shared in this blog, we're expecting our 4th child, due in early September.
And since this is going to be our first baby boy, we're facing a dilemma. Putting it simply:
To Circumcise or Not To Circumcise?
I guess y'all know that we're Jewish, and that in Israel the definite norm is circumcising. In a way, not circumcising a boy might later alienate him socially.
But, since the religious motive is irrelevant to us, and since there are good reasons not to circumcise, we're not at all sure we want to.
We started talking to people about the issue, and did some reading.
We value your opinions, and we're keenly interested in hearing them - either in person, in a personal email or in a comment to this post.
Thanks a lot!
Anat & Giora
4 comments:
Hey Giora :-)
Mary and I went through the same dilemma when Carter was born: circumcision is the norm in the US but not in the UK.
In the end we decided not to since it seemed best not to arbitrarily lop off a part of the body without better reasons than we were able to find.
Cheers,
Dave
Hmmm...well, most Jewish people I know continue to circumcise. It's usually a sure thing. I have one non-practicing Jewish friend who didn't circumcise her son, but I think it's because he was born premature and religiously it wasn't that important to her.
I've heard it's not medically recommended anymore and that uncircumcised boys are just as healthy as the circumcised ones. I've read a few horror stories of circumcisions gone wrong and I always think "poor baby". I think the stats of boys born nowdays are about 50/50. So it really comes down to "matching" with daddy. How big of an issue is that for you guys? It's a big deal for some people. But usually children don't mind differences and won't even care unless the parents make a big deal out of it. Kids are never exact carbon copies of the parents and it seems this issue can be easily explained if you decide not to circumcise. Plus, your son can always opt to do it later on if he really wants to.
Tough call. I think I'd be inclined to say no to circumcision but I'm not in your shoes. Good luck in your decision, whatever you may decide!
What are the good reasons not to circumcise?
(I don't know who asked the question, so I'll answer here and hope they'll see it)
Hi Anonymous,
For starters, circumcising is cutting off a part of my son's body.
I wouldn't dream of cutting my son's top part of the ear, although he would be able to hear perfectly without it. I wouldn't even consider shortening his pinky, although he'll remain functional. And so on and so forth.
On top of that, one should remember: despite the newborn being unable to verbally articulate that, circumcising means inflicting terrible pain on a helpless human being. I find it astonishing that people are practically comfortable inflicting such pain on a newborn.
Putting it another way - I need good reasons why I *would* do such a thing, not why I *would not*. The latter are obvious to me.
Hope this sheds some light on our dilemma,
Giora
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