A new baby means a lot of big decisions. Breastfed or bottle-fed?
Cloth or disposable diapers? What brand of stroller? But
when that baby is wrapped in a little blue blanket, there’s one more key decision.
To circumcise or not to circumcise?
Circumcision is a surgical procedure usually performed on baby boys to remove most of the
foreskin that covers the tip of the penis. While it’s typically performed for religious
reasons in many cultures, it has become increasingly common to remove the foreskin
for medical and comfort reasons recommended by doctors. When done on a newborn, it’s usually
performed by a trained surgeon who numbs the area and then smoothly cuts the loose skin,
making for a smooth healing period. However, it’s not always performed by a doctor - in
Judaism it’s performed by a religious figure called a Mohel - essentially a
professional circumcision expert who may have performed the procedure hundreds of times.
But like with every issue, nothing is simple. And there are a lot of pros and cons to this issue.
And if you ask someone who feels strongly about them - they’re sure to yell them at you!
So what are the pros of circumcision?
For one thing, doctors say that it makes it easier for young boys to keep their private area clean.
Anyone who knows the average young boy knows they’ll usually be filthy after a
day of playing - and it might be easier to bell a cat than to get them into the bath.
The foreskin can trap dirt and sweat, causing irritation and other skin issues,
and pro-circumcision advocates say a circumcised boy will find it much easier to clean that area
thoroughly. Of course, mom still has to get him in the shower in the first place.
But there might be some other positive factors too.
One of the hard things with taking care of babies is that they can’t tell you what they want!
They cry, and you have to guess - are they hungry? Are they tired? Are they
just confused because literally, everything is new to them? Or maybe something’s actually
wrong - like a urinary tract infection. Babies are susceptible to them if they aren’t cleaned
properly or spend too much time in an old diaper, and studies have shown that baby boys who are
circumsized may be more protected because there is less of an area for bacteria to get trapped.
And as they grow older, they might be protected from other serious conditions.
Sexually transmitted diseases are a major problem for both men and women, and you never know when
a partner might be carrying a virus that could range from an uncomfortable personal situation
to a deadly pathogen. The foreskin makes it more likely that bacteria,
viruses, or fungi will get trapped and travel from one partner to another,
including HIV. While female-to-male transmission of the infamous HIV virus is rarer than the
opposite, studies have proven that circumcised men may have an added layer of protection.
And it may even prevent cancer.
Because sexually transmitted diseases and infections of the genital area can lead
to cervical cancer for women, it’s considered healthier for them to have sex with circumcised
partners who are less likely to transmit diseases from the area around their penis. But the men
aren’t left out of this benefit either. Cancer of the penis is rare and seems to be becoming rarer
due to the drop in smoking, which is a significant risk factor. But a 2005 study showed that
circumcised men were at a lower risk of developing penile cancer - which is no doubt a big relief.
But another positive may be that it’s just easier to get it done now!
Why would anyone get circumcised as an adult? Wouldn’t you rather not remember
that? Besides the possibility of getting it done when converting to a religion,
some people do it because of problems with the foreskin. Conditions including swelling,
inflammation, and difficulty retracting the foreskin or restoring it to its original
position in older kids and adults- and the best way to eliminate this problem
is by eliminating the foreskin. But getting it done as an adult is more painful and has
a higher risk of complications, which is why many parents decide to just get it over with.
And then there’s one element that may be the most powerful - tradition!
If you come from a Jewish or Muslim family - or certain Christian groups like the Coptic or
Ethiopian Orthodox Churches - circumcision is a critical rite that either marks the start of life
or the beginning of manhood. While it’s done only a few days after birth for Jewish boys,
there is no set age in Islam. A child being circumcised in these groups is an
article of faith, and even if someone isn’t from a religious group that mandates it,
social pressure is still a factor. If grandpa, dad, and you are all circumcised...well,
it just stands to reason that your son will be as well, right?
And social pressure doesn’t stop at the family.
In many countries, circumcision is standard medical practice. In the United States,
over 71% of boys are circumcised, and in Israel and the many Muslim nations,
it can reach over 90%. And for boys who are reaching adolescence and going to school,
there might be an awkward situation in the locker room shower if they’re the
only ones whose equipment doesn’t match. Of course, in other countries this dynamic
might be reversed - most European countries have a circumcision rate of less than 10%,
which means that an American transplant might be in for a shocking sight at the gym.
But some people want those numbers to go down to zero. What are the
cons of circumcision - and why are some people so worked up about it?
People in Pennsylvania were shocked and disturbed in October 2021 when they saw an unusual group of
protesters. A group of men marched across the state wearing pants stained with fake
blood over the crotch. They called themselves the Bloodstained Men, and they had one goal - an end
to circumcision, or as they called it, “foreskin theft”. Why did these men who had likely been
circumcised decades ago care so much? Were they alleging medical complications from their surgery?
Actually, their complaint was more simple - no one asked them.
A group of men calling themselves intactivists started pushing their cause on the internet,
and soon it spread out to the real world. They believe that male circumcision is a
violation of their bodily autonomy, leaves them with scars and reduced sexual function,
and is equivalent to female genital mutilation. They say the foreskin is a natural part of the
penis and should be allowed to keep its original function, and claim that the
medical benefits of circumcision are exaggerated if not entirely made up by the medical industry.
But is there any truth to their claims?
There is no concrete agreement on the drawbacks of circumcision, but many
parents are rethinking it - and not just those who have met these activists. One reason many
parents are choosing not to have their children circumcised is worry about pain. Traditionally,
babies who are circumcised in a medical setting are given a local anesthetic that numbs the area,
but the recovery can still be painful and parents hate to see a newborn in pain. In religious
circumcisions, often done without a medical professional, this can be an even bigger concern.
And that’s if everything goes right.
Botched circumcisions are rare, but like any surgical procedure,
possible. And when you have someone’s manhood in your hands - literally - the pressure is
high to get everything right. Of course, no one hears about the countless cases that go right,
but the high-profile mistakes are more than enough to terrify parents. Most famously, David
Reimer was severely injured in a botched laser circumcision as a baby, and his parents decided
to have him sexually reassigned and raise him as a girl in a controversial case. He discovered the
truth as a teenager and transitioned back to male. More recently, humorist Gary Shteyngart
opened up about the lifelong complications he experienced from a flawed circumcision as a boy.
But even if things go right, are there drawbacks to being circumcised?
The human body is a tricky thing, and healing can be unpredictable. For parents taking care of an
infant - which means a lot of sleepless nights in the best of circumstances - they might be hesitant
to have their baby undergo any sort of surgical procedure. That would mean wound care and making
sure the baby’s hands don’t wander and cause delays in healing. Even a slight irregularity
in the surgery, like cutting the foreskin a little too long or short, might make the healing slower
and open the patient up to infection. Studies show that there might be complications in
roughly one in every five hundred circumcisions, although most can be corrected with treatment.
And the question is - is it worth it?
Another drawback of circumcision is that while it has benefits for puberty and adulthood,
it’s not going to make much of a difference immediately after the process. The baby goes
through pain and healing, but there’s no real difference besides making it slightly easier
for the parent to keep them clean. That’s led some people to ask - should it be the child’s
choice when they get older, rather than a standard medical process done on babies? Of course, given
how hard it is to make teenage boys get their haircut sometimes, this might be a harder sell.
And in the United States where it’s most common, “Worth” has another meaning.
Medical care costs money, and many parents are already feeling the pinch from all those diapers.
Not all insurance companies pay for circumcisions because they’re not considered an essential
surgery. The average hospital circumcision costs over a hundred dollars, and that can
be much higher if a family is hiring a religious professional specially trained in circumcisions.
So if the fear of putting a baby through the procedure isn’t enough,
sometimes seeing the bill in advance might make parents decide - maybe not now.
But don’t delay - there are consequences to waiting.
Why does circumcision have to be done so early in life? It’s part of the tradition in Jewish
heritage, but doctors will also recommend that any circumcision be done within the first two months
of life - often before the baby even goes home from the hospital. This is because, during the
first two months, the procedure can be done with a local anesthetic. Once the baby develops a little
more and is more active, it won’t be safe to have them moving around and they’ll have to be put
under general anesthetic for the precise procedure - and that carries some risks of its own.
But another claim of a drawback is more controversial.
Does circumcision really reduce sexual pleasure in men? This has been a common
claim of the intactivists - that, like women who have experienced female genital mutilation,
their ability to feel sexual pleasure has been taken away against their will. Because most
male circumcisions are done as babies, there are few people who can compare the before and after.
Extensive research and multiple studies were performed, some with over forty thousand
participants, to cross-reference experiences between the circumcised and the uncircumcised,
and no major difference was found. This is because the underside and
glans of the penis shaft are the main parts that produce sexual pleasure,
and the foreskin doesn’t have the same number of neurological pathways.
But this does not fully answer the question of whether there is a change in sensation.
But the intactivist argument is that men should get to find out for themselves.
Doctors think the benefits outweigh the risks. Parents worry if it’s a good idea to put a baby
through that. And religious leaders insist it’s a critical part of their tradition.
As for the baby boys - well, they’re not talking.
For more on the foreskin, check out “Weird Facts About Male Foreskin”,
or watch “What Happens When You Are Born” for more on those critical early days.