When my first son was born 5 years ago, my husband and I were set on circumcising him. We didn't know anything about it though, so 4 weeks before he was born, I decided to do an internet search on when would be the best time to circumcise. I am so thankful that some of the very first websites that came up in that search were Saving Sons and The Whole Network. I learned so much about modern circumcision, the risks, the history, and the lies behind all of it. I even *tried* to watch a video of the procedure, and I couldn't even get through it all. I showed my husband and he was equally disgusted, so we decided to leave our son intact. I never stopped researching the topic after that, and I became a huge advocate about this issue. I believe that routine infant circumcision is a violation of the basic human right to a mans whole self. It violates his most personal vulnerable body part without his consent and it's a "decision" that he did not get to make but one that he has to live with forever.
After 4 years of continuous research, becoming "intactivists," and advocating for genital integrity, I can honestly say that the biggest reasons that we chose to leave our sons intact, are 1.) Boys are born perfect, and the foreskin has sooo many important functions that most people don't realize, and 2.) It's not our body, so it shouldn't be our decision to make a permanent cosmetic alteration on the most sensitive part of their body.
There are maaaaaany reasons to not circumcise, but those are probably two of the top reasons for my family. A few other reasons are because circumcision is a risky unnecessary procedure that causes harm, and a newborn cannot get adequate pain relief, so it's extremely painful. The studies they have done on circumcision showed changes in the babies brains, similar to PTSD sufferers. When some people say that their baby "slept through it," the most common cause of silence is basically because the baby went into a shock like state. They become withdrawn, and it also interferes with breastfeeding in many cases.
Sadly the U.S. is sooooo ignorant about proper intact care, which is basically to LEAVE IT ALONE. Our country still practices old outdated information, and they tell people to retract the foreskin in order to "clean" under it. Which is completely FALSE information. You never retract an intact child. The foreskin is fused to the penis from birth, much like a fingernail, in order to protect the delicate glans (head) from feces, bacteria, etc. It has a sphincter opening that slightly opens only enough to allow urine to flow through, and then it closes.
As the child ages, the foreskin naturally starts to separate on it's own, and it usually doesn't start to separate until puberty (sometimes later, which is normal, and it's different for every boy) and sometimes it can retract on it's own during early childhood, as the boy naturally explores his body and plays with his penis LOL! But the main point is that ONLY the owner of the penis is allowed to know when his penis will start to retract, because he will know how far is comfortable to go during the process. Forcibly retracting the foreskin before it's ready, causes bleeding, pain, and causes micro tears in the delicate tissue, which can cause infections. So there is absolutely NO special care for an intact child, other than wiping it like a finger and you're done. That's it! Since the United States is so behind on proper care, doctors also try to convince parents to circumcise or to retract, by telling them their child has issues like phimosis "tight foreskin". Which is absolutely bogus, because the foreskin is supposed to be fused during childhood for protection. Retraction is a mainly sexual function, that's why it's fused during childhood lol. A doctor cannot diagnose phimosis during childhood unless the child literally cannot pee. Rule of thumb, is that "if he can pee, leave it be". As long as the child can pee, there is absolutely no problem with their penis! The main problem with doctors thinking "it causes more infections" is because their crappy outdated advice CAUSES those problems and infections lol! By forcibly retracting the foreskin before it's ready, it's causing damage and putting them at risk for issues. Even then, girls get more UTI's than boys and they are easily treated with antibiotics. Both my boys are intact and we have had absolutely no issues. The first line of defense should never be ampuation. Treat a UTI like you would in a female. Intact and circumcised males can both get UTI's.
As an adult, the foreskin has a very important role during sex. It offers lubrication, and the glans are more sensitive because the head has not been Keratonized to adapt as an external organ (it was meant to be an internal organ!) It's more enjoyable for the female because it doesn't cause dryness issues, and the foreskin has a natural gliding mechanism to stimulate the female.
It's way more than just a "flap of skin", and actually is comprised of a few thousand nerve endings.
Another reason to avoid circumcision is that doctors have no idea how large a baby's penis will be when it's full grown. So they basically "guess" as to how much skin to remove. If they remove too much, there will not be enough skin to allow the penis to grow as an adult and will cause painful erections. My own husband suffered from a tight circumcision. (He allows me to share this information for educational purposed) They took too much off as a newborn (although I'm sure it didn't look like too much back then) and as he reached puberty, he would get painful erections and it would bleed from the base of the penis, because there wasn't enough skin to grow. My ex was intact and sex was way different with him than my circ'ed husband. Obviously sex is still enjoyable with my hubby LOL but we do suffer from dryness issues that were not present with my intact partner. He has been restoring off and on for almost 2 years now.
We are also Christians, so we decided to do some research on biblical circumcision.
It's important to realize that modern day circ is nothing like biblical circ. Biblical circumcision was basically a "blood letting" or using a basic flint knive to cut just the small amount hanging over the edge. So men still had pretty much full coverage and the foreskin did what it was intended to do. Modern day circumcision came around during victorian times, as a way to try to "stop" masturbation in men! Not for "health benefits." That's when they started removing the entire foreskin and exposing the glans, which is a much riskier procedure. I don't think hardly any boys would have survived such a procedure during biblical times. God did not intend for the penis to be an external organ, and even circumcised men during biblical times still had some foreskin. God's design is perfect and he created it for important purposes. In the New Testament, Paul spoke against circumcision many times.
Men can always decide for themselves if they want this cosmetic procedure, but circumcising a baby takes away his choice. It can't be undone. Even "restoration" cannot give back everything that was taken away with a circ. A grown man can have adequate pain relief, he can understand the procedure and rationalize the pain, which is something a newborn cannot do. They can also tell the doctor how much foreskin they want taken off, since it's already grown.
There is no problem with a grown man choosing circ for himself, if that's what he wants. But there are plenty of unhappy circumcised men that can't get back what they lost because the choice was taken from them.There is no other medical association in the world that recommends routine infant circ. They see it as a human rights violation. 80% of the world's men are intact with no issues, like the U.S. would have you to believe.
You are more likely to have short term and long term problems from having a circumcision than ever having problems from being intact or needing a circumcision later in life. There are many other ways to treat "problems" and circumcision (surgery) should always be a last resort. Unfortunately the the U.S. thinks it needs to be the first recommended option for everything. Even at birth in the absence of a medical reason. (there are very rare TRUE medical reasons to circ)Here are a list of all my favorite resources and links to read up on. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I would also recommending joining several intact groups as well.
**Circumcision info and myths about circumcision:
http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet7.html
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/twn-news/why-my-son-is-not-circumcised
http://www.nocirc.org/
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/research-circumcision.html#myths
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/are-you-fully-informed.html
http://www.intactamerica.org/resources/decision
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/
http://www.alternamoms.com/circ.html
http://www.asnatureintended.info/
**Foreskin information (all the important functions, etc.)
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/the-foreskin-and-penis.html#foreskin
http://www.drmomma.org/2011/08/intact-or-circumcised-significant.html
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/functions-of-foreskin-purposes-of.html
**Documentaries and helpful videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeAXantm4tE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GmIQH-Dujs
**How to care for an intact boy: (which is basically nothing. There is no special care at all)
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/06/how-to-care-for-intact-penis-protect.html
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/the-foreskin-and-penis.html#care
**Estimated deaths from circumcision each year:
https://www.academia.edu/6394940/Lost_Boys_An_Estimate_of_U.S._Circumcision-Related_Infant_Deaths
**Religion and circumcision, and the difference between modern and biblical circumcision:
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/religion--circumcision.html
http://www.cirp.org/library/history/peron2/
http://mirandamamma.blogspot.com/2014/03/christians-and-infant-circumcision.html
**Other helpful sites:
http://doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/
http://www.alternamoms.com/circ.html
http://www.asnatureintended.info/
**Video of the procedure (watch with caution, graphic.)
http://www.drmomma.org/2011/01/neonatal-circumcision-video-for.html
**Foreskin Restoration for the unhappy circumcised man:
http://www.thewholenetwork.org/the-foreskin-and-penis.html#restore http://www.foreskinrestore.com/main.html
**The AAP even has intact guidelines that state not to retract the foreskin before it does so on it's own. If you come across a caregiver or a doctor with outdated information, print these off and highlight the important parts:
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap/
http:/patiented.aap.org/content2.aspx?aid=5211&lan=en
**Professional Medical Statements from other Countries that do not recommend infant circumcision:
http://www.circinfo.org/doctors.html
http:/www.cirp.org/library/statements/
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