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by Maya I Richardson
When I was pregnant with my son, Benjamin, I was asked by a few
friends and relatives if I was planning on having him circumcised. I was born and raised in
Norway (for the most part) where no one is circumcised, except for jews and foreigners from the
middle east. I shook my head and thought... "Why in the world would anyone do that to their baby?" My husband, being born and raised in Utah, wasn't as sure about the matter as I was (although he knew
that he didn't have much choice), but he talked with other couples who had chosen to circumcise to learn more.
We heard everything from "we wanted him to look like everyone else" to "he'll give his wife cancer
if he isn't circumcised". I couldn't quite understand why some of these issues mattered or how they could be. I tried to learn more about why people circumcised their children, and came over some information that nearly blew me over!
Like "It doesn't hurt them a bit, they only cry because they are restrained", and "even if it is traumatic,
it doesn't matter, cause they won't remember it when they are grown". Wow, what had happened to reason and common sense?
Were people so blinded by their culture that they couldn't think straight? I decided to investigate further, and the information
I learned validated my decision to leave our son with "full gear" as he was meant to be. My husband joined me in learning, and we found out that there was an enormous amount of misinformation and cultural bias on circumcision.
Studies conducted years ago claiming that being intact raises the risk level of STD's, cancer, and UTI's have been reported
to be inconclusive and flawed. But they continue to circulate amongst the mainstream population and even medical societies.
(1,2,3,4) There are actually newly conducted studies with opposing results.(5) We found that there is an increasing growth even in the medical profession of physicians and groups who are realizing that
circumcision is a mistake, and are setting out to correct it. The American Cancer Society recently sent a letter to the AAP
saying "We would like to discourage the American Academy of Pediatrics from promoting routine circumcision as a preventive
measure for penile or cervical cancer... Perpetuating the mistaken belief that circumcision prevents cancer is inappropriate".(6) However, the risks and side effects of circumcision are undeniably real. The new AAP policy statement identifies 20 different possible
complications resulting from circumcision.(7) Not to mention the pain from the procedure itself. "There is no doubt that circumcisions
are painful for the baby. Indeed, circumcision has become a model for the analysis of pain and stress responses in the newborn. Not only does the
unanesthetized newborn cry vigorously, tremble, and, in some cases, become mildly cyanotic because of prolonged crying, but other stress-related physiological
reactions have also been demonstrated, including dramatic changes in heart and respiratory rates and in transcutaneous oxygen and plasma cortisol levels.": H.J. Stang et al 9.(8,9) The AAP has recently recommended anesthesia for circumcision, but using anesthesia for circumcision is by no means the norm. Some physicians feel it is too risky.
There are real side effects. Parents should also know that anesthesia does not provide complete pain relief during circumcision. There is also a question of morality in all this. Should the parents have the right to inflict this most unnecessary and irreversible amputation of a normal,
functioning and healthy bodypart? Many men are sad that this birthright was taken away from them. Many do not wish to be circumcised. Being circumcised is not natural,
and there are several claims that circumcision desensitizes and decreases sexual pleasure for both partners. A recent study suggests that male circumcision adversely affects
female sexual enjoyment,(10,11) and there is a growing concern that circumcision leads to impotence in the later years of a man's life. Nature/God created our bodies to work harmoniously. It doesn't make sense to alter any part of this finely tuned instrument. God did command circumcision in the Bible,
but this circumcision was not what it is today. Only the tip was cut, leaving the prepuce intact.(12) This procedure took less than 1 second,
compared to the whopping 15-20 minutes a physician takes to complete a circumcision today! If you are a Christian or LDS and think you are required to circumcise, go to the
link I have under circumcision on cultural and religious issues. Considering the risks of circumcision, and the lack of evidence that circumcision is beneficial, and may indeed be harmful, it makes sense to stay intact. Circumcising
a newborn infant is painful and cruel. The myth that babies don't remember is poor and inexcusable. Studies show altered behavioral patterns long after the procedure.(8)
Proponents of circumcision often excuse the unbearable pain with the saying that babies don't remember. True, they do not recall the procedure later in life, but who is to say
it doesn't have lasting effects, because it is still stored in the subconscious memory. Besides, would you undergo an operation without anesthesia if the doctor told you that he
was going to give you a drug which erased your memory of the pain afterwards? I sure as heck wouldn't. And I definitely wouldn't inflict it on my child. Stop the violence. Leave your son whole. Footnotes/References: Visit Maya's websites Maya Richardson is a 26 year old stay/work at home mother. She is married to Michael and together they have two children, a boy and a girl, ages five and two. She was born and raised in Asker, Norway, but but also lived alternately in the US during that time. She started studying health at a very early age. Her father was diagnosed with liver cancer when she was eleven, and was given three months to live. He would not accept that as he had a wife and six children to live for, so he looked into alternative treatments, and cured himself naturally. Maya also became interested in health at this young age because of her father's inspiration. She studied countless books by Bernard Jensen and other nutritionists and physicians, and attended conferences held by Dr. Jensen and her father in Norway. She used to be a dancer and a ballet teacher, and this lead her to study dance kinesiology, fitness, sports nutrition, and weight loss. When she became pregnant with her first child, her interests have expanded to include pregnancy and childbirth, breastfeeding, and other aspects of parenting. She is self taught in most of her fields of study, and has plans to become a certified midwife in the near future. On her spare time she likes to design webpages, paint with oils, read,
listen to music, dance, and spend time outdoors with her family.
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