HuffPo says: "For the first time in more than a decade, the American Academy of Pediatrics has revised its policy on male circumcision showing more support for the procedure, yet stopping short of recommending routine circumcision."
I know they are not endorsing it, but I have to say that this was encouraging. I know DH will want any boys circumcised but I have always been on the fence. This makes me feel better about it.
Does it change how you feel about your decision, either past or future?
squash / 13764 posts
To me, this reads not so much as them saying that they are more in favor, but simply stating that the benefits outweigh the risks (which shouldn't surprise anyone--I think most people who choose to not circ do not make that decision based on their concerns about side effects from circ'ing). I also think that this statement was intended to help potentially have insurance companies cover circ'ing, as some of them do not at this point.
Either way, this won't change our decision to not circ.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
I hope that this means more insurances will cover circumcisions! This doesn't affect our decision though as we were going to circumcise anyway.
pomelo / 5178 posts
This doesn't change our feelings; we would have done it anyway.
I agree with @hilsy85: though, that this seems to be more about encouraging health insurance companies to cover the procedure and hospitals to perform the procedure than influencing parents's choices.
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
Doesn't change my opinion either, I'm still against circumcision unless it's medically necessary.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I would never change my decision based on AAP recommendations. Seriously, I honestly don't put much stock into them. I do what I personally feel, as a mother, is best for my son. I do a lot of research before making big decisions like these and make sure I'm well-educated.
I chose not to circ and I'm glad I did. I think it's important to leave the body as close to the way it was made as possible.
bananas / 9628 posts
am i the only super immature one that was giggling about the dr they interviewed regarding circumcision being named 'dr wang'??
we're still TTC, but we've talked about if we have a boy whether or not we'd circ. i feel strongly that we should not & DH is now in agreement.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Interesting. My son was born in Europe, where the procedure wasn't even offered at the hospital where I delivered.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
We were pro circ'ing anyway so this didn't have a big effect on us. Lately I've also been feeling very strongly that this little nugget is a girl so it may be a moot point for us anyway : )
honeydew / 7916 posts
It doesn't really change my opinion on circumcision. DH comes from a culture where it's done w/o question but I've been able to get him to at least consider not doing it if we have a boy.
pineapple / 12793 posts
I think this quote sums it up for me....
"What remains unchanged is that the AAP still holds that the health benefits are not great enough to recommend routine circumcision for all newborn males".
We won't be circumcising any future boy babies.
pomegranate / 3452 posts
I was just thinking about this issue this morning - very timely. I don't feel good about having that procedure done on my baby (we don't know the gender of our little one yet). I know lots of folks do it, but other than religious reasons I really don't get it.
kiwi / 733 posts
We had about a 35 second conversation about it a couple of weeks ago (and we're still pre-knowing gender). It went about like this: "If it's a boy, circumcision for sure, right?" "Yeah." "Ok. Good." Then again, it's a religion thing for us, too.
pomegranate / 3890 posts
i guess it makes me more confident in our decision but regardless i feel like we made the best decision for our son (and thanfully how he responded to it during the circumcision procedure and the healing of it only made me 100% more confident we chose the right thing to do for him (but i dont beleive there is anything wrong at all without circumcising too!)
nectarine / 2039 posts
@daniellemybelle: my Dad told me about this news bit today. We did not circumcise LO. I still feel comfortable with our decision. It seems to me that it must be something that doesn't actually really matter one way or the other.
pomegranate / 3643 posts
It makes me more comfortable with our decision. I was going to leave it up to my husband (that sounds so 1950s of me, but he's the one with the penis - I'd feel *so* uncomfortable if he was making unilateral decisions about what to do with female genitalia!) and he is pro-circumcision. Granted, he's pro just because he's circumcised so why not?
In my public health classes it's come up a few times, mainly in favor, because of reduced risk of the spread of HIV/AIDS. So I'm a little confused about the AAP's stopping short of recommending it routinely. It's not like you know what babies at birth are going to be at risk for STDs or penile cancer. It's like the same argument that Gardasil shouldn't be routine because girls raised in good Christian homes won't get HPV (yeah right).
Personally, I trust AAP a lot more than I do other sources like personal blogs and trends. We will circumcise. For me it will be for health reasons, for my husband, because he prefers being circumcised.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Nope doesn't change my view - we did not circumcise T and won't circumcise any future boys we have. DH is also not cut and it has not presented any problems in his life. He is a physician and knows there is a lot of mis information out there...
coconut / 8299 posts
We were pro-circumcision anyway. My DH and I never even discussed it. We just both automatically assumed we were circumcise.
ETA: My brother was not circumcised as a baby and he hated it during his adult years (for sexual reasons I guess). He had his circumcised at 21! Ouch!! He made me promise to get my son circumcised so that he doesn't have to go through that torture and pain as an adult!
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@jedeve: I share a lot of your feelings! I also feel like it should ultimately be up to DH, and I also trust the AAP more than trends. The medical establishment doesn't know all, for sure, but I certainly respect their expertise.
@banana: I think by the time our kids are sexually active, being uncircumcised will be a bit more common and so it won't be as embarrassing... but I know that many uncircumcised adults feel uncomfortable about it. I know "fitting in" isn't a reason to make a medical decision, but I'll admit it plays a part.
coffee bean / 38 posts
Doesn't change my opinion at all besides thinking less of the AAP.
It seems that this press release is mainly to encourage health insurance companies to cover circumcisions.
persimmon / 1453 posts
@PinkBee: That's what I was thinking! The PR sounds more like a money thing than a health thing.
Personally, I wouldn't make my choices based on a minor rephrasing by an organization.
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
I'm having a girl this time around but in a few years we will probably try for another and if we have a boy I will be curious to see what their stance is then. I think the things that circumcision can help (STDs, etc) can also be helped through other means, but since people don't always take those precautions, statistically there's probably a benefit to it. I don't know about things like UTIs... I would have been happy either way but finding out our LO is a girl made me relieved that I don't have to make this decision, at least not yet! Like others have said my DH will have a huge say in this!
pomegranate / 3643 posts
@Minnie_Girl: The AAP doesn't financially benefit, though. I think the reasoning is health based, and they're just saying there is reasons besides religious/cosmetic to circumcise, and so families who want to do it for health reasons should be covered.
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