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I think it's an outdated practise and besides religious reasons, I don't see the point. The health benefits are negligible in our culture where we have good hygiene and easy access to condoms. I think most people just get it done in North America these days because everyone else does it, without too much actual thought. If I had a boy, I wouldn't do it personally. If he wants to do it later in life because he feels that there are benefits, that's his choice to make. I don't believe in making irreversible decisions that affect a child's body unless it's required, which circumcision isn't at all.

Check out College Humor's "The real reason you're circumcised" on YouTube. lol it's great.

@shortcake: They can get circumcised later, but the risk of complications goes up with age so if he's going to have it done I'd prefer that it be right after birth. And I think the best way to prevent HIV is always going to be safe sex practices, not circumcision.

We had it done and no regrets. It was DH's decision and DH felt strongly about getting it done. But I would not base your decision on HB.

I don't have children yet, but DH and I both decided that we would with a boy, but we have different reasons. DH wasn't circumcised as a baby and then it turns out he has a rare condition that caused complications and made him have to get circumcised as an adult. He still has a lot of problems from the condition that probably wouldn't have happened if he was circumcised (incidences of it happen in less than 1% of circumcised males). We are concerned that this might "run in the family" and don't want to take the risk.

Our LO is a girl so we didn't have to make the decision. However, should any future children be boys we would opt out of circumcision. My husband is English and it is not the done "thing" in the UK, so that plays into it. Aside from that, I just can't imagine putting a baby through the procedure when I just don't feel strongly about it.

Related: to each his/her own re: reasons for circumcision. But, I do think the aesthetic reason or worse, the "matching" reason is really kind of weird. Like, imagine a woman wanting her daughter's vagina to look similar to hers. Just... what?

@mamimami: How interesting! I have lots of mexican friends and the guys have always said circumcision rates in Mexico are much lower.

A quick google search turned up the statistic of 10-31% in Mexico which is a pretty wide range. Have no idea how accurate it is though.

Do you think it has any relation to class or religion or region?

Here are country-by-country stats, plus info by ethnicity in the U.S. on who gets circd and in what percentage. It's interesting!

http://www.circinfo.net/rates_of_circumcision.html

Here's a map that is made to demonstrate hospital circ rates in the US by state, for those that are curious. *note, it's from a clearly anti-circ page.

http://mgmbill.org/statistics.htm

@Anagram: thanks for posting that link, there's some interesting information on that site.

@Anagram: I like the history section, fascinating!

@looch: @indi: WOW! The stats on these two sites are really, really interesting! I had no idea circumcision was so common still in the US! I thought 16% in the UK was high (approx 5% of our population is Muslim, around 0.5% are Jewish so I expected perhaps a little over 6%) then I saw the rates in some of the US states! Wow! I just had no idea.

@Adira: it was my understanding that the AAP statement was written in that way to ensure that families who DO choose to circumcise will be able to have the procedure covered by insurance...hence the wording "justify access".

I don't think their actual stance on circumcision has changed, i.e. they still do not find enough health benefits to routinely recommend it, and would probably only recommend it in certain cases/high risk situations (in those cases I would also agree it would be a good idea--LO does not fall into either of those categories).

I didn't have a strong opinion one way or another, DH did want it done, so I agreed and no regrets! Everything went smoothly and the healing process was relatively quick for DS.

As a lady, I prefer uncut. I was actually shocked by the difference in feeling between cut and uncut guys.
So on behalf of any future girlfriends of any future sons of mine, we will not be circumcising.

We will do it if we have a boy for 2 reasons. 1, because DH feels strongly about doing it and I don't (I feel like it's more his decision than mine, he has a penis) and 2, it's not as easy to get done in adulthood as people think. It's a much more painful, awful procedure on an adult male.

I won't get into the nitty gritty of the debate because I'm too passionate about the subject.

For us, the answer is a resounding no. There are a variety of reasons, but the main one is that I absolutely will not make permanent irreversible body modifications to a child that cannot consent. We believe in bodily integrity.

The "medical study" carried out in Africa that showed that circumcision could reduce the spread of HIV was disproven years ago and shown to be incredibly inaccurate. It was not a legitimate study. Afterwards, other studies demonstrated the exact opposite. So even if bodily integrity were not an issue for us, there is no compelling medical evidence to suggest that circumcision is better.

There is some good info on the myths surrounding circumcision here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/more-circumcision-myths-you-may-believe-hygiene-and-stds

@Espion: yes! however the pediatric urologist said there isn't a compelling reason *not* to do it either (as far as risks, etc) So I think its really just personal preference.

@Seattlemom: If someone decides to get any plastic surgery of any kind, it's usually costly and requires recovery time. Lots of people opt to do unnecessary surgery on their bodies (and genitals) later in life regardless. I don't see why this particular procedure should be decided at birth for the child just because it may be less expensive and a newborn doesn't hold a job. We wouldn't feel the same if the parents wanted to give their newborn a nose job, or a tattoo. I feel it's kind of odd that we do this surgery to people who can't consent to it... It just doesn't make sense to me. It's just so engrained in our culture that this is normal.

My brothers had quite the variety, too. One was snipped REALLY close, the other has a bit much left. That was another reason I'm not big on circ - so much variety and chances to "get it wrong."

Both my sons were circumsized; no religious reason, no regrets, no complications. DH and I were 100% on the same page. Truth be told, it was more difficult for me to watch, then it was for them {both stopped crying less than a minute after it was performed}.

@mamimami: @Anagram: I think that it's a generational shift among Mexican/Mexican Americans. Those in my parents' parents' generation {my great grandparents} were not big proponents of circumcision, but in turn their children {my parents} did go on to circumsize their own children {my generation}. We opted to circumsize, and I would venture to say that 95% of my friends and family - the portion that are also of Latino descent - did the same.