[ez4me2remember]

NIH backs circumcision in AIDS fight - AIDS - MSNBC.com I thought this article was interesting. We haven't decided what we will do with our son, but it is food for thought. So many stress circumcision is just cosmetic....but it sounds like there is evidence to suggest otherwise. A close to 50% reduction in AIDS to heterosexual males seems huge to me.

[maham0]

Thanks for providing the link! Very interesting and backed by science...

[nurse_reedle]

What if your child is in the other 50%? I think it is better to just teach abstinance until marriage.

[saranbr]

I have nothing against circumcision. In fact, if I had a baby or was adopting an infant I would have it done, currently we are debating because our child is already 3 1/2. That said-- I would be careful reading too much into this article. It's been months since it came out so that long since I read it, but wasn't the study done with an African population? One must be careful when comparing the US where AIDS remains the biggest concern in the IV drug using and homosexual population with Africa where it is truely a heterosexual problem. Even if every heterosexual male in the US was circumcised today, I would be willing to bet you will see no where near a 50% drop in AIDS in heterosexual males.

I agree with a previous post-- abstinence works everytime it's tried, with the exception of IV drug using, that is!

[csw]

Hi
Interesting..but I guess I would still go by the fact that the foreskin serves a purpose..to protect the glans.
And the fact the penis was meant to be an internal organ in mammals. It is also full of nerve endings and is supposed to increase sexual satisfaction. Also to put a child under general anesthesia unless it is medically necessary seems risky to me (can you tell I am a former ped's ICU nurse?)

Our son has never had a problem. Now they say just leave it alone..don't try to retract and clean under it..it can cause harm. The natural erections little boys have will gently retract the foreskin over time..it may take till puberty or later. Once that happens they themselves can gently retract as long as it doesn't hurt, and wash with plain water.

Most boys are not getting it done now, so don't worry about him being different in the locker room..

Wish you the best and thanks for the article!

[DD Amasa]

There seems to be more and more evidence that circumcision has medical benefits. And jsut teaching abstinence can be disasterous. Thanks for posting the article.

[Willispc]

We just had our son circumsized at 10 1/2 months. It upset us more than him. He was up the next day crawling around and laughing. My husband had insisted we have it done. His Uncle just had to be circumsized for medical reasons at 71 years of age. His father also had problems when he got too ill and couldn't take care of himself. Just something to think about.

[nurse_reedle]

Personally, I don't think any surgery should be done just because it could become medically necessary later in life. In that case, at birth, we would have to remove tonsils and adnoids, the appendix, have tubes placed in the ears, gall bladders removed.....etc. Now, I still feel this is every parents choice, I just don't feel like the "future medically necessary" arguement is a very substantial one. Also, I don't think that teaching abstinance is disasterous, but teaching anything else can be. With abstinance, there is no chance of an unwanted/unplanned pregnancy and there is no chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (that can ONLY be transmitted sexually). I have never heard anyone regret not having sex, but I have heard many people regret that they did. There are many, many reasons why I feel abstinance is better than circumcision. If my son chooses to be sexually active, then he can also make the decision as to whether he would want to be circumcisized as a measure of protection. I most certainly will not do something to him as a baby, simply because my teachings could be in vain when he is older. Why teach him right and wrong, if I am going to set him to follow the "wrong" path??? That seems quite backwards to me.