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The Forum > General Discussion > The circumcision debate.

The circumcision debate.

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My reason for this thread is a personal one.
My niece is expecting her first child and
she's being advised by her hospital to have
her baby boy circumcised when it is born
for health reasons. She came to me for advice.
Frankly I don't know that much about the pros
and cons - and hence this thread. Of course I
will do my research on the topic as best I can.

From what I do gather - there appears to be
some Australian doctors who are campaigning for
a return to routine circumcision citing research
that shows it protects men from a range of
diseases.

I read that - Dr Alex Wodak, a doctor based at St Vincent's
Hospital in Sydney and a member of the
Circumcision Foundation of Australia, says that parents
tend to be discouraged from the procedure by doctors who
haven't caught up with recent research showing the
benefits, including that uncircumcised men are three to
eight times more likely to catch HIV/AIDS and syphilis.

He says that with good pain relief, the baby doesn't
suffer, so there's no reason not to circumcise.
Dr Wodak says, "The benefits outweigh the risks by a
huge amount. The evidence is getting so strong and yet
the opposition is so strident, and the situation is
unfair for parents. They should be able to get fair
and balanced information, but they're not. It's a
simple procedure when its carried out on infants -
it's quick, it's painless, the benefits are considerable
and the risks very small."

I don't want to simply toss a coin - and I don't know what
to advise my niece just yet. I'm going to have to find out
more about what opponents of circumcision have to say -
and why.
Posted by Lexi, Thursday, 3 May 2012 12:03:18 PM
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<<I don't want to simply toss a coin - and I don't know what to advise my niece just yet. I'm going to have to find out more about what opponents of circumcision have to say - and why.>>

If the child/person wants to be circumcised, then they can choose to do so themselves later in their life, but the reverse is not completely possible.

One of the unpleasant effects of circumcision which cannot be reversed, is that as the skin is pulled up to cover for lost skin at the tip, hair grows in places where it was not intended to grow, causing pain when it is pulled.

It is also spiritually detrimental to interfere with the sanctity of the body, believing that one can willfully do better than Nature. That includes both the cut and the administration of an unnatural pain-killer (Jews use alcoholic wine for the purpose, but I don't recommend giving alcohol to a baby either).
Posted by Yuyutsu, Thursday, 3 May 2012 12:23:03 PM
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Hay Lexi, I'm circumcised, so you know it must be the right thing to do.

The only trouble with it is that it makes you so attractive, you have to keep beating the ladies off with large sticks, & I know you believe every word I say.
Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 3 May 2012 12:59:50 PM
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Dear Yuyutsu,

I've been doing further reading on the topic and
one particular article claims that -
"opponents of circumcision argue that not only
is circumcision medically unnecessary and even
risky, but that it damages the sensitivity of
the penis." The article states -" that such a permanent
operation must not be performed without permission,
which obviously a baby can't give. Should a man
eventually wish to be circumcised, according to
experts - it can be done easily as an adult."

Bears thinking about.

Dear Hasbeen,

I respect your opinion (most of the time) , and I do believe
almost everything you say. ;-)
Posted by Lexi, Thursday, 3 May 2012 1:48:46 PM
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lexi,
I do feel for you and your niece, its a tough decission.

My approach would be, find out all I could and present the pros opinions and the antis opinions and let her decide which way to go.

There are plenty of both opinions in the OLO link I gave. Though I have no idea how knowledgable they are. Both camps seemed to hit on that thread and is a bit of a puzzle as to why.

Good luck with it.
Posted by Banjo, Thursday, 3 May 2012 2:23:35 PM
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*I'm going to have to find out
more about what opponents of circumcision have to say -
and why.*

Well put it this way Lexi, if we had decided that your labias
should be chopped off, and simply gone ahead and done it for you,
what would you think?
Posted by Yabby, Thursday, 3 May 2012 2:35:31 PM
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