Parents

Mommy

Mothers, protect your sons. Don't assume your baby will benefit from circumcision just because it is  routinely performed in Georgia hospitals. There are no benefits, only harms. When they hand that consent form to you, just say, "No thanks. I'm taking my whole baby home."

You don't have to get your baby circumcised. It is not like a vaccine. It provides absolutely no health benefit. Even if it seems all the other boys are getting snipped, know that foreskin is hip, and getting hipper all the time. 

Since the advent of the internet, circumcision rates have tumbled in America. The internet provided that cloak of anonymity we puritanical Americans needed to discuss this private topic. As we cautiously and then more boldly began sharing our experiences, research, and concerns, circumcision rates quietly dropped, dipping well below 50% in 2010. 

When it comes to circumcision, American mothers and fathers are making a different choice than their parents did. Most are quietly deciding not to play it forward on their own sons.  

The docs are not doing a very good job yet in proactively telling parents about the harms of circumcision. Many obstretricians and pediatricians do not mention it at all, except to ask if you want to have it done. For lots of moms, the only discussion is the fine print on the consent form, hidden somewhere in that stack of admitting hospital paperwork.

To be charitable, the docs are between a rock and a hard place. Many were required to perform a circumcision or two, to get out of medical school. They learned to control their emotions and focus on the surgery of that very tiny little penis. Their instructors told them the baby couldn't feel it. Or that the pain does not matter because the baby won't remember. 

They were taught to develop steady hands and exhibit grace under pressure - of the frantic tormented child. Many of today's doctors had no training in the care and feeding of foreskin while in medical school. They just learned to cut it off.

And...well...circumcision is lucrative. Do the math. At two to three hundred dollars a pop, if a doc can do two or three a week...well...that can add up. A sweet little sports car. Not that, that is their motivation. We're just sayin.  

So what's a doctor to do? Admit to chopping up baby penises for no good reason? And watch the lawyers come swarming out of the wood-work?

Daddy

This might be toughest on the dads. The birth of a son, may be dad's first  look at the goods he never had.

It says a lot about a guy, to have the self confidence and strength of character to let his son have more penis than him. Because then he has to face, in an up close and personal sort of way, what was taken from him.

But real joy comes from knowing how much you really protected your little guy - the great gift you kept safe for him. 

For as long as the world has been turning, parents have done their best to make it better for their children. Each time a baby is left to grow up intact, the world becomes safer and gentler for those to follow.