Circumcision for your baby boy??

C

cyberyoda

Registered User
Hello,

Does anybody circumcised your baby boy in HK?? Is it necessary to do that?? Do you normally do it within 2 days after delivery? What is the long term effect on the baby? Is it still very popular in the US that baby need to do circumcision?? I was told that men in US tends to laugh at those who did not do circumcision. I am shock to hear that, is that a correct saying? Seems like it is not that common in HK for baby to circumcised so not sure if the medical team here is experienced in doing that. How much does it take to circumcised a baby in private hospital??

Thanks for any input.
 
In most religions that circumcise the procedure happened on the 7th or 8th day of life. If you do it at a week it has much less effect on breastfeeding than if you do it on the second day of life.

Often the breastfeeding is only just getting started and there are still a few problems to sort out on the second day. Also your milk will not have increased yet. So having a baby that is in pain and doesn?t feed easily can be a big problem. Also the baby is likely to be given medication to help with the pain which makes him sleepy and again causes problems for the breastfeeding.

Of course the baby is still in pain at a week but if doesn?t affect your breastfeeding so much because your milk has already increased and you are better able to cope with a baby like that.

My husband and I come from Britain and Hong Kong. We never thought of circumcising our boys. It seems a very cruel and heartless thing to do to a small baby.

I had a boyfriend who had to have it done, for medical reasons, as a 13 year old. He said it was the most painful thing that had ever happened to him. I don?t believe that just because the baby is only a couple of days it doesn?t hurt them that much. After all other things like injections hurt them as much as it does us.

There is also research telling us that babies that undergo lots of medical procedures as a baby are less able to copy with pain as they grow older. I can see this in my last child. She was quite sick after she was born and had lots of injections and blood tests for the first three weeks of her life. Every time something hurt her she was much more upset and for longer than my other babies. Fortunately after about 9 months she settled down and doesn?t get upset any more than necessary about injections now.
 
My circumcized husband who's raised in Philippines insists that our son be circumcized based on what he claims a known fact that boys who are not will be laughed at. I don't understand this at all.

Our pd suggested us to do this after he's toilet trained and before he goes to kindie.
 
OMG!!!! ouch!

i know my helper was quite surprised when i told her that we had no intention of doing it to our son.

personally, i think that "because everyone else is" is not a good enough reason.
 
If you are planning to bring your child up in Hong Kong I don?t think you need worry about this. Hong Kong is a very international city and has all shapes, colours and sizes in it (even for that part of the body).

I asked my teenage sons about the subject and they told me that no one has ever mentioned it to them and no one takes any notice of whether or not you are circumcised. They told me that out of their friends about half are and half aren?t.
 
We decided not to have it done as I couldn't bear my little one having to experience such pain at barely a few days old. I read in an article that there is a certain degree of discomfort if not pain, I just couldn't put him through it. I feel he can make this decision for himself when he's older, able to understand the reasons behind it, the pros and cons, how the operation will be administered, the recovery etc. Very personal and difficult decision indeed, and this is just how my husband and I feel about it.
 
Circumcision

My two boys recently went through the surgery of circumcision together. They both had recurrent UTI, especially my then 5-mth-old. He had high fever (over 40 degrees Celcius) twice and went through a lot of painful procedures to check whether UTI is caused by structural reason (reflux of urine). It just kills me to see him go through such precedures and pain.

The actual surgery took about half an hour each and they spent one night at the Adventist. My 3.5-yr-old could get down from bed and play the next day (he still had a paper cup attached to his underwear to protect it). It took them about 7-10 days for total recovery but about a month for the stitches to be completely dissolved.

I personally don't understand why most HK pediatrician don't recommend this procedure for all male newborns. Well, I understand that this is not absolutely necessary but I regret that I didn't get it done when they're born. Main reason is that their father had it done when he's a teenager and kept telling me how painful it was. So he didn't want his sons to go through this unless it's necessary.

In fact, my pediatric surgeon told me that about 1/3 of the male population have the need to do this. So you'll have to decide for yourself. Good luck!
 
it's not recommended because for most newborns it is completely unnecessary. why put your child through that if it is not ABSOLUTELY necessary.

kind of like having a breast removed just in case you get breast cancer, in my mind.

we consider female circumscision cruel and barbaric, why not the same for males?
(i'm not being nasty, it's just something that i've been pondering for a while)
 
Well, of course, it's always the parents' call whether to do it or not, given that your son has no previous infections or pain experienced. After all, it's just the FORESKIN that's being removed, NOT the entire penis.
 
30 years ago in Australia it was very uncommon for boys NOT to be circumcised. My mum decided not to circumcise my brother and was criticised for it.
My brother has never had any infections or problems.

Another friend of mine has joined a ( strange) movement of men that are actually trying to regrow their foreskin with the use of small weights attatched to the penis.
He feels violated that no-one asked him whether he wanted it removed as a baby.

When our son was born, i did not want it done but my husband (who is circumcised) was unsure.
I told him he had to find some mates that weren't, talk to them about it, and then come back with a reason why we should do it.

Believe it or not he did ( I sat in on one of those VERY interesting conversations over a few beers at Stauntons!) and the general agreement seems to be that those that aren't circumcised are perfectly happy that way and have never had any problems.

One of the guys claims that if you do remove the foreskin, some of the nerve endings are damaged over time without any protection, and therefore uncircumcised men have a heightened sense of pleasure.

Just because a boy can't tell you how painful and confusing it was as a baby, doesn't mean that it wasn't just as bad or worse than if they need to have it done when they are older for medical reasons.

Just something to think about.
 
Our paediatrician showed us how to pull back and rinse the foreskin as early as 3 months if I recall correctly - which seemed to be contrary to internet advice.

Just wondering Mothergoose if you did this too.
 
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I would believe the need to circumcise is very unnecessary.
As someone had said before, it is different for many males in Hong Kong, though I'd take a belief that a majority are possibly uncircumcised. The idea is absurd and an equal amount of hygiene can be obtained whether the male is circumcised or not.
Unless the reason is religious, problems with the glands or because the father himself is circumcised, this practise often seen in the United States and South Korea should be avoided if possible.
 
Hi Rani,

After recurrent infections and a few trips to the hospital, our paediatrician advised us to have our second son circumcised as soon as possible. The thing is, (I don't know how to say it technically) both our paediatrician and paediatric surgeon had examined him and determined that his foreskin was too tightly attached to his penis. We couldn't even pull back the foreskin to clean it. Bacteria could then be trapped during urination and cause infetion easily. Therefore, a circumcision is definitely necessary.

As for our first born, his case is not as serious. We could pull back his foreskin but not completely. It was still quite tight at the end of it and we're told that as he gets older, he would feel painful when there's an erection. Therefore, circumcision was also strongly advised.

Yes, of course we wouldn't have the boys gone through this if they didn't have to. But for their well being (at least we and the doctors agreed), we believed we've made the right decision and my boys are perfectly fine and happy now.
 
Not sure if any more advice is needed/wanted, but I'm from the US and have a 10-month old circumcised son. The procedure did not require any injections, just a numbing cream and he didn't even cry. He was less than a week old.
 
To Carang (with respect to female circumcision).
Well, for your info, female circumcision and male circumcision are completely different things. if you want to compare the 2, then lets just say that female circumcision (which is usually followed by suturing of the skin surrounding the outer lips which have been cut off as well in some cases to only leave space for pee and menstrual blood...no space for a penis which will have to tear its way in on wedding night) would be the same as the complete removal of the penis up to the scrotum...now this is not the same at all as only removal of the foreskin, which will not cause any harm or pleasure removal during intercourse!
The foreskin use is as a protection for the head of the penis and is used as "lubricant" during intercourse. The problem with having the foreskin is that it needs special cleaning attention. If good hygiene is not respected, infections will occur.
It is proven that women with circumcised partners have a much lesser chance of getting cervical cancer (caused by Papilloma virus).

In some cases the foreskin cannot completely retract itself, inducing pain, impossibility for sexual intercourse, and infections. Then, circumcision needs to be done.

I am not saying that doing it to a baby will not cause any pain, but the pain is not remembered (I have asked several Jewish friends). As for that child being less pain resistant...this is a personal behavior and not linked to previous pain endurance.

It was a standard trend in the US, but it has been stopped in may states in the past few years.

As for sexual intercourse, having a circumcised partner makes lubrication solely the affair of the woman...no foreskin to act as "lubricant". But then again, KY does exist, and some women with non-circumcised partners still have lubrication problems...so really, having your child circumcised or not is your own personal choice. He will have a happy life and he will enjoy his sexual life as much as any other man.
 
I think circumcision (of boys!) is a personal choice thing. Our son was circumcised for religious reasons and it would have been very strange for us not to have had him circumcised!

Male circumcision has been recently been approved by the WHO as a new weapon in the fight against HIV/Aids in Africa. Circumcised men are less likely to get and pass on HIV/AIDS than uncircumcised men, so the reccomendation now, in Africa, is that all baby boys are circumcised.
Just another issue for the argument!
 
thank you, i realise that the two are completely different.

however, it is my personal opinion that there is no need in this day and age to put any child through the pain that is necessarily involved in circumcision. i wonder if you asked uncircumcised males if they would do it now that they are adults, how many would say yes?(obviously, if it is for religious reasons, that is a different matter).
 
I'm with you Carang. I would never put my boys through any pain unnecessarily so unless we were presented with a medical reason requiring it it would not be something we would even consider. This despite the fact that my husband is circumcised.
 
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