I REGRET CIRCUMCISING MY SON!
From MOTHERING.COM...
"If You Regret Circumcising Your Son(s), please post here."
[Here are their stories. Currently over 700 posts.]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here is my son’s circ story:
My husband wanted our son circumcised; I did not. He grew up on all the myths that it is cleaner and healthier. He is Jewish, but was not raised religiously at all. So for him, this wasn't a religious Bris issue (had to be done because of God's will). For him, he was (wrongly) convinced (without doing ANY research to the contrary) that it was necessary and beneficial.
In order to relieve my rising blood pressure anytime we argued about it, I let the issue drop and chose not to research. I convinced myself that I should be supportive of my husband’s wishes, even though I really did not want my son cut.
Both my husband and I were present during the hospital circumcision and our son was 2 days old. We wanted to be present to “protect” him from anything bad happening. How naiive I was. Our presence did not protect him at all. I did not know what exactly happened during a circumcision (if I did, there was no way in hell I would have consented) and what I saw will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Shortly after our son was born, I had a horrible pit in my stomach and my wish NOT to have this done was incredibly strong.
What I witnessed was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life.
I realized then that our presence was useless. Our son was already being hurt and being there did not stop the harm. But that was not the worse thing I saw…at the end of the circumcision, the OB ripped off the foreskin from his penis. This is a typical circumcision provided by American physicians.
Imagine someone tearing a piece of skin off your arm. How would one react?
I would imagine that I would pass out from the extreme pain and shock.
My son was sucking on a sugary pacifier and held down by a nurse. My son never cried during the circumcision. Like many newborns, my son fell into a deep sleep on the spot. I am convinced that the shock and pain caused him to go into a deep, stressful sleep. Why do I say this? In the nursery, he cried and cried for me. He was unable to be soothed. The only explanation is trauma.
The essential problem is that most people, including medical professionals, are not aware of the function and purpose of the foreskin. That is why they are so quick to suggest removing it. Not to mention the financial gain (for pediatrician, obstetricians and hospitals) from this unnecesary cosmetic procedure.
MY FEELINGS OF GUILT AND ANGER.
For a very long, long time, I kicked myself with guilt and regret for not researching this issue. I was really, really torn up about this.
I signed the damn consent form, against my VERY STRONG instincts, screaming at me that this was the wrong thing to do.
DH was full-speed ahead. At that moment, I regretted not having any facts (research) to counter him with. If I did, my son would have remained intact (uncircumcised).
Never having seen an intact penis, I used to think that the circumcised penis was beautiful. Now, I saw it differently and for what it truly was: a scarred penis. I saw how it got that way.
My son has a scar and I USED TO CRY every time I changed his diaper and saw his little scar. Now I knew without a doubt that he lost something integral – an important part of his anatomy. I was also very angry with my husband and it did strain our marriage for a while. We had to go to counseling.
I can understand how “extreme” this sounds to some. But you need to remember I witnessed my newborn baby being harmed before my eyes… all for nothing.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision: Untold Facts on America's Most Widely Performed-and Most Unnecessary Surgery.
If I am blessed with another boy, he will not be circumcized. DH accepts this now.
Ironically, he has a 13 year old from a previous marriage, who lives in a country where circumcision is not routine, and thus, is not circumcised.
Again, no health problems.
My husband wanted our son circumcised; I did not. He grew up on all the myths that it is cleaner and healthier. He is Jewish, but was not raised religiously at all. So for him, this wasn't a religious Bris issue (had to be done because of God's will). For him, he was (wrongly) convinced (without doing ANY research to the contrary) that it was necessary and beneficial.
In order to relieve my rising blood pressure anytime we argued about it, I let the issue drop and chose not to research. I convinced myself that I should be supportive of my husband’s wishes, even though I really did not want my son cut.
Both my husband and I were present during the hospital circumcision and our son was 2 days old. We wanted to be present to “protect” him from anything bad happening. How naiive I was. Our presence did not protect him at all. I did not know what exactly happened during a circumcision (if I did, there was no way in hell I would have consented) and what I saw will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Shortly after our son was born, I had a horrible pit in my stomach and my wish NOT to have this done was incredibly strong.
What I witnessed was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life.
I realized then that our presence was useless. Our son was already being hurt and being there did not stop the harm. But that was not the worse thing I saw…at the end of the circumcision, the OB ripped off the foreskin from his penis. This is a typical circumcision provided by American physicians.
Imagine someone tearing a piece of skin off your arm. How would one react?
I would imagine that I would pass out from the extreme pain and shock.
My son was sucking on a sugary pacifier and held down by a nurse. My son never cried during the circumcision. Like many newborns, my son fell into a deep sleep on the spot. I am convinced that the shock and pain caused him to go into a deep, stressful sleep. Why do I say this? In the nursery, he cried and cried for me. He was unable to be soothed. The only explanation is trauma.
The essential problem is that most people, including medical professionals, are not aware of the function and purpose of the foreskin. That is why they are so quick to suggest removing it. Not to mention the financial gain (for pediatrician, obstetricians and hospitals) from this unnecesary cosmetic procedure.
MY FEELINGS OF GUILT AND ANGER.
For a very long, long time, I kicked myself with guilt and regret for not researching this issue. I was really, really torn up about this.
I signed the damn consent form, against my VERY STRONG instincts, screaming at me that this was the wrong thing to do.
DH was full-speed ahead. At that moment, I regretted not having any facts (research) to counter him with. If I did, my son would have remained intact (uncircumcised).
Never having seen an intact penis, I used to think that the circumcised penis was beautiful. Now, I saw it differently and for what it truly was: a scarred penis. I saw how it got that way.
My son has a scar and I USED TO CRY every time I changed his diaper and saw his little scar. Now I knew without a doubt that he lost something integral – an important part of his anatomy. I was also very angry with my husband and it did strain our marriage for a while. We had to go to counseling.
I can understand how “extreme” this sounds to some. But you need to remember I witnessed my newborn baby being harmed before my eyes… all for nothing.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision: Untold Facts on America's Most Widely Performed-and Most Unnecessary Surgery.
If I am blessed with another boy, he will not be circumcized. DH accepts this now.
Ironically, he has a 13 year old from a previous marriage, who lives in a country where circumcision is not routine, and thus, is not circumcised.
Again, no health problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
No comments:
Post a Comment