THE BACKLASH AGAINST CIRCUMCISION.
Expectant parents have loads of decisions to make, from whether to find out the baby's gender beforehand to planning the birth.
But recently some have taken up another debate, over a cut that used to be nearly as routine in the U.S. as that of the umbilical cord: circumcision.
When Jessica Davis learned she was having a boy, she and her husband assumed that the baby's foreskin would be removed.
But when asked why by her obstetrician, who is originally from South Africa, where circumcision is rare, Davis, 28, a college administrator, did research and decided that the risks trumped the benefits.
She left her son Aiden, now 20 months, intact--though she says her spouse remains leery of the decision: "He's kind of like, 'Well, I work just fine.' "
Opponents, on the other hand, say foreskin-related afflictions are rare, condoms block STDs, and circumcision has its risks. Michelle Richardson, of Fort Worth, Texas, says her 5-year-old has two genital disorders due to his botched circumcision.
The debate has even extended to the religious practice of Jews.
Instead of opting for a bris, the rite in which a boy's foreskin is removed at 8 days old, Theo Margaritov's family welcomed him in April with a brit shalom, a cut-free ceremony.
"That's the way God made him," says his mom Deborah.
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