Until having our son, I never had to think too much about the pros and cons of circumcision. Even after having him, I pretty much automatically said we wanted it done.
Of course, I felt a pit in my stomach when the nurse came to the hospital room and said it was time. Here we were sending this 2-day-old, innocent, fragile creature under the knife. My husband had it worse. He actually had to carry Wade down the hall to meet his fate.
So Wade was circumcised Jan. 8 without a hitch. There was very little crying or blood. He healed quickly and I didn't think any more about it until Jan. 16. That's when I saw a New York Times article about a mother in North Dakota who was suing the doctor who circumcised her son and the hospital where it was done.
She didn't contend that anything went wrong. She even signed consent papers. Her complaint was that the hospital and doctor failed to make her fully aware of the risks and the fact that there was no medical need for a circumcision. When the civil case went to trial in February, a jury found both the hospital and doctor not guilty.
I agree with the jury and think this woman was ridiculous to sue. However, I bet many parents sign on to circumcision thinking it's the thing to do because there must be some medical reason a newborn's genitals need to be altered. Most doctors agree circumcision can aid in good hygiene but that it is not medically necessary. Still, most perform the task because it's widely expected in American culture - and in American locker rooms.
Circumcision in the Jewish religion is an ancient tradition dating back to Abraham and Isaac. The procedure became more popular among all Americans in the late 19th century when it was purported to aid in hygiene and curb masturbation, according to A Mind of Its Own, A Cultural History of the Penis, by David M. Friedman. It peaked in the 1960s when 90 percent of newborn boys were getting the procedure. Now the rates vary across the country, with 80 percent in the Midwest and less than 40 percent in the West, according to the New York Times. In Canada, only 17 percent of newborn boys are circumcised; in Britain, just 5 percent. In a 1999 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics said there are some potential medical benefits of circumcision but that "these benefits are not compelling enough to warrant the academy to recommend routine newborn circumcision. Instead we encourage parents to discuss the benefits and risks of circumcision with their pediatrician." It added that parents consider cultural and religious traditions.
Local doctors and hospitals say about 80 to 90 percent of newborn babies are getting circumcised. At Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, however, more parents are opting out of the procedure. Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg did not have statistics on circumcision, but a doctor who delivers babies there said 90 percent of her American patients are getting newborn boys circumcised.
"About 10 or 20 percent of our patients are selecting not to get circumcised. It used to be way less than 5 percent - about four years ago," said Dr. Stephanie VanZandt, an obstetrics and gynecology doctor at Morton Plant. "They understand it is not medically necessary and are not going to bow to social pressure."
She doesn't think preventing infection is cause for circumcision. "I'm sure if we taught the boys to keep themselves clean, that would happen very rarely. In Florida they can get more yeast infections, but that is still not a reason to do it," she said.
Lisa Poppiti of St. Petersburg had her first son circumcised but not her second. Though they are still young, she said they don't think too much about having slightly different looking penises because they are different in lots of other ways, too. Her first son had the procedure because of hygiene concerns. But when Poppiti learned circumcision is not crucial to good hygiene, she and her husband opted not to do it for their second son.
My friend Breck Moorefield felt the same way.
"Immediately when I knew I was having a boy, I knew I didn't want him to be circumcised. I think it's a bizarre tradition," she said. But after debating with her husband for six months before their son's arrival, he finally won.
"He was really uncomfortable with not doing it. He wanted him to look like everybody else," she said. "Still to this day when I change my son's diaper I think, "Here was my beautiful, healthy son. Why did we have to change how God originally made him?' "
If you have to do it, at least there are relatively new ways to reduce the pain involved. One is a lidocaine block, which is administered with a needle at the base of the penis to numb it. Other tactics include giving infant Tylenol before the procedure or administering sucrose via a shot or pacifier, which makes the babies kind of dazed and reduces the pain.
"In about 20 percent of the babies I can get them so we don't really have a peep out them," VanZandt said. "The real high screeching pain I now hear less than 10 percent of the time."
It's just been in the past two to four years that the lidocaine and the sucrose have become more prevalent as research has proven their merits. Many, but not all, doctors will take these measures, and only if you specify what you want. Ask your doctor well before the delivery what he or she does to ensure you can get the pain relief you want for your son.
- You can reach Katherine Snow Smith by e-mail at Oliviachar@aol.com or write Rookie Mom, St. Petersburg Times, PO Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.
