Your personal feelings are just as important as the medical facts. Think about what matters most to you in this decision, and show how you feel about the following statements. Most of the men in my family are circumcised, and I want my son to be circumcised like them. Most of the men in my family are not circumcised, and I want my son to have a natural penis like them.
I'm worried about the risks of surgery and how I would feel if something went wrong. I'm worried that my son won't fit in when he is older if he isn't circumcised. Many boys are not circumcised. I'm not worried about my son fitting in. Now that you've thought about the facts and your feelings, you may have a general idea of where you stand on this decision. Show which way you are leaning right now.
How sure do you feel right now about your decision? Use the following space to list questions, concerns, and next steps. Here's a record of your answers. You can use it to talk with your doctor or loved ones about your decision. My religious beliefs make circumcision the best choice for my son. Are you clear about which benefits and side effects matter most to you?
Do you have enough support and advice from others to make a choice? Author: Healthwise Staff. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
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To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Get the facts. Your options Keep your son's penis natural. Have your son circumcised.
Key points to remember Circumcision is surgery. It causes pain during and after the procedure. Like all surgeries, circumcision has risks. Major problems, such as scarring of the penis, are rare. Minor risks include bleeding and infection. Some parents choose circumcision based on religious or cultural reasons. Health benefits of circumcision include being less likely to get urinary tract infections UTIs or sexually transmitted infections STIs.
Keep in mind that your son may have his own feelings about circumcision and can decide later in life if he wants a circumcised penis. No matter whether your son is circumcised or his penis stays natural, his penis needs to be kept clean to help prevent infections and other problems. What is circumcision? If it is done, circumcision is usually done soon after birth. When should a baby not be circumcised? What can you expect after circumcision? What are the risks of circumcision?
Are there benefits to circumcision? Circumcision has some health benefits. For example: In the first year of life, urinary tract infections UTIs happen less often in circumcised boys than in boys who are not circumcised. But UTIs are not common. What do numbers tell us about benefits and risks of circumcision? Of circumcised baby boys, none of them may have a UTI. Of baby boys who are not circumcised, 2 may have a UTI.
This means that the other 98 may not. Of baby boys who are circumcised, none of them will have this problem, because the foreskin has been removed. Of baby boys who are not circumcised, 3 to 4 may have tightening of the foreskin within the first 15 months of life. This means that 96 to 97 may not. Risks The quality of the evidence about the risks of circumcision is borderline. Understanding the evidence Some evidence is better than other evidence.
What if you decide to keep your son's penis natural? Your child was born with a natural penis, and it is fine to keep it that way. Compare your options. Compare Option 1 Have your son circumcised Keep your son's penis natural. Some men resent that they were circumcised as children. They resent being deprived of the ability to make the decision for themselves as adults.
For more information, see Circumcision: A parents' guide to routine circumcision of male infants and boys. For more information see Guidelines for male circumcision in the Victorian public hospital system. If you are considering circumcision for yourself or your son, you need to discuss a range of issues with your doctor or surgeon including:. Circumcision may be performed in the first few days after birth under local anaesthetic or after six months of age under general anaesthetic.
Parents and their doctor should make sure that the person performing the circumcision is experienced and competent, uses appropriate anaesthetic and has the skills to deal with any potential complications.
There are different methods of circumcision. Either local or general anaesthesia should always be used. The plastibell procedure involves numbing the area with local anaesthetic creams or injection. A bell-shaped instrument is inserted under the foreskin to separate it from the penis. The foreskin is then removed using scissors or a scalpel. Alternatively, circumcision can be performed as a formal surgical procedure, using dissolving sutures or tissue glue.
Do not try to pull back the foreskin before it is ready, as this may damage the delicate tissues and cause scarring. Generally, the foreskin of a child is best left alone. Frequently, there are adhesions areas that are still connected between the glans of the penis and the inner layer of the foreskin. Adhesions are normal and will separate over the first 15 years of life. Guest C. Revised male infant circumcision policy: a disservice to Americans. Androus ZT. Critiquing circumcision: in search of a new paradigm for conceptualizing genital modification.
Global Disc 3 2 — Does science support infant circumcision? A skeptical reply to Brian Morris. The Skeptic. Lyons B. Public Health Ethics 6 1 — Male circumcision and HIV control in Africa: questioning scientific evidence and the decision-making process. PLoS Med 4 7 :e Bundick S. Health and Human Rights Journal online. Harvard University School of Public Health; A tale of two cities: social and environmental influences shaping risk factors and protective behaviors in two Mexico—US border cities.
Health Place 15 4 — Darby RJ. Glob Public Health :1— Earp BD. Sex and circumcision. Am J Bioeth 15 2 — A review of the current state of the male circumcision literature. J Sex Med 11 12 — Male circumcision. Pediatrics 3 :e— Hutson JM. J Med Ethics 30 3 — Risks, benefits, complications and harms: Neglected factors in the current debate on non-therapeutic circumcision. Kennedy Inst Ethics J 25 1 :1— The prepuce. BJU Int 83 S1 — The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision.
Br J Urol 77 2 —5. The prepuce free flap: dissection feasibility study and clinical application of a super-thin new flap. Plast Reconstr Surg 4 — Darby R, Cox L. Objections of a sentimental character: the subjective dimensions of foreskin loss. Matatu J Afr Cult Soc 37 1 — What your doctor may not tell you about circumcision. Adler PW. Is circumcision legal? Richmond J Law Public Int 16 — Aberson C. Interpreting null results: improving presentation and conclusions with confidence intervals.
J Articles Supp Null Hypoth 1 3 — Frisch M. Int J Epidemiol 41 1 — Slovic PE. The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan Publications; Williams S. Absolute versus relative risk — making sense of media stories. Cancer Research UK Ingelfinger FJ. Informed but uneducated consent. N Engl J Med 9 — Hester JD. Theor Med Bioeth 25 1 — Jones C. Iowa State University; Hoffmann T, Del Mar C. Stallings RY, Karugendo E. Going back and forth about whether to circumcise your newborn?
This list of circumcision pros and cons may help you decide. To cut or not to cut? Parents of newborn boys must decide whether their child will be circumcised. For many families, particularly those of the Jewish and Muslim faiths, circumcision is a given.
For others, though, deciding whether or not to do it can be fraught. Mounting research over the past decade has shown that surgical removal of the penis's foreskin has potential health benefits, including decreased risk of urinary tract infections UTIs , penile cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases. Yet there are risks, and the percentage of American families choosing to circumcise has actually decreased in recent years.
In fact, The cost of circumcision may be one reason for the trend, especially because fewer insurance companies are covering it, says Ronald Gray, M. But America's changing demographics also affect the number of boys undergoing the procedure. Gray says. The American Academy of Pediatrics AAP released a task force report in recognizing the potential medical advantages of circumcision, primarily related to preventing UTIs. But even though the AAP says the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, they decided that circumcision shouldn't be routinely recommended.
They encourage parents to make their own decision based on religious, ethical, and cultural beliefs. Still held up on the circumcised vs. We broke down some advantages and disadvantages of the procedure. The AAP reports that circumcised boys have a lower chance of getting a potentially serious urinary tract infection during their first year than uncircumcised boys do.
Left untreated, UTIs could introduce bacteria into the bloodstream, possibly leading to kidney damage. It's difficult enough for most moms to picture their tiny newborn saying Mama, much less growing up to have an active sex life, so prevention of STDs is almost too abstract to contemplate.
But the results of three randomized clinical trials of adult men in Africa were sufficient for the World Health Organization to endorse male circumcision as an effective way to reduce the risk for HIV acquired through heterosexual sex in regions with heterosexual epidemics, high HIV rates, and few circumcised men.
Although the research was conducted in Africa, where the risk of AIDS is much higher, American experts believe the findings are relevant for us, too.
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