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Summary of
General Circumcision Information
For more detailed information
visit links following items. These links are also listed on the index
page.
- Worldwide
prevalence: The U.S. is the only
country in the world that routinely circumcises most of its male
infants for non-religious reasons. Over 80% of the world's males
are intact (*). No national
medical organization in the world recommends routine circumcision
of male infants. (See Circumcision Policies in English-Speaking
Countries.)
- Pain: According to a comprehensive
study, newborn responses to pain are "similar to but greater than
those observed in adult subjects." Circumcision is extremely
painful and traumatic. Some infants do not cry because they go
into traumatic shock from the overwhelming pain of the surgery. No
experimental anesthetic has been found to be safe and effective in preventing circumcision pain in
infants (*). (See Infant Responses During and Following
Circumcision.)
- Behavioral response: Various studies
have found that short-term effects of circumcision include changed
sleep patterns, activity level, and mother-infant interaction,
more irritability, and disruptions in feeding and bonding.
Long-term effects have not been studied. Changes in pain response
have been demonstrated at six months of age. (*). (See Infant Responses During and
Following Circumcision.)
- Circumcision risks: The rate of
complications occurring in the hospital and during the first year
has been documented as high as 38% and includes hemorrhage,
infection, surgical injury, and in rare cases, death (*).
- Cleanliness: The American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) says that "there is little evidence to affirm the
association between circumcision status and optimal penile
hygiene." "The uncircumcised penis is easy to keep clean. . . .
Caring for your son's uncircumcised penis requires no special
action. . . . Foreskin retraction should never be forced." (*)
- Sexually transmitted
diseases: According to the AAP, "Evidence regarding the
relationship of circumcision to sexually transmitted diseases in
general is complex and conflicting. . . . Behavioral factors
appear to be far more important risk factors." (*) (See Explaining Claims of
Medical
Benefits.)
- Matching friends: The 2009
national circumcision rate is 32.5%, less than 25% in some states.
Though past circumcision rates were higher, there is no documented
emotional harm to intact boys. To the contrary, there are
growing reports from men who have disliked
being circumcised since they were boys, even though they were in
the majority (*). (See Circumcision to Look Like
Others.)
- Adult circumcision: The medical need
for circumcision in adults is as low as 6 in 100,000. Adults,
unlike infants, receive anesthetics (*). (See Men Circumcised as
Adults.)
- Foreskin function and size: The
foreskin protects the head of the penis, enhances sexual pleasure,
and facilitates intercourse. Men circumcised as adults report a
significant loss of sensitivity. Men who have restored their
foreskin report much increased sensitivity and sexual pleasure.
The foreskin on the average adult male is about 12 sq.in. of
highly erogenous tissue (*). (See Functions of the
Foreskin.)
- Jewish circumcision: A growing number
of American Jews are not circumcising their sons. Circumcision
among Jews in Europe, South America, and Israel also is not
universal (*). (See Jewish Circumcision Resource
Center
- American origin: Routine infant
circumcision started in the U.S. in the 1870s when it was promoted
as a preventive cure for masturbation (*).
- Male attitude: Male satisfaction with
circumcision depends on lack of knowledge about circumcision. The
more men know, the more likely they are to be dissatisfied. They
wish they had a choice (*). (See Why Most Circumcised Men
Seem Satisfied, Psychological Impact of
Circumcision on Men, and Discovering Circumcision
Feelings.)
- Professional Protest: Some aware
doctors and nurses refuse to perform or assist with circumcisions
because of ethical considerations (*). (See Circumcision, Ethics, and
Medicine.)
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For more information see Circumcision Positions of Advocates and
Critics.
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NOTES
- Wallerstein, E., “Circumcision:
The Uniquely American Medial Enigma,” Urologica Clinics of
North America 12 (February 1985): 123-32.
- Anand, K. & Hickey, P.,
“Pain and Its Effects in the Human Neonate and Fetus,”New
England Journal of Medicine 317 (1987): 1326; Romberg, R.,
Circumcision: The Painful Dilemma (South Hadley, MA: Bergin
& Garvey, 1985), 321, 325; Stang, H. et al., “Local Anesthesia
for Neonatal Circumcision,” Journal of the American Medical
Association 259 (1988): 1507-11.
- Anand & Hickey, “Pain and
Its Effects,” 1325; Taddio, A. et al., "Effects of Neonatal
Circumcision on Pain Response During Subsequent Routine
Vaccination," The Lancet 349 (1997): 599-603.
- Kaplan, G., “Complications of
Circumcision,” Urological Clinics of North America 10
(1983): 543-9
- American Academy of Pediatrics,
Newborns: Care of the Uncircumcised Penis (pamphlet for
parents), Elk Grove Village, IL: author, 1999; American Academy of
Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy
Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on
Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
- Rabin, R. "Steep Drop Seen in
Circumcisions in U.S.," New York Times, Aug. 17, 2010,
D6; Hammond, T., "A Preliminary Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy
or Childhood," BJU International 83 (1999): 85-92.
- Wallerstein, E.,
Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy (New York:
Springer Publishing, 1980), 128.
- Taylor, J., Lockwood, A.,
& Taylor, A., “The Prepuce: Specialized Mucosa of the Penis
and Its Loss to Circumcision,” British Journal of Urology
77 (1996): 294; Ritter, T. and Denniston, G., Say No To
Circumcision (Aptos, CA: Hourglass, 1996), 18-1; Morgan, W.,
“The Rape of the Phallus,” Journal of the American Medical
Association 193 (1965): 223; Bigelow, J., The Joy of
Uncircumcising! (Aptos, CA: Hourglass, 1995), 17; Denniston,
G., “Unnecessary Circumcision,” The Female Patient 17
(1992): 13-14.
- Silverman, J., “Circumcision:
The Delicate Dilemma,” The Jewish Monthly, November 1991,
31; Meyer, M., “Berit Milah within the History of the Reform
Movement,” in L. Barth, ed., Berit Mila in the Reform
Context (Berit Milah Board of Reform Judaism 1990), 149;
Goldman, R., Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective
(Boston: Vanguard Publications, 1998), 53; Karsenty, N., “A Mother
Questions Brit Milla,” Humanistic Judaism 16 (Summer 1988),
21; Eichner, I., “Every Circumcision is Unnecessary,”
Yediot, 6 May 1997, 23.
- Kellogg, J., Plain Facts
for Old and Young (Burlington, IA: F. Segner,
1888).
- Hammond, T., "A
Preliminary Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy or Childhood,"
BJU International 83 (1999): 85-92.
- Easthouse, K.,
“Nurses: Circumcision Consent Form Should Alert Parents to
Downside,” The New Mexican, Feb. 3, 1993; Pugh, L., “Santa
Fe Nurses Reject Circumcisions,” Albuquerque Journal, June
13, 1995, 1.
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What Some Noted
Physicians Say About Circumcision
| "My own
preference, if I had the good fortune to have another son, would be
to leave his little penis alone."
—Benjamin Spock,
M.D.,
renowned pediatrican |
| ". . . there are
now serious concerns this routine procedure may actually deprive
adult men of a vital part of their sexual
sensitivity."
—Dean Edell,
M.D.,
National Radio Host |
| "In this case, the
old dictum 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' seems to make good
sense."
—Eugene Robin,
M.D.,
Stanford University Medical
School |
| "In response to
circumcision, the baby cries a helpless, panicky, breathless,
high-pitched cry! . . . [or] lapses into a semi-coma. Both of these
states . . . are abnormal states in the
newborn."
—Justin Call,
M.D.,
pediatrician and child
psychiatrist |
| "My feeling is that
it is a traumatic experience and I am opposed to traumatizing the
baby. I'm also opposed to inflicting an operation on an individual
without his permission."
—Howard Marchbanks,
M.D.,
Family
Practitioner |
| "The risks of
newborn circumcision are an underreported and ignored factor in this
argument. Most often a poor surgical result is not recognized until
years after the event."
—James Snyder, M.D.,
urologist
past president of the Virginia Urologic
Society |
| © Circumcision Resource Center |
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