Baby boy- circumcision?

J

JANE892

Registered User
I just suddenly realised today that if I have a boy we have to make the decision to circumcise him or not (5.5 weeks till I'm due so a bit late to just start thinking of this!!).

I'm from Australia- and most men from my generation (and older) are all circumcised.
I have no idea what the trend is now? Does anyone know?what are others doing in Australia right now? I thought I heard that more and more boys were not getting done and its actually hard to get a boy circumcised these days?(a lot of doctors won't do it?).
I'm not sure if its even done much in HK........
Does any one know the stats on this? Obviously I don't want my little boy done if none of the others are being done?I wouldn't want him to be the odd one out in the class.
I am not religious and obviously there are no real hygiene issues related to this decision in either HK or Australia so these items are not a factor in my decision.

I am going to give birth at the QMH? Does anyone know if the doctors there do the circumcisions? A friend of mine in Australia said that if parents do opt to do this they usually wait till the baby is 6 months old now (and goes into surgery completely asleep).

Can anyone shed some light on this topic- both here in HK & Australia...obviously at the end of the day the choice is very personal but I feel I need some real information before I can make it.

Thanks very much
 
We had our son circumcised 4 days after his birth.Used Dr Roulin Fong.She did an excellent job.My research showed that now days in North America its about a 50/50 split,but there was recently a New Zealand study done in favor of circumcision with regards to the prevention of STD's

It is a very personal decision.My husband is circumcised and was done so later in life at his choice.I was with my little man throughout the procedure.

You can PM me if you want anymore info.
 
Hi, I think as ever it remains a matter of personal choice.

You will find plenty of Drs. who will circumcise baby boys, I would reccomend Dr. Chan from the Matilda. We didn't use him as we eventually had our son circumsised overseas but we would have used him if we had had the op. here.

Our son was circumcised at 4 weeks without aneasethic (can not spell this word, sorry!), and just a numbing gel and wine! It was pretty traumatic for me and him and next time I would circumcise any son before he was a week old.

In my husband's home country every newborn baby boy is circumsised.

And yes there is new research that shows that circumcised men are less likely to contract and pass on HIV.
 
In Hong Kong, it's not a tradition to circumcise baby boys (at least among HK Chinese).

In my home country, when I was growing up, it was rare not to have baby boys circumcised. Nowadays it seems about 1/2 and 1/2.

Back in 1998 (when my son was born) at PWH, the doctors told me they wouldn't perform any circumcisions without medical cause (there were none), so if we wanted him cut, we'd have to go to a private doctor.

It wasn't a religious thing for us, so we didn't bother.

If it is a religious thing, you might be able to contact the Jewish Community centre to find out about a mohel.
 
When making the decision about circumcision please consider how the timing will affect the breastfeeding. I see many babies who are circumcised on day two or three. This timing can easily interrupt the breastfeeding with the babies crying and difficult to get to latch on correctly or too sedated with pain relief medications to be interested in feeding correctly. If the baby is already having difficulties learning how to breastfeed then an early circumcision can cause lots of problems. Often these problems are easier to cope with if the mother?s milk supply has increased (usually between the third and fifth day).

I?ve talked to LLL leaders from Israel and asked how circumcision affects their breastfeeding. They told me that in their experience circumcision has no effect on breastfeeding. Jewish circumcision is performed by expert practitioners, on the eighth day after birth, or later if there are medical complications.
 
Hi,

we decided to have our son circumcised based on NO religious or other issues, simply because my husband is circumsiced; so like father -- like son, some kinda men thingi, I guess!

We had it done on the 3rd day at the Matilda Hospital since I had Elective C-sec by our Dr, he did an excellent job -- and by the time we left the hospital after 5 days, it's almost healed and a week later everything was good with NO complications whatsoever, ALSO didn't have any negative impact on breastfeeding issues at all (probably BF helped to reduce any discomfort after all) and still BF a year later.

Once again, it's kinda personal decision -- do whatever feels right and have a chat with your hubby about this.

Good luck!
 
We did not circ our boys partly due to the fact that medically there is no reason to , and party b/c my husband is chinese, he didn't want to anyways as it is not a common thing for asian people to circ their boys.

I 100% agree with sarah about breastfeeding and circ. Wait till the baby is a little older and less hungry, there is no reason it has to be done the first few days. Especially if the baby is having some trouble latching he may not be gaining weight yet, and it is just another stress on their little bodies.

If you are not sure, just don't do it. It is not like you have to make the decision now. The pain of circ. is the same if the baby is 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 years or 12 years old. Wait until you are sure what you want.
 
Hi Jane, Been meaning to call you!
Still have that carry bed if you need it.

There is an interesting article on this site by Yvonne Heavyside.
Worth a read.
Also some other very emotional threads from memory if you do a search.

I have strong opinions on the subject, don't do it unless you have to!
 
Hi, we are having a baby boy due end of Jan 08. The question of
circumcision has been on our minds since we found out we're having a boy at 22 weeks.

Case for circumcision: health reasons (debatable), daddy had it done, catholic grandparents, better to get it done as a newborn, is it the norm?

Case aganist circumcision: no defined health risk, painful for the baby*, most of our friends back in Aus did NOT have their sons circumcised.

(* a friend's dad is a doctor who practised circumcision. He is now retired and adviced us not to do this to our babies because the baby does feel the pain.)

Below is a good article written by a mid-wife on this topic:
http://www.geobaby.com/articles/baby/circumcision-%96-is-it-still-a-decision-to-make?/

It is a tough decision on boy's anatomy - so I delegated this to the daddy. I don't know what it feels like...from the last i hear, he is leaning towards NO CIRUMCISION.
 
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