Countries where it is done at birth?

In the US, the majority of males (not long ago, the vast majority) are circumcised at birth. I read that it also was the case in Canada (less so in Quebec).

I was wondering, are there any other countries where it is possible to circumcise boys at the maternity ward?

Why would one want to circumcise newborns if it's not medically required?

It was standard in Canada in the 1940's through 70's. I never saw anybody who wasn't circumcised until I was in Junior High when there was 1 boy in my Gym class who was uncircumcised.

Why would one want to circumcise newborns if it's not medically required?

Easier to keep penis clean thereby preventing many infections. That was the logic back in the day. No idea what it is now.

When our son was born we were asked if we wanted the procedure performed. We declined because of the possibility, however minute, that he might bleed out or require a transfusion. With no guarantee a blood-born disease would not be present in the donated blood we thought it would be best to not have the procedure and he could decide for himself later in life.

@Mullanphy And prior to his insistence on cleanliness and prevention of infections, they used to tout that circumcision would curb masturbation (the reasoning at the time was that a long foreskin or phimosis would result in irritation that would induce the young boy into masturbation).

@Mullanphy And prior to his insistence on cleanliness and prevention of infections, they used to tout that circumcision would curb masturbation (the reasoning at the time was that a long foreskin or phimosis would result in irritation that would induce the young boy into masturbation).

I've usually read that being circumcised would precisely cause irritation when masturbating. Thereby ostensibly curbing the urge to masturbate. Which is sort of the opposite rationalization.

In any case, all that can be said is that people will come up with any kind of excuse, however lame or improbable, contradictory or wishful thinking, in order to justify cutting away a of piece of a (young) male's body. It is very disturbing with all the ways and excuses that some people use to rationalize routine blanket circumcision.

There is truly a weird obsession going on with this compulsion to circumcise every male, even in our modern, science-based society.

The "insert quote" doesn't seem to work anymore, so:

"In any case, all that can be said is that people will come up with any kind of excuse, however lame or improbable, contradictory or wishful thinking, in order to justify cutting away a of piece of a (young) male's body. It is very disturbing with all the ways and excuses that some people use to rationalize routine blanket circumcision.

There is truly a weird obsession going on with this compulsion to circumcise every male, even in our modern, science-based society."

'If I don't see the need for it, if I don't like it, if I don't understand why others do it, it is a lame, weird, obsessive compulsion.' Seriously?

Scientifically, male circumcistion can prevent foreskin infections and phimosis, a condition where the foreskin cannot be pulled back. Circumcision can lead to a lower risk of some sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Although not a definitive prevention, every little bit helps, especially against life-threatening diseases.

Science looks at the facts without hyperbole or name calling. When new evidence is found, science can change, but it does so without useless disturbing adjectives.

What I find disturbing is such vitriol opposing something that can actually be beneficial. Pardon the political comment, but how trumpian.

The "insert quote" doesn't seem to work anymore, so:

@Mullanphy Check your formatting options in your account under settings. It may have got reset to “Default”, make sure it’s set to “With Formatting”.

@Mullanphy

What vitriol?

About the one main clear medical condition that circumcision can definitely cure is phimosis.

Virtually all the rest of the claims about reducing risk of being infected by an STD or HIV or getting cancer are spurious and what some studies give as a slightly positive advantage, fall into the margin of error range, which means any claims inside that range, either positive or negative, are inconclusive one way or the other.

Around 2/3ds of the world male population are not circumcised. And they do not seem to suffer disproportionately from being so. We even have the seemingly contradictory facts that while European males are in general not cut, the have a lower HIV rate than Americans. If circumcision offered significant protection, the statistics should be turned around.

What is also interesting about circumcision, is how it became historically entangled with religion. Circumcision is otherwise mainly a social custom that some groups of people seem to attach (undue?) importance to, like norms about gender specific clothing or hair styles. These norms and ideas can be passionately held, but aside from the feeling of adhering to a group norm, they confer no objective advantage over other norms. These notions can arouse strong feelings when not adhered to. Think of the big todo about longhaired males in the 1960s. As if it were the end of society as we know it.

Pardon the political comment, but how trumpian.

I take exception to such a description. As has often been said here: leave politics out of the forum.

If you have your tonsils removed you won’t get tonsillitis. Same logic applies.

In reality, studies have shown a minority of boys will have phimosis that is too severe to be cured without surgery. As a preventative measure, routine circumcision in societies with access to adequate education, sanitation and medicine is an outdated measure. It’s an argument or justification made up to support the widespread practice based on preconceptions

The "insert quote" doesn't seem to work anymore, so...

@Mullanphy the advice was given here 3 weeks ago about this issue.

Clearly this is not a problem that affects everyone, so to those who find the Insert Quote button fails to function - what kind of device, operating system and Internet browser are you using?

And also - do you have Text writing mode - With formatting tools enabled in your options?

Formatting is found under your profile, click the "settings" drop down (which has a 3 cogs image), click the "options", and under Text writing mode you'll find the With formatting tools which you may need to make sure is clicked.

The discussion is, I think, way off-topic.