To parents of American boys

To parents of American boys (this may also extend to parents from other countries and cultural backgrounds where boys are routinely circumcised): did you have your boys circumcised and, whether or not you did, what were the motivations?

I'll begin with myself. My wife is American, our children have dual citizenship. When I met my wife, she considered circumcision the normal “cleaner” thing, and probably if we had had a baby at this point and the choice had been hers he would have been cut at birth (we lived in the US, where this choice is available). However she realized with time that men with foreskins, including myself, normally don't have any issue and that the foreskin seemed useful. Our boy came later, when we lived in France, where circumcision would be an additional procedure not covered by medical insurance; besides at that point she thought this procedure was unnecessary. So he was not cut. We however got some pressure from my mother-in-law to have him circumcised after she changed his diaper, but we told her it would not happen.

No answers? I’d especially like to know the arguments of medical staff

I just found your question Pecan. I was born in 1940 in the US. Here's what my mother told me when I was about 5 and would be starting school soon. She wanted me to know the difference due to the likelihood that I would see boys who didn't look like me. After I was born her doctor came to her room to ask if she wanted me cut. She was older (36) and I was her first child. She emphatically told him NO you're not cutting anything off my baby. He then told her she would have to retract my foreskin at every bath to wash under there. I remember her doing that faithfully at every bath from my first memories at about 2 or 3 years of age until she turned the job over to me when I was probably 6 or 7.

It surprised me to read on the net that boys can't retract foreskins until into the teen years as mine was always retractable from day one and I never met another guy while growing up and playing with each other's toys who couldn't.

The only problem I had was when my penis began to mature the foreskin was a little tight when I got an erection and would get stuck behind the glans until in went down. I fixed that by stretching the opening with my fingers. I also had the usual super sensitive glans due to being covered and I desensitized that too. Of course there was plenty of smegma to deal with but I never had any girl complain about that when we fooled around in the car nor did I complain about the smell or taste of her pussy even at ragtime.

Alas my boys got cut 26 and 30 years later because I was not allowed near their births and my wife refuses to talk about it.

As a Canadian in Ontario where circumcision is close to 50/50 I did a lot of research before deciding NOT to cut my sons.

I myself am not cut, but growing up I did have some embarrassment around the other boys that were in the change room type situations. I wanted to be cut like them. I think a big part of me thinking ‘cut was better' was the porn industry, everything in videos and magazines was cut guys, which means all the girls around here assumed cut was normal and jokes were made about foreskins and how gross they are. We also watch a lot of US content that makes fun of foreskins (see scene from bad moms). When I would change or have sexual encounters at a younger age, I would retract my foreskin before pulling my pants down making people think I was cut.

Because of this I strongly considered circumcision when I was expecting my first boy. My wife said she wanted me to make the decision. My wife's side cut was the norm, and my mother-in-law was against it but didn't push the issue.

I looked at the pros of keeping the foreskin (such as added pleasure, downtrending so might not deal with the embarrassment I did, not having unnecessary procedure, cost etc) vs the pros for cutting (no smegma, looks cleaner, no phimosis/balantitis, etc) and was on the fence for the most part until I talked to a relative that works in a daycare and she said most of the boys aren't being cut and I felt - if I was so embarrassed and wanted to fit in as a kid, would I be doing that to my kid now by cutting.

I feel 50 years from now people will be outraged that parents would cut off foreskins, so I feel good about my decision, but also respect others who make the decision to circumcise as long as they do the research. My brother-in-law had his son cut a few years later and put no thought into it. Just because he was.

@hawthorne What scene from bad moms?

Https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBXTcatYhM

@hawthorne Were there family members or friends surprised by this decision, or even pressuring you to reverse it? (My mother in law was aghast our son was uncut; she discovered it when changing diapers.)

Not really, I'm sure a lot of people that would see me change them would notice and think something to themselves, but no one really said anything directly to us anyways.

As for my mother-in-law it was something along the lines of “Well I assume you going to have him circumcised” and my wife and I just replied along the lines of “No, it doesn't really seem to be necessary these days” and she just said “oh, ok” in disbelief, but it was never really talked again after that. I don't know if my wife ever told her or anyone in her family I'm uncircumcised. If she (or anyone else) were to ever start a debate over it, I would have said well I still have my foreskin and have no problems. I do find there's a lot of ignorance to foreskins in my area so as embarrassing as it can be to talk about my penis with friends or family, I have no problem educating them if it's for the greater good.

One time years ago, I was playing drinking games with a few female friends and topic of foreskins came up with a negative undertone, so I was just like ya I'm not cut and they were shocked and never seen one before. By the end of the night, I took it out and educated them on how everything worked down there. I'm not an “intactivist”, but if I can save a couple boys from being cut out of ignorance I will.

Circumcised at birth I’ve always been happy with it. So for no other reason I had my son’s circumcised. Not for religious or hygiene reasons, just seemed natural to me. From what I’ve read, many (most) who are not circumcised are just as happy with the way they are.