Aviva Romm, MD

Aviva Romm, MD's post

Aviva Romm, MD

December 7, 2014

I was raised Jewish, and although I don't identify as such as an adult and haven't since I was a teen, I did spend my 3 years of middle school studying full time in Yeshiva -- so I am pretty well trained in the culture. I sometimes imagine what would happen to a parent in 2014 if they took their kid into the wilderness, tied the child to a rock, and then proceeded to cut off a body part. Somehow I just don't think that "God told me to," would hold up in court!! While I also have nothing to do with the hysterics and verbal violence of the intactivist movement (circumcision activism should not = doctors getting daily death threats for being on scientific committees studying circ safety and benefits-- as one of my professors in medical training did - I saw them!) , as a midwife I did not encourage circumcision, and as a doc who has training/practice in performing them, I still do not. While there is clear data on men's protection against contracting sexually transmitted infections, condoms prevent this pretty well, also. And it CAN be done as a teen or adult when one can make the decision. This article, which states that UTIs in boys are reduced, fails to state that this is really just in the first year of life with no significant negative consequences comparably in uncirced boys, and suggests that it is a benign procedure. I've done them. It is not benign. Babies scream at the insertion of general anesthetic and do scream during the procedure -- or fall asleep from the stress. It takes having them suck on a sugar preparation to calm them down. Mistakes are made, too. Too much cut, too little cut, scarring....We have to be really careful about confusing personal choice with medical self-justification. We do live in a culture with access to condoms, information and education on prevention of STIs, and we should be able to admit we are choosing something because we want it without convincing ourselves that there are no consequences. There's a difference and few medical procedures are without any consequences. Your thoughts?

theatlantic.com

Foreskin: Keep or Cut?

New CDC guidelines hint at the cultural tension surrounding male circumcision in America.

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Aviva Romm, MD

FYI all shaming, blaming and hateful posts will be deleted, and I do reserve the right to "ban" on my FB page. While all opinions are welcome, all attitudes are not!

Aviva Romm, MD replied

4 Replies

Val Melchert

It seems like the only person who should be making decisions about cutting off skin from a penis should be the owner of said penis. I was pressured into having my son circumcised and deeply regret it. Never again!

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Karen Akiba

Well said. I'm also Jewish, and did not circ my 3 sons. As a nursing student I watched one circ and am even more adamant that it's unnecessary. I've read the current studies about reduction in STDs and, like you, I know that condoms have the same effect without cutting off a body part. I've taught my sons to always wear a condom. Seems like sound advice no matter what. And none of them has ever had a UTI.

Mary Lanser

That was an excellent post. I've always thought IF there were truly some potential health benefits........ Why not pitch it to grown men and let them decide if they think cutting off part of their natural penis is in their particular best interest or not. Performing non medically necessary surgery...... Recommending it..... And getting paid for it violate medical ethics. Cosmetic surgery should be the decision of the person getting it..... Not a baby who cannot consent. Proxy consents are misused with circumcision..... As they are meant for parents making life saving decisions for a child in a medical crisis...... Not cosmetic surgery on babies. Also I did want to mention that everyone who is an advocate for genital autonomy for children is not necessarily an intactivist who does crazy things like threatening doctors. Many tirelessly educate and advocate peacefully on many levels.

Melissa Sue

You've got to be careful when claiming clear evidence of reduction in STIs. Those subsaharan African studies have been widely debunked by international medical boards. Sub-Saharan Africa just does not compare to modren industrialized nations.

And i don't think you can call it sleep from stress. It's shock.

If it were a girl, it'd be illegal and boys deserve the same right to bodily autonomy.

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Sarah Davis

Why is the foreskin the only body part that needs immediate removal? Because our country is dishonest and continuing to profit off an unnecessary procedure that was started in our country to stop masturbation. fyi it is much less painful for a man to be circumcised for a number of reasons.

Jacqueline Anne Swim

As a mother who strongly believes that how you birth your baby affects that child into adulthood, why, oh why would I choose to intentionally hurt my baby in one of their most sensitive areas at the beginning of life? It goes against my every cell in body as a new mother to hurt my baby. I should be protecting then against any harm. Just because a baby is a newborn and may not remember the procedure, it is undoubtedly imprinted on their brains. And in regards to the AAP's renewed approval of the procedure, their arguments for it shouldn't persuade parents in the least. Condoms are the only way to protect against STDs, so tell your sons to where them. Just because they would be less likely to contract a disease doesn't mean they won't get one and this shouldn't be used as an excuse to not use a condom. If you cut off a girl's inner and outer labia, maybe they're less likely to get an STD too, but that's not culturally accepted. Why make a decision that permanently affects that boy for the rest of his life? Let him choose the procedure if he thinks it's necessary. I bet that most won't. I personally know men who regret their parents' decision, which left them without their foreskin. I hope the AAP and other official health organizations will stop taking the right of the child away and leave the decision up to them as informed citizens of their own bodies.

Sarah Davis

Julia what about the babies freedom of religion? I mean it is his body. He will be a man one day. Not all children follow in their parent's religious foot steps

Jake Hazelip

Circ is unnecessary. That skin came factory installed, and should just be left alone unless there is a problem, just like the appendix.

Esther Hornstein

is this a medical issue or a spiritual issue? Doctors get to weigh in on the medical pros and cons. Not on the impact it will have on the soul. This is good for Jewish moms to read http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144122/jewish/Brit-Milah-Circumcision.htm

Aviva Romm, MD replied

4 Replies

Sara Reimold

I.believe that God had good reasons to have the Israelites perform circumcision, but whatever that reason was it is irrevelant to our lives today. The first century Christians were not required to cut their babies, and all of the reasons that people use to justify it now make no sense to me. I have two intact boys, probably the first in generations in our family.

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Coleen Anne

Exactly what I believed 28 years ago and to this day. It is unnecessary and painful.

Sarah Mascioli

Boys are born perfectly with all the correct body parts & don't need to have their foreskin sliced off at birth. There are babies that die every year because of it & also doctors that do a bad job which can cause irreversible damages. I wish people would read more on these stories & realize that circ doesn't always go smoothly. I don't feel it's right to justify an American norm like this when the negatives definitely out weigh the positives. Our culture is starting to get more educated on the subject & more boys are getting to keep their body's whole as a result. This is great news! Circ is not medically necessary so it makes no sense as to why we would chose to cut off a piece of a male's body without his consent. Many of the problems, if any, that older uncirc men have endured is due to lack of education when they were infants about not retracting the skin too soon. This is all changing. The arguments of keeping a penis clean is called a shower. The argument of keeping a penis STD free is called a condom. The justifications around circ don't even make logical sense. Just because it's done as a standard procedure here in the US doesn't make it the right. I wish all parents would research the topic before just consenting so freely & without question to having it done for their sons. Most would be shocked to discover the truth. I was.

Sarah Davis

Female genital mutilation was less invasive that was legal in the US until 1997. Why have baby girls been protected but not baby boys?

Kelly Ann Fontaine

I've always felt that the foreskin has a purpose and function. My son is intact. He actually did get a uti at 6 weeks old but never did the pediatricians suggest circ. my thought has always been, if i wouldn't cut a piece of my daughters why would I do it to my son??

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Golda Smith

I never understood WHY it was done long before I birthed my son and made the decision then that I never would circumcise any son I birthed. He's now 10 and has never had any problems. If he should choose to have his fire skin removed when he's older then it will be his choice.

Colleen Cooper

I wish I would have done more research for my son!!!!!!

Tirzah Shroyer

I strongly agree with circumcision education. I teach childbirth class and make sure to tell all my students that it is a CHOICE, and one they all need to really look in to before making the decision, either way. That being said, it really, really pains me when I see so much hate and intolerance towards people who made the educated decision to do it. A friend of mine had to be circumcised when he was 19 due to lifelong infections, even after doing everything he was suppose to do-- because of this, he and his wife decided to avoid the potential of the same happening to their son. A peer has had to take one of her 2 boys to the hospital 3 times a year since he was 2 for recurring UTIs and other penile infections. Even doctors who are normally against circumcision have advised her that it may be worthwhile for him but she refuses and he continues to have problems at 6 years old. Yes, for the most part, being uncircumcised is not a problem and it shouldn't be a decision made lightly or for cosmetic reasons. But please don't label parents who make this very hard choice based off of what they have learned as abusive or less-than.

Leeann Williams

Neither of my boys are circumcised and neither of them has ever had an infection. Its called education on how to keep themselves clean. I saw no medical reason to have it done. They are in no way ashamed of leaving their genitals as God meant for them to be. There are many cases where things have gone terribly wrong and children have been permanently disfigured or even died from an elective surgery. Why risk it?

Judit Duran

I am very proud to say my son was not circumcised. If the human body which is a perfect machine was designed a certain way, why should we alter it?

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