if your circumcision status is different from your fathers'...

[laser90]

thickjohnny & others: What do they mean to say by "routine in hospitals"? I can totally buy that they were just handed forms and told "here, sign this." It's hard for me to imagine consent forms weren't involved though... It's possible I guess, there were fewer lawsuits then. Just curious!

I know about this one! I did not want my son cut which was decided before we ended up at the hospital. It's a discussion you have with the Doc BEFORE you go in. I remember after he was born a large sign was taped to his roller crib that stated he was not to be cut. In most urban hospitals they are used to dealing with not cutting after birth due to the Jewish faith. Jewish boys are cut 7 days after birth.

Why did I not have him cut when I was? Mother nature put it there for a reason and since I found no good medical reason why it should be removed so I left it alone. My mother was fit to be tied on this one. She was very upset that I did not cut him.

He has never asked why I'm cut and he is not. IF he does I will tell him why.

 

[Charles Finn]

thank you so much you are so wise i wish all would come to this understanding foreskin is there for a reason not your foreskin then leave it alone period

 

[gymfresh]

I do think it's true that researching this decision must have been awful back in the day. I think a lot of parents probably resorted to silly reasons

There was information available in print, at least after WWII. Most families also relied on the advice of the family doctor and occasionally asked family and friends for guidance.

An enormous influence on postwar America was Dr Benjamin Spock's bestseller, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946). In the section on newborns, Spock discussed circumcision. He said that if you have your child circumcised, you'll need to tend to the wound for a few days or weeks. If you don't have your son circumcised, it's important from Day 1 to retract the infant's foreskin and clean the glans. He noted that this is painful, and possibly bloody, and rather unsatisfactory for both mother and baby. On balance, he wrote, his thinking is that circumcision was "a good idea, particularly if the other boys in the neighborhood are circumcised; this helps a boy grow up to feel 'regular'." (Code back then for not a weird loner and not gay.)

You have to remember that this book was the "bible" of child-rearing in the 1950's and even much of the 1960's. It sold millions of copies. Even if you didn't have a copy, it's very likely you knew someone who did, and they could tell you what Dr Spock's advice was. My parents had a copy on the shelf for us kids to read. Circumcision was even discussed (advocated) in parenting magazines going back to the 1930's and 1940's. Baby and Child Care had an enormous influence on the rapid expansion of circumcision in the United States. Forty years later Dr Spock had changed his mind completely, but the effects of his earlier writings were already well-established among the medical profession and among parents.

Even so, circumcision was scarcely discussed in polite company before the emergence of the internet, even as it occasionally came up in magazine articles. This lack of openness and controversy is doubtless part of what fueled the rapid rise of US circumcision, along with nearly every medical plan paying for it. The web has changed everything, in that someone sitting at home can now learn what thousands of people think about a given topic, accompanied by video. They can add their voice to the discussion. One important point that has come from this openness is that the idea a boy will be traumatized, or even bothered, that he doesn't share the same circumcision status as his father or brother is pretty much a myth. If it weren't, wouldn't a whole generation or two of circumcised boys who grew up with intact fathers have been impacted? Why should it only be an issue the other way around, to feel "different" if you're intact? Makes no sense.

 

[travis1985]

There was information available in print, at least after WWII. Most families also relied on the advice of the family doctor and occasionally asked family and friends for guidance.

And that's if information or advice was sought at all. From what I hear from people who were parents at the time, it just went without saying (which was good because no one wanted to talk about penises) or giving a second thought to whether it was really best.

Even so, circumcision was scarcely discussed in polite company before the emergence of the internet, even as it occasionally came up in magazine articles. This lack of openness and controversy is doubtless part of what fueled the rapid rise of US circumcision, along with nearly every medical plan paying for it.

Medical plans, and therefore everyone who has them, paying for routine infant circumcision. Now there's something to chew on that will either make you shrug your shoulders in apathy or sick to your stomach with rage and disgust, depending on your position.

 

[smrod82]

My father is uncut while I am cut. My father decided to circumcise me as he had several instances where his smegma had built up causing foreskin issues due to poor hygiene. He didn't go through with circumcision, he said because he was afraid later on in life. His personal feeling is that all males should be circumcised at birth for "cleanliness." We always feel that the grass is greener on the other side and I am often surprised by members of the site who are so outraged at their parents decisions pro or con with circumcision. I had a few friends who went through with circumcision in high school and were very happy after the pain had subsided due to the fact that they felt that they lasted longer. It may not be "natural" to circumcise but it appears that I am the minority here when I state that I am proud that my parents had me circumcised.:smile:

 

[jonboy53]

My grandfather was circumcised in 1909 in a hospital. It was the thing to do. My father and his brothers were circumcised in the same hospital, he in 1934. (He had a loose cut.) I and all my brothers, cousins, etc., that is, all the males in our extended family are circumcised. So are my two sons in 2002 and 2005.

 

[colgan1999]

I don't know his status and don't want to...none of my business

 

[mandylover]

My grandfather (b.1917) wasn't circ'd. Dad ('53) and I are. Grandpa always said it was a mistake not to, so my wife and I had my son done at birth.

 

[perverted2themax]

Grandpa and Dad not cut... I am and my 3 sons were not at birth but 2 to had it done in their early teens we gave them the choice.

 

[orangeC]

My father is uncut while I am cut. He explained the difference to me and said he thought a cut one was nice. I didn't have all the extra skin. I guess he thought being circumcised was better and wanted me to be circumcised.

 

[nicecircjob]

My dad was not cut. I wish I had been cut when I was born. I had myself cut as an adult. I felt weird in locker rooms with my peers, most of whom were cut. I always wondered what they thought of me not being cut as they were. It always bothered me. At urinals before peeing, I would push back my foreskin before taking my dick out to pee. I didn't want the guy standing next to me to think I was not circumcised, if he should look my way. It was a happy day for me when I got circumcised. I just wish it had been done when I was born. It would have saved me lots of grief. I saw a circumcised dick when I was about 7 years old, and I thought it looked awesome. I decided someday my dick would look like that.

 

[mandoman]

It's a mental trick.
There is no way adults can anticipate what you will want, when you are an adult.
As you can hear from many in here, they were circumcised at birth, and wish they weren't.
Nobody could have anticipated that you would be the one who wanted to be cut.

 

[eurotop40]

... I didn't have all the extra skin. I guess he thought being circumcised was better and wanted me to be circumcised.

I think he was right and it looks great.

 

[pdxjoe]

My father was circumcised by the US army during WWII . I was done as a youth, due to small birth size. The thing to do so all looked the same down there. My brother was done at birth in the mid 1950s.

 

[ERSTF]

As has been pointed out several times before, it is not possible for penile shaft skin to grow into a prepuce on its own. The appearance of being uncut can happen when one puts on weight and existing penile shaft skin is pushed forward. The characteristic structures that define the foreskin, including the smooth dartos muscle, Meissner's corpuscles and specialized lamina, are removed during circumcision and do not regenerate.

Like many on LPSG, I'm sure, I don't know whether my father has been circumcised. I also have no idea whether my brother is circumcised. My family has always respected each other's privacy.

And finally someone speaks the truth I have always said. There is no way to regrow tour foreskin. You might get a skin covering by stretching but it's just that, stretched skin not a foreskin or prepuce

 

[colgan1999]

we are Jews

 

[Infernal]

My father is, but I only know it because my mother told me. I'm cut, but was at birth so it's all that I know. My mother said that if she had been a little more educated at the time I was born, she wouldn't have had it done. As a nurse she felt it wasn't necessary and is juts a cash cow for hospitals. Your own life experience/opinion may be different, and should be respected, but can someone please make this tired topic die.

 

[feetandmeat85]

My father and I are both uncut my brothers are cut

 

[matt121matt121]

Grandpa and Dad not cut... I am and my 3 sons were not at birth but 2 to had it done in their early teens we gave them the choice.

was their any reason why they wanted to have it done? did you try to discourage them or have them wait a few more years to be sure they wouldnt regret it?

My father and I are both uncut my brothers are cut

Are your brothers older or younger? have your brothers ever been resentful towards you for being uncut while they are cut?

 

[Call_Me_Daddy]

My father didn't know that I was circumcised.

I found this out because my sons aren't circumcised and I asked my father about it and he replied "You've lived with that for 40 years, how can you not know?".

I then explained that I was circumcised and he responded "Well you must've been born in a Jewish hospital."

I was speechless.