Roughly 1/3rd of men worldwide are circumcised. Between roughly 3.8% – 8.5% of boys in the UK are thought to be circumcised (pre 2013). It is difficult to say the exact amount because there is no independent regulation, recording or oversight outside of the NHS, and barely any within the NHS. Many circumcisions are not recorded. This FAQ is a list of everything you SHOULD know about circumcision but were never told.
The number of annual procedures is dropping quickly in NHS hospitals as it is generally accepted on paper to be a “last resort” due to the complications associated. Some doctors are better at acknowledging this than others. Many were trained at a time when people assumed circumcision was harmless. There are also a growing number of men coming forward that claim they are affected by complications later in life long after their surgeries are deemed “successful”. This of course distorts statistics.
In a paper published in 1999 it was found that the UK prescribed circumcisions for foreskin tightness between 5x to 8x the required amount. 1,2
“My GP has said he will totally alter his future treatments of children with similar problems.”
FAQ
Isn’t it painless when done to a baby?
Absolutely not. Many babies pass out from the pain and although they may not remember it, some grow into adults with embedded traumas, similar to those who feel they have been abused. Babies cannot tell the difference, and once they are older and learn that they have been cut against their will some intense emotional trauma can be experienced. This happens also happens in girls who have suffered female genital mutilation. Both can be intensely painful when using traditional methods lacking anaesthetic. As you would expect pain and discomfort is still present during any circumcision.
“Having seen a reference in the Jewish Chronicle made to your published letter in the British Medical Journal, I write to agree with you! I have only just seen your BMJ letter and having myself been brought up as an Orthodox Jewess, I now question it in the 21st century.”
Isn’t it just a small cut at the end?
Actually, the surface area of the average adult foreskin when unfolded is 15 square inches in total (roughly the size of a £10 note). The amount of tissue taken is reasonably significant.
“I never really came to terms with what happened to me. I was told nothing before my circumcision. I was taken from my home by a stranger who left me at the hospital. No one spoke a word to me, two nurses undressed me and placed me on a board, they pulled my legs apart and fastened straps running up my legs and my arms and waist…
I was then wheeled from that room down a passage to another room. There were three people there. A nurse placed a plastic plate in my mouth, put her hands under my chin to keep my head still and mouth closed. As each process of the circumcision was performed I felt the pain acutely.”
Doesn’t it stop infections and cancer?
Yes and no. The infections that are prevented by circumcision can be solved with antibiotics without needing to suffer the pain of a circumcision. Foreskin cancer is 100x rarer than breast cancer in women, yet rightly so, we don’t advocate removing breasts at birth.
…Also, there is a chance of infection after receiving a circumcision, making it quite a paradoxical argument. There are cases every year where blood loss and septicaemia causes death in infants. Complications following circumcision are not recorded. Some boys have so much of the foreskin tissue taken away that when the remaining skin is stitched together it buries the penis inside the body making sex impossible. Why risk it unnecessarily?
“What has happened to me is my own personal misfortune, but if there is any way that this brutality can be stopped I would be willing to support such a movement.”
Who needs a foreskin anyway?
The foreskin helps with sexual function as the head of the penis goes in and out of the foreskin during sex and masturbation. This stops unwanted friction and dryness preventing discomfort for the man and the woman sometimes. Without it, synthetic lubricants are sometimes required. It also protects the head of the penis from rubbing painfully against clothes and materials.
Some men complain of tightness, pain, irritation, lack of pleasurable sensitivity and difficulties reaching orgasm. Over time, the head of the penis will dry out and develop thicker skin making sensation even less stimulating.loss and septicaemia causes death in infants. Complications following circumcision are not recorded. Some boys have so much of the foreskin tissue taken away that when the remaining skin is stitched together it buries the penis inside the body making sex impossible. Why risk it unnecessarily?
“Now well into my adult years, I am so disgusted that I had this procedure performed on me without my consent. I don’t have much feeling in my glans, I only have true feeling under the ‘ridge’ of the glans. It can take me forever and a day to reach an orgasm sometimes.”
If 1/3 of the world’s men are circumcised, surely some would be complaining if it’s harmful?
- Many were circumcised at birth, and it is the norm for their culture. Frequently they are shunned for criticizing circumcision because it is seen as an attack on the culture that performed it. Muslims, Jews, citizens of the Philippines and the USA all see this as the standard way of introducing a boy to the world. We have dealt with men from all of these groups who DO complain, but often their cultures dismiss their complaints leaving men even more isolated. Some people choose to stand up against the practice whilst still embracing the rest of their culture, some reject it entirely. There are more and more men coming forward who DO complain.
- Some men who have been cut from birth do not know any different. Often, people never really think about it.
- A lot of people who have been circumcised are reasonably content. The dulling in sensitivity from the loss of nerves in the foreskin suits some men, but that is an adult decision and not a factor that should be impressed upon infants or men who are not sexually active. All people who have this procedure should be made fully aware of the potential consequences the same as with any other medical or cultural decision.
What if a baby needs a circumcision?
“The only undisputed medical indications for circumcision are pathological phimosis [tight foreskin] and recurrent balanitis [redness/infection].
It should be distinguished from physiological phimosis, which is a normal part of development in young boys. It has been argued that the circumcision rate of 3.8-8.5% in England remains too high given that the incidence of phimosis has been reported to be only 0·6%. In addition, most boys circumcised in England are under 5 years of age, when pathological phimosis is rare.” 3
Finally, most cases of tight foreskin can now be solved easily. There are ways to stretch the tight foreskin and even topical steroid creams that make this even easier. Only an extremely rare case “needs” a circumcision, and certainly not in babies whose penis is still undeveloped and has the foreskin fused to the head of the penis.
Many of the men who have received circumcision are told in later life that “there are no complications” by medical professionals who do not have the most up to date information. The NHS is slowly starting to recognise that this is not true. Circumcision should be an informed decision based on consent.
You can hear more from the people who have been affected by circumcision in our anonymous archive found here.
For more information regarding current events, check out our news section.
If you have been affected by circumcision or seek to avoid unwanted circumcisions, feel free to contact us.
Bibliography
1 & 3: BRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Volume 93: Pages 885-890, July 2006. “Trends in paediatric circumcision and its complications in England between 1997 and 2003” P. Cathcart, M. Nuttall, J. van der Meulen, M. Emberton and S. E Kenny.
Clinical Effectiveness Unit, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Health Services Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Urology and Nephrology, University College, London, and Department of Paediatric Surgery, Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK and British Association of Paediatric Surgeons Clinical Outcomes Committee, UK http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/cathcart1/#n8
2: BJU INTERNATIONAL, Volume 84 Number 1: Pages 101-102, July 1999. “The Incidence of Phimosis in Boys.” Shankar KR, Rickwood AM, Department of Paediatric Urology, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK. http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/shankar1/
“Towards evidence based circumcision of English boys: survey of trends in practice” BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7264.792 (Published 30 September 2000) BMJ 2000;321:792