Primal Scream – Parents Regret Circumcision

This week 15 Square have come across an old post by a mother who went public about her feelings about circumcision. Whilst the individual stories of men carry their own weight, sometimes it is important to acknowledge parents who have been horrified by their experiences in witnessing the effects of circumcision on their children.

Sadly, the public in most countries are almost never given information on the procedure before it is performed. This means that cultural autopilot takes over, and parents assume that circumcision is painless, necessary and normal, and that the foreskin is useless, unclean and ugly.

Some parents are beginning to recognise the harm, however this mother has demonstrated the importance of finding information before giving ‘consent’.

True and informed consent is almost never given, and we would be optimistic to expect this to change over-night. The tremendous conflict of interest (due to a profit incentive) creates little cause for healthcare providers to change their practices. It is rare that parents are given the information to reach a pro-health decision, and often unscrupulous ‘sales tactics’ come in to play.

The USA Situation Explained – As described by TheWellspring.com:

“Doctors are collecting as much as $240 million yearly to perform 1.2 million needless operations on 1.2 million normal penises. In England, under socialized medicine when physicians were no longer compensated monetarily, the [none-therapeutic] circumcision rate fell to below 0.5%.”

‘Most parents want the operation. I can make an extra $200. Why should I try to dissuade them?’ — Anonymous obstetrician

“And then, there are the hidden factors that raise the cost of circumcision to the healthcare industry. For example, the additional cost of the added average half-day longer hospital stay for circumcised infants is estimated between $250-550 million beyond the charges for the procedure itself. The total cost of all neonatal circumcisions annually performed in hospitals in the US is well over a billion dollars.”

Factor in the cosmetic industry using foreskin material in beauty products, and you have a big cash lobbying incentive to keep business as usual.

My horror was quickly replaced by shock at how much BLOOD there was in his diaper. It had been maybe 15 minutes since his surgery and his diaper was FULL of blood. Like, you know when you can DEFINITELY tell your baby is needing a change because they have peed so much that it’s squishy on the outside of the diaper? That. Except blood.

I knew literally NOTHING about circumcision risks back then but in that moment every fiber of my being stood up and screamed in my head “I MADE A MISTAKE!” I wanted to take back my consent, my decision. But I couldn’t. My son was bleeding. He was in pain. He was in so much pain he was inconsolable.

It is regrettable that parents are not informed properly, and with incentive structures in place in some countries, progressive and reason inspired reform is difficult.

Nonetheless, information and advice is available that can help future parents come to an informed decision. We encourage future parents to think

“They wheeled him in, and I went to pick him up and he let out this squeeling sound, and he’d never made any sound like that. [Before], he was very quiet and happy, and calm. I looked at my sons father and I said: That traumatized him. I knew at that moment and my heart sunk, and I wanted to kick myself for not standing up for him and not following my instinct… That was the beginning of a regret that I will never live down… He had a hernia from screaming. He didn’t want to look at me.”