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Summary of General Circumcision Information

 

 

For more detailed information visit links following items. These links are also listed on the index page.
  
  
 

  1. Worldwide prevalence:  The U.S. is the only country in the world that routinely circumcises most of its male infants for non-religious reasons. Over 80% of the world's males are intact (*). 
     
  2. Pain: According to a comprehensive study, newborn responses to pain are "similar to but greater than those observed in adult subjects." Some infants do not cry because they go into traumatic shock from the overwhelming pain of the surgery. No experimental anesthetic has been found to be  safe and effective in preventing circumcision pain in infants (*). (See Infant Responses During and Following Circumcision.)
     
  3. Behavioral response: Various studies have found that short-term effects of circumcision include changed sleep patterns, activity level, and mother-infant interaction, more irritability, and disruptions in feeding and bonding.  Changes in pain response have been demonstrated at six months of age.  (*). (See Infant Responses During and Following Circumcision.)
     
  4. Circumcision risks: The rate of complications occurring in the hospital and during the first year has been documented as high as 38% and includes hemorrhage, infection, surgical injury, and in rare cases, death (*). 
     
  5. Cleanliness: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that "there is little evidence to affirm the association between circumcision status and optimal penile hygiene." "The uncircumcised penis is easy to keep clean. . . . Caring for your son's uncircumcised penis requires no special action. . . . Foreskin retraction should never be forced." (*) 
     
  6. Infections: The incidence of urinary tract infection among intact males is about 1 in 1000, and it is treatable with antibiotics. According to the AAP, studies claiming potential benefits are inconclusive because of several "confounding variables."  (*). 
    (See Explaining Claims of Medical Benefits.) 
     
  7. Cancer: The incidence of penile cancer among intact males is about 1 in 100,000. According to the AAP, the effect of circumcision status on the risk of developing penile cancer is "difficult to estimate accurately."  (*) (See Explaining Claims of Medical Benefits.)
     
  8. Sexually transmitted diseases: According to the AAP, "Evidence regarding the relationship of circumcision to sexually transmitted diseases in general is complex and conflicting. . . . Behavioral factors appear to be far more important risk factors." (*)   (See Explaining Claims of Medical Benefits.)
     
  9. Matching friends: The national circumcision rate is 60%, less than 40% in some states. Though past circumcision rates were higher, there is no documented emotional harm to intact boys. To the contrary, there are growing reports from men who have disliked being circumcised since they were boys, even though they were in the majority (*).  (See Circumcision to Look Like Others.)
     
  10. Adult circumcision: The medical need for circumcision in adults is as low as 6 in 100,000. Adults, unlike infants, receive anesthetics (*). (See Men Circumcised as Adults.) 
     
  11. Foreskin function and size: The foreskin protects the head of the penis, enhances sexual pleasure, and facilitates intercourse. Men circumcised as adults report a significant loss of sensitivity. Men who have restored their foreskin report much increased sensitivity and sexual pleasure. The foreskin on the average adult male is about 12 sq.in. of highly erogenous tissue (*).  (See Functions of the Foreskin.)
     
  12. Jewish circumcision: A growing number of American Jews are not circumcising their sons. Circumcision among Jews in Europe, South America, and Israel also is not universal (*).   (See  Jewish Circumcision Resource Center
     
  13. American origin: Routine infant circumcision started in the U.S. in the 1870s when it was promoted as a preventive cure for masturbation (*). 
     
  14. Male attitude: Male satisfaction with circumcision depends on knowledge about circumcision. The more men know, the more likely they are to be dissatisfied. They wish they had a choice (*).  (See Why Most Circumcised Men Seem Satisfied, Psychological Impact of Circumcision on Men, and Discovering Circumcision Feelings.) 
     
  15. Who decides: The circumcision decision is made by parents and implemented by doctors who are often unaware of important facts (*). 
     
  16. Professional Protest: Some aware doctors and nurses refuse to perform or assist with circumcisions because of ethical considerations (*).  (See Circumcision, Ethics, and Medicine.) 
     


 
 
 

 
 
 
 
NOTES
  1. Wallerstein, E., “Circumcision: The Uniquely American Medial Enigma,” Urologica Clinics of North America 12 (February 1985): 123-32. 
  2. Anand, K. & Hickey, P., “Pain and Its Effects in the Human Neonate and Fetus,”New England Journal of Medicine 317 (1987): 1326; Romberg, R., Circumcision: The Painful Dilemma (South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey, 1985), 321, 325; Stang, H. et al., “Local Anesthesia for Neonatal Circumcision,” Journal of the American Medical Association 259 (1988): 1507-11. 
  3. Anand & Hickey, “Pain and Its Effects,” 1325; Taddio, A. et al., "Effects of Neonatal Circumcision on Pain Response During Subsequent Routine Vaccination," The Lancet 349 (1997): 599-603.
  4. Kaplan, G., “Complications of Circumcision,” Urological Clinics of North America 10 (1983): 543-9 
  5. American Academy of Pediatrics, Newborns: Care of the Uncircumcised Penis (pamphlet for parents), Elk Grove Village, IL: author, 1999; American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
  6. Denniston, G., “First, Do No Harm,” The Truth Seeker, July/August 1989, 35-8; American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
  7. American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
  8. American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Circumcision, "Circumcision Policy Statement," Pediatrics 103 (1999): 686-693.
  9. National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Rd., Hyattsville, MD 20782; Hammond, T., "A Preliminary Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy or Childhood," BJU International 83 (1999): 85-92.
  10. Wallerstein, E., Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy (New York: Springer Publishing, 1980), 128. 
  11. Taylor, J., Lockwood, A., & Taylor, A., “The Prepuce: Specialized Mucosa of the Penis and Its Loss to Circumcision,” British Journal of Urology 77 (1996): 294; Ritter, T. and Denniston, G., Say No To Circumcision (Aptos, CA: Hourglass, 1996), 18-1; Morgan, W., “The Rape of the Phallus,” Journal of the American Medical Association 193 (1965): 223; Bigelow, J., The Joy of Uncircumcising! (Aptos, CA: Hourglass, 1995), 17; Denniston, G., “Unnecessary Circumcision,” The Female Patient 17 (1992): 13-14. 
  12. Silverman, J., “Circumcision: The Delicate Dilemma,” The Jewish Monthly, November 1991, 31; Meyer, M., “Berit Milah within the History of the Reform Movement,” in L. Barth, ed., Berit Mila in the Reform Context (Berit Milah Board of Reform Judaism 1990), 149; Goldman, R., Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective (Boston: Vanguard Publications, 1998), 53; Karsenty, N., “A Mother Questions Brit Milla,” Humanistic Judaism 16 (Summer 1988), 21; Eichner, I., “Every Circumcision is Unnecessary,” Yediot, 6 May 1997, 23. 
  13. Kellogg, J., Plain Facts for Old and Young (Burlington, IA: F. Segner, 1888). 
  14. Hammond, T., "A Preliminary Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy or Childhood," BJU International 83 (1999): 85-92.
  15. Ritter, T. and Denniston, G., Say No to Circumcision (Aptos, CA: Hourglass Book Publishing, 1996). 
  16. Easthouse, K., “Nurses: Circumcision Consent Form Should Alert Parents to Downside,” The New Mexican, Feb. 3, 1993; Pugh, L., “Santa Fe Nurses Reject Circumcisions,” Albuquerque Journal, June 13, 1995, 1.  

 
 
 

What Some Noted Physicians Say About Circumcision


"My own preference, if I had the good fortune to have another son, would be to leave his little penis alone."
—Benjamin Spock, M.D., 
renowned pediatrican
 
". . . there are now serious concerns this routine procedure may actually deprive adult men of a vital part of their sexual sensitivity."
—Dean Edell, M.D., 
National Radio Host
 
"In this case, the old dictum 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' seems to make good sense."
—Eugene Robin, M.D., 
Stanford University Medical School
 
"In response to circumcision, the baby cries a helpless, panicky, breathless, high-pitched cry! . . . [or] lapses into a semi-coma. Both of these states . . . are abnormal states in the newborn."
—Justin Call, M.D., 
pediatrician and child psychiatrist
 
"My feeling is that it is a traumatic experience and I am opposed to traumatizing the baby. I'm also opposed to inflicting an operation on an individual without his permission."
—Howard Marchbanks, M.D., 
Family Practitioner
 
"The risks of newborn circumcision are an underreported and ignored factor in this argument. Most often a poor surgical result is not recognized until years after the event."
—James Snyder, M.D., urologist 
past president of the Virginia Urologic Society
 


 
 
 
© Circumcision Resource Center
 

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