o circumcise or not to circumcise? If you have a little boy on the way, you’re bound to be thinking about whether to have the foreskin on your son’s penis removed, or whether to leave it intact. And as experts point out, there are plenty of reasons to consider your decision carefully. With both “pro” and “con” camps making convincing arguments, most new parents admit to feeling confused about whether to circumcise their baby boys, or just opt out. We asked a few experts weigh in on what you need to know - from both sides of the table:
The History of Circumcision According to historians, male circumcision was performed as far back as ancient Egypt. The reasons it began are as varied as they are unusual - from a male’s “rite of passage," to cultural and religious practices to hygiene and/or health concerns.
Fast forward to modern day times and Dr. George Steinhardt, a urologist at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, says the biggest reasons parents opt to circumcise their boys in the United States are still religious and cultural. “I think it’s done primarily for cultural reasons,” he explains.
From a Medical Point of View The biggest question amongst medical professionals today is whether or not the procedure is medically necessary.
“[Circumcision] does make it easier to keep the penis clean and decreases the incidence of infection, [and] let's face it, boys aren't the cleanest of genders. But since we [now] have antibiotics, even if the foreskin or penis does get infected, it is not as big of a deal as it used to be,” says Dr. Anthony Chin, a Los Angeles-based obstetrician (and The Cradle advisory board member). “Before antibiotics, people got really sick, but now in the post antibiotic era, circumcisions are not ‘medically’ necessary anymore.”
Dr. Mark Reiss, a retired physician and executive vice president of the nonprofit organization, Doctors Opposing Circumcision, believes that “there is no medical reason to circumcise. There is no medical organization in the world that advocates circumcision. The penis is meant to be covered by the foreskin. The normal state is intact. The U.S. is the only country in the world that performs routine circumcisions.”
Yet, other experts are quick to point out that while it may not be medically necessary, there are valid reasons to consider the procedure. Steinhardt explains: “We see a lot of babies with kidney problems,” notes Steinhardt. “For those boys, I would recommend that a circumcision be done. It protects against the possibility of an infection.”
In particular, when his patients are diagnosed with a condition called fetal hydronephrosis, or dilated kidneys (which is more common in boys than girls) he almost always believes that circumcision is necessary to alleviate the risk of infection and other complications.
In addition, Steinhardt adds that circumcision may have other serious benefits. “There’s a lot of concern in Sub-Saharan Africa that foreskin contributes to [transmitting] HIV,” he says.
While the disease statistics of developing nations are not comparable to those in the United States, he believes the research is convincing. “It does look like the foreskin causes more transmission of STDs,” he continues.
“There’s valid scientific evidence that HIV is more likely in a man with foreskin than in a man without foreskin.” In addition, penile cancer - while only a small risk - is always a concern for males. But, Steinhardt says, “you rarely see cancer of the penis in a man who has been circumcised.”
