Should I circumcize my son?

[SuperSneak]

Whoopee! Asher, you have too much time on your hands.
If and when you have a child, and actually talk to a medical professional in person, rather than basing your opinions on Internet studies (which I only supplied to support my argument) you may find that even the slimmest of chances at saving your child from disease and or death is enough justification.
Until you have a child, you have no idea how difficult it is to make such decisions. But even you must admit that with no definitive proof either way, a person may be logically inclined to err on the side of conservatism.
Someday I may be proven wrong--but until that day, I sleep well at night.

And using condoms is only a preventative, not a cure, as I can attest that condoms often break.

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
And using condoms is only a preventative, not a cure, as I can attest that condoms often break.

Well, I'm sure condoms are still a much better preventative measure than being circumcized.

[Asher]

Sneak...

I appreciate how you're trying to belittle the evidence piled infront of you, but:

When all 28 known publications of HIV and circumcision correlations are compiled together, the end result is a "significant increased" succeptability to HIV in circumcised men. There is the odd study that claims otherwise, and that's what pro-circumcision people jump to all the time for support, but there's more evidence against it in the medical community.

What does this have to do with me not having a kid? You and blackice really should stop using those types of arguments, they're stupid as hell...

[SuperSneak]

How about the fact that our OBGYN suggested it strongly, as in her opinion the evidence was inconclusive enough to warrant caution?
I suppose you know more about babies than a woman who has delivered hundreds of them, eh?
Is there no end to your magnificent supply of wisdom?

[MikeH]

Yeah, well having a slight layer of natural protection that may or may not help prevent HIV is hardly something to rely on anyway.

If I had a child I'd be very, very wary about having any kind of operation done on them. Especially an unecessary one. They could always get done when they are older and can have anaesthetic before they become sexually active.

[Boris Godunov]

SS--It wasn't an Internet study, it was a medical study that happens to be posted on the internet.

How is loping off the foreskin erring on the side of conservatism? You're not conserving anything. And if, as this study shows, you've actually increased the risk of HIV transmission for the kid, what will have been accomplished then?

I guarantee you that using condoms is a far more effective preventative than circumcision.

[Asher]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
How about the fact that our OBGYN suggested it strongly, as in her opinion the evidence was inconclusive enough to warrant caution?

An OBGYN is not a pediatrician, and the American Pediatric Society recommends against circumcision...so...

[SuperSneak]

Did you read the article? There were at least four reasons cited for increased risk in the uncircumcised. I thought it was very balanced, personally.

I'm not saying it is the only way, just a possible additional insurance against disease. That and the professional opinion of a medical worker who has vastly more pertinent insight than your average teenaged web surfer is enough for me.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
How about the fact that our OBGYN suggested it strongly, as in her opinion the evidence was inconclusive enough to warrant caution?
I suppose you know more about babies than a woman who has delivered hundreds of them, eh?
Is there no end to your magnificent supply of wisdom?

Anyone knows that when a doctor recommends a surgical procedure, you immediately get a second opinion. I'd do it for myself, you'd be sure as hell I'd do it for my kid. Being an OBGYN doesn't make one infallible. Many doctors get caught up in relying on outdated data, and with the incredible rate at which information changes these days, particularly with HIV transmission, it is always likely a doctor may be relying on outdated information.

[SuperSneak]

You are such a hair splitter, Asher. It really makes me sick sometimes.
You're one of those people who can never be wrong, and, in my opinion, is therefore always wrong.

I have peppered most of my replies with an admission that I recognize both sides...you never do.

[Asher]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
Did you read the article? There were at least four reasons cited for increased risk in the uncircumcised. I thought it was very balanced, personally.

So I guess the majority of the studies on the same issues are false?

I can find multiple reports talking about how the studies saying uncut men are more at risk are poorly done, but I can't find any trashing the ones saying cut men are more at risk.

Am I missing something?

[SuperSneak]

Hate to break it to you guys, but the last person I'm going to entrust my son's future penile health to is a gay man.

[Asher]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
You are such a hair splitter, Asher. It really makes me sick sometimes.
You're one of those people who can never be wrong, and, in my opinion, is therefore always wrong.

And you're a car salesman. This isn't a light issue, you should be splitting hairs on it too. Only a moron wouldn't...

I have peppered most of my replies with an admission that I recognize both sides...you never do.

You have done no such thing.
And I frequently stradle both sides of many issues, just not on this one.

I've done my research, my parents talked to doctors about it when I was born, there is overwhelming medical evidence debunking the need for circumcision, there is overwhelming evidence from the American Pediatric Society, the government of Canada, and in fact most of the world stating circumcision is not needed.

Yet your wife's OBGYN (what the hell is the OBGYN doing tell your wife anything about a newborn son after birth?) says circumcision prevents HIV, and you jump for it without thinking.

You should be splitting hairs too, Sneak. It's your kid, FFS...

[SuperSneak]

Oh, brother...let's just say I did it because I'm a right wing Catholic, ok?

[Sten Sture]

Our pediatrician is Jewish and we are alpha WASPy, when we asked if he recommended circumcision, he said "not unless you are worried about being kosher"

oh, and it is the "American Acadamy of Pediatrics" www.aap.org