Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

I had a daughter so I, luckily, didn't have to make this decision. But, we didn't find out what we were having until the day of so we asked around about it and I shockingly found out that my father was not circumcised at birth. He started having major medical issues in his 40s and had to have it done then. He said he'd way rather it had happened when he was a baby and wouldn't remember because he said the recovery (at his age) was amazingly difficult.

With all of that said, I can still say that I'm confused about what I would do if I had a boy.

Good luck.

Well, here are a few links debunking the Male Circumcision and the HIV/AIDS Myth:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-...

http://www.circumstitions.com/HIV....

http://www.coloradonocirc.org/hiv.php

A new link: Ethics of circumcision, just newly updated September 2009 by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, in Canada:

https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/u6/Circ...

All 3 of my boys have circumcisions, I think it's a personal choice...we all make decisions as parents and I thought it was best for my boys, I don't think anyone can judge a right and wrong on this issue. I agree with both sides, if you son has it done thats great..if you son doesn't have it done that's great too...it's a personal choice.

Just curious now - if you had this done recently, how do they do it?
I've heard horror stories from the past and I've got that picture of the little newborn strapped down stuck in my head and am hoping you can tell me that you don't do that anymore...

Do they use a general anaesthetic?
Or a local injection (or cream or something) then they strap the baby down to immobilize it?
Or do you just hold the baby and soothe him while they do it?
How long does it take?
Do they use scissors or a scalpel or something else?
Do you discuss how much skin they're going to cut off?
Do they get paracetamol or something to take while it heals?

Sorry for all the questions but it's not done routinely in the UK and I thought it sounded really barbaric to start off with but so many of you seem to be in favour of doing it - I'm curious!
Thanks.

An adult circumcised male has decided to sue the md who cut him as an infant in London, England, saying that it is genital mutilation:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/11/17/snip-op-illegal-115875-21828059/

I had my son circumcised when he was 4 days old.
I didn't watch it because I knew it would break my heart, but I did hear him put up QUITE a fuss which as it turned out was not from the circumcision (they numbed it first) but was because he was being held down to have it done. Once he came out he was a fine little newborn (= At first I was pretty mad at my boyfriend for wanting to get it done because I didn't like hearing him cry, but one of the nurses made a really good point she said that if the parents wanted to get it done, when they were newborns were the perfect time because it was over in just a second and then the baby pretty much forgot about it. But once he would have gotten older it would have been a lot more painful and uncomfortable.

It was a personal decision, and I'm happy I did it now. At the time i was upset because he was crying and there was nothing i could do to help him. But it healed really quick (in a week) and we never had any trouble out of it.