circumcision?

Parents, If you might be faced with this decision, and your faith does not tell you how to proceed, please do some research. Just go to Google or Yahoo and type in "routine infant male circum..." (with the whole word) to read the pros/cons, areas of the world where this is practiced, religious and cultural traditions, etc. Good luck with this decision. Rebecca

I just want to say that it is a choice that must be made by the parents, unless it is part of your religion. I also made some inquiries when adopting my son. However i posted the question to list serve goup that I belong to and was lucky enough to receive alot of well thought out responses - both pro and con. Now, my son was not circumcised when I brought him home. I am a single parent of a Christian faith. So, my faith didn't play into my decision. I had many, many people tell me that I should have it done. And I truly considered it. But, I've read of female circumcision (which is also cultural and religious in some countries) and I am truly against that, so I couldn't help but think the same way towards male circumcision. But I still remained open to it. So when I visited my ped. with my son the first time, I asked about it. Thankfully, she was great. She asked what I thought. I've heard of other people docs trying to influence their decision. Anyway, she gave my son the once over, told me that there was no sign of infection, his penis looked healthy and that if I wanted to do it, she told me what would be involved. That would be a pediatric urologist, anesthesia, surgery and possibly a hospital stay along with all of the other risks that come with being under anesthesia. I couldn't bring myself to put my 3 year old son through this. I researched and reviewed tons of info, tons of opinions and it came down to me being the one to make the decision. It is up to you and your husband, if you have one. (as I mentioned, I do not) Research, listen and go with your gut. Just a word of caution . . . there a fanatics on both sides of this issue, trust me, I've run into a few - cut them off. If these people are going try to make a point to you by bashing someone else's opinion, you don't need to hear what they have to say. I'm not saying this to offend anyone. I haven't read anything here that I would call a fanatic.

Kim, I am deleting your posts because my decision to ban a member is not open for discussion. If you would like to discuss the mater in private, feel free to contact me OFF SITE via my email address. I have discussed this issue with the member, and given her appropriate means in which to lodge a complaint against me, should she feel it is her God given right to post URLs do such disgusting websites in a public forum where members under the age of consent often post. Again, feel free to contact me via private message, or email BrandyHagz@comcast.net

Our adopted son is from Panama and wasn't circumcised. It wasn't an issue with us about whether he "looked like Daddy" or not. (Daddy happens to be 6'5", dark hair, fair skinned and blue-eyed.) It was for medical reasons, that I won't get into now. Let's just say, it was extremely painful for him and if there wasn't a medical reason, we would have NEVER had it done. The poor little guy would scream and scream everytime he used the bathroom or we would change his diaper. It was horrible. We have legal custody of a relatives child now and he's not circumcised. We won't be having it done unless medically necessary.

I had my son circumcised just about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I won't go into why, as it is a personal decision each parent should make. His stitches have all come out, and he is doing just fine. He never had any pain. We had the surgery at 7:30am one morning and by 6pm that night, he was up playing, and back to his normal self. The doctor gave us some pain medicine that kept him from having any pain at all, and it also did not seem to slow him down. He is 18 months old. It was day surgery. We went in 6am, and were home by 1pm. He had a small bandage for a couple of days, and then it fell off. For about 7 days, he had stitches, and they have since come out. So, my point it, in my experience with my son, everything went perfectly fine, and he is ok.

...Female "Circumcision" is not exactly an accurate analogy for that so called "religious or cultural act". No matter how popular or acceptable the expression "Female "Circumcision" has become for the act of removal of a women's organs, it is not analagous to Male Circumcision which is removal of the foreskin leaving the sexual organ intact. Female circumcision is mutilation, removing the sexual organ of the women, NOT the hood (equivalent to the foreskin) that covers it! If this was truly a circumcision then the organ would be more EXposed NOT EXcised!!! This act is to render a women asexual to keep them subservient to men, and Castration is more of an accurate description of what those women endure. In circumcision, I do not believe the end of the means is ever degradation, or emotional and physical oppression of the male circumcised. Which cannot be said for Female Castration going by the name of Female circumcision by most of the populace! My desire is that women start calling it by what it truly is, Female Castration not circumcision. Then perhaps the rest of the world would take notice. Using those 2 as a comparison, in an attempt to defend your right not to circumcise is, rediculous, they are not even on the same page. You know what? Yes Jews circumcise, Jesus was circumcised. In my opinion...That's good enough for me! Love & Light, Tee

Dear Tee, I have reported your post to the moderator, because it is obvious that you are just trying to stir the pot here on the Panama forum. This has been a dead issue for quite a while on our board. And since most of us have waited on an adoption referral for up to a year or more, we don't have the energy or patience to debate this with you. If you are trying to adopt from Panama, you are welcome to stay. Otherwise, please don't infect our forum with your hostility. Thank you, Rebecca

Rebecca then Tee, Rebecca, Tee has said nothing to cause anger or said anything rude to anyone. She merely compared the terminology used by some to an extreme viewpoint. You are free to disagree, but there is nothing wrong with posting on an "old" thread with a differing viewpoint. Just unsubscribe from the thread if it bothers you so much. Tee, Actually, there are still women that do consider female circumcision sacred. These are women and girls who are well aware of the risks because generations of women gather around to celebrate the event. Even women who have lived in the US for years do still go home to be circumcized. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, just pointing out that women of cultures who are circumcized consider it sacred. To each their own.

Rebecca I was not trying to stir the pot...I was not even aware that it was a "dead issue" I have been posting on this forum for awhile and we still have not decided what type of adoption we will persue. We are getting closer, and considering international adoption. A friend recently asked "what about circumcision?" I googled a search on it and this page came up, and I posted. I did not feel I needed to check the date. [quote] we don't have the energy or patience to debate this with you. If you are trying to adopt from Panama, you are welcome to stay. Otherwise, please don't infect our forum with your hostility. Infecting "your" forum? Are you referring to The Adoption Forum or Panama? People post all over this forum in many different threads, because their hearts were tugged by a post and they were motivated to join. Adoptees post to Aparents, Bmothers post to Adoptees, Fparents post to Aparents, on numerous subjects. I have never heard anyone on this adoption forum telling someone else their answer was not welcomed, because they were not adopting from the same place!?! Thank you for reminding me to keep my hostility in check! Kiwi, Thank you and I do stand corrected. I knew someone who went through this against her will and suffered nothing but trauma. It had long term effects on her and she escaped from her situation. And had to lose her entire family to do so. This was my point of reference on this topic. I had no idea there were women looking forward to this as sacred and a celebration, with peace of mind. If that is the case, I also say "to each his own". Thank for enlightening me. Love & Light, Tee

It was a shock to me too! In an anthropology class, there was a section about female circumcision and women's rights, there was a small mention of women who are proud to have been circumcized. It was then that a very quiet women from Sudan spoke up and said that all of her sisters and aunts were and disowned her for refusing. Many of them lived in the states too! Talk about a new perspective on the issue! I will agree with you that for the most part, young girls are forced and it causes horrible complications since most do not have the means to go to a hospital. There have been other (male)circumcision threads on the Russian adoption boards, maybe those will be more friendly for you!

Dear Tee, Thank you for bringing me back to reality and for reminding me that freedom of information (and speech) is a lot more important than having our feathers ruffled on occasion. I think the thing that irked me is that the last time this issue came up, I posted a link to a site that discussed the history of circumcision in our country and I was banned (and Kiwi wouldn't overturn my banning--my old username is "Reb621"). Since then the former moderator, BrandyHagz, and I have reconciled, but I guess Kiwi didn't know that. So I didn't want us to get started down that whole road again. As a note, it was a non-Panama-adopting family that reported my post (from 6 months ago) to the moderator, so you can see that I'm a little wary of people coming to the Panama board and posting their views on things like this out of the blue and the mayhem that can ensue afterwards. I do agree that this is an important topic, but it can too quickly get out of control. (And I also agree with you on the topic of FGM!) Anyway, if you are thinking of adopting from Panama, you should be aware that things have been pretty much "dead" there for a year or so. But some agencies are telling their families that things SHOULD start to look up "soon" meaning referrals for children might start coming. We're hoping so at least. Rebecca

For the record, Im not a former moderator; IҒm still the moderator :) And, if I can remember back that farthe post was never reported, I happened to see it when I was reading the forums, it violated the ToS, thus resulting in a ban. I also want to clear up that no one has been banned for posting informational sites about circumcisionŅunless the sites primary focus was pornographywhich was the case in this matter.

Hi, Brandy! Again, I really don't want to get into it again, but I want everyone to know that I did NOT know about the original site that the page I posted was linked to. (Just clearing that up for anyone who thinks I'm some sort of porn hustler!) Thanks for allowing me to clarify! (I thought that since Kiwi responded, that you must not be moderating the Panama board anymore. Sorry for the assumption.) Rebecca

We all kind of float ;) There's a list on the main page of adoptionforums.com of "site leaders" if you ever need to know who's a moderator, admin, etc.

Ack! No no...you arent a porn hustler :) Sorry if I sounded that way!