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In reply to the discussion: CDC: Circumcision Benefits Outweigh Risks [View all]FunkyLeprechaun
(2,383 posts)I did most of my education in the US, all education up to my undergraduate degree (BA) was undertaken in the US. I actually thought circumcision was a normal thing, as I grew up in the midwest, and was taught sex ed of penises without the foreskin.
Until I met my now husband (who is uncircumcised and from Britain)- we talked about our education etc, he was astonished to know that I got my sex ed mainly from 10th grade (I got my sex ed at the age of 16 in school, 8 years old at home (my Irish parents decided it was time that we learned about sex and gave us a book to read) and he added that HE got sex ed when he was 10 years old.
I thought it was a totally normal thing and actually wondered why my hubby's penis was different to the images I saw in the books. That was when I learned about foreskin and wondered why parents would do such a thing to their sons.
I also know, being a child from a medical family and often had access to those books, that there's no American medical textbooks that teach about the care of foreskins, as far as I know. Doctors are taught in US medical schools to care for a circumcised penis and not an uncircumcised penis whereas in EU it's almost the opposite (they're taught how to care for BOTH). There are many doctors in the US who do not know how to care for an intact penis that parents, who choose to leave their children uncircumcised, have begun to seek out intact-friendly doctors (the list can been seen here: http://www.thewholenetwork.org/intact-friendly-doctors).
I have said before that the infant's foreskin is fused to the glans penis like our fingernails are fused to our nail beds and don't naturally retract until they are much older (10 to 20 years old)- doctors who don't know how to care for the intact penis actually forcibly retract the foreskin, tearing the head of the penis and creating wounds which, eventually, lead to UTIs for that uncircumcised child.
I don't mind if an adult male has to make a decision to have a circumcision. I feel like he had a choice in the matter and we don't give children that choice.
I base my position of being a child of immigrant parents, who were quite open about talking about these issues with us and often voiced their positions on these issues.
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