OBGYN chooses intactness for her own boys
February 23, 2009 Circumcision
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Dr. Angela Chaudhari, an assistant professor in the University of Utah School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and has “performed circumcisions,” declined to have her own sons circumcised, despite the claimed *benefits*, explaining that,
it’s just pretty tearful. They cry a lot and you need to strap them down.
What do you mean? They’re just crying because they’re cold, and they just like to be held!
I don’t really mean to condemn her. The woman clearly isn’t promoting this procedure to patients, and it takes guts to speak out.
23 comments
“It takes guts to speak out”? News to me. Nobody on this blog seems to have much compunction about comparing circumcision to amateur clitoridectomies.
Does she plan to get her kid tested for PKU sensitivity? Personally, I nearly fainted. The nurse has to get enough blood to cover a relatively large dot on a card, and this is obtained by sticking the baby in the foot, over and over until the spot is covered, while tha baby is held down and screams.
Mr Siegel, I think the huge difference is that, while neither might be a necessary procedure, knowing about a child’s inclination to PKU sensitivity helps to keep it from turning pathologically insane by the simple means of adjusted nutrition during its infant years. The health benefits of male circumcision are still highly debated. I know Muslims here usually have their boys circumcised when they are a few years old; the procedure’s carried out by urologists / surgeons, and anaesthetics are used.
PKU testing is done to all babies in the Western world as part of routine public health care because 1) the test is cheap and can be conveniently done in a clinic setting, and 2) the consequences of not testing for phenylketoneuria are, as you say, grave and entirely preventable.
There’s never any pre-test screening to investigate “a child’s inclination to PKU sensitivity”, because such pre-screening would be more time-consuming and costly than the test itself. It’s a good idea, and I wouldn’t skip it, although yes, it IS traumatic for the baby.
Personally, I’ve performed PKU testing scores of times, and I do it a heck of a lot better than the baby clinic nurse who performed it on my own son. But it’s a lot more unpleasant and traumatic than most IV insertions, and it often takes longer to perform than a classic brit mila.
DK has a bug in his bonnet (or maybe somewhere else) regrding circumcision.
Mr Siegel, I was going to buy DK a foreskin restorer…
http://cgi.ebay.com/Undo-Circu.....dZViewItem
Or a fancyshmancy one: http://www.myskinclamp.com/
Sarah,
Please don’t.
PKU testing is done to all babies in the Western world…
Then that’s different from how the Western world treats genital cutting on healthy infants.
In Germany, inclination screening is part of pre-birth routine, but that’s probably because health insurances here cover more extensive matters that aren’t really necessary, e.g. fancy ways of giving birth (e.g. underwater), midwife-care months prior and past giving birth, a housekeeper during the time of a mother’s absence and for longer should there be complications etc.
HS, those devices look like torture instruments to me…
HS, those devices look like torture instruments to me…
And what do the circumcising instruments look like?
They look like those 9.99 metal bookmarks you can get at greeting card stores. Still, I wouldn’t want my bf to torture himself to try to “restore” (rather “replace”) something that’s been gone for quite some time. But I do believe that any clinically unnecessary treatment should be left to adults to decide on (I’d ban ear piercings on toddlers, too, for that matter).
“I’d ban ear piercings on toddlers, too, for that matter”
A legitimate point of argument when discussing this issue. I myself am unpierced.
I don’t have earpiercings either. I used to wear other kinds of body jewellery years ago.
Sarah–Owww! I also kind of wonder about the term “intact” as regards uncircumcised males. It’s not as though anyone BORN without a foreskin would realistically consider “reconstructive surgery. I mean, it’s not like hypospadias, where the hole is off-center, which can effect everything from sexual capability to fertility to the ability to urinate standing up, like the rest of the guys.
Sort of laughable, also, this quasi-epistomological musing about whether or not the man who has only had circumcised sex can really KNOW if he’s enjoying himself or not. Kind of like Zippy the Pinhead (you should excuse the expression), “Am I having fun yet?”
Generally speaking though, in the Western world, infant circumcision should be a religious, not a public health choice. And brit mila is kind of a big thing for us Jews. Labelling it as “cruel” or “mutilatory” across the board comes across as antisemitic, as does blanket condemnation of kosher slaughter.
If non-Jews don’t want to circumcise their sons, fine. But infant circumcision isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a kid, Neither is not circumcising some kind of magic protection against your child ever experiencing any kind of pain, which some of you sentimentalists seem to assume.
“Sarah/froylein { 02.23.09 at 11:37 am } I don’t have earpiercings either. I used to wear other kinds of body jewellery years ago.”
In any case, don’t pierce your tongue. If it gets infected, the circulation is close to the brain and complications can easily be fatal.
Labelling it as “cruel” or “mutilatory” across the board comes across as antisemitic
Exactly what tribal promoters of FGM claim. I am willing to concede there are cultural overtones and judgements sometimes in these discussions. That does not invalidate the arguments, however. We can’t cry “anti-semitism” because a ritual is questioned. We should try to stay rational, because these questions will at best only be temporarily dispelled when we cry victim.
Mr Siegel, as someone who has been intimate with both, circumcised and non-circumcised men, I can say that circumcision does not impact sexual performance.
I wouldn’t call a demand for a ban on infant circumcision anti-Semitic if the motivation is to prevent pain (you cannot always prevent a child from injuring itself, but responsible parents take measures to minimize the risk); if the motivation is that it shouldn’t be done because Jews / Muslims do it, then it’s racist. Theologically, confirming a covenant in blood is a type of sacrifice. This would make circumcision just as debatable as kaparot sacrifices.
No worries, tongue piercings have never appealed to me. For one, I’ve never met a person with a pierced tongue that didn’t get some form of speech impediment from it, which is something I’ve got no use for in my profession.
“Generally speaking though, in the Western world, infant circumcision should be a religious, not a public health choice.”
Since circumcision is both a medical and religious procedure/ritual, it certainly should be both a public health choice and religious choice.
“Labelling it as “cruel” or “mutilatory” across the board comes across as antisemitic”
Only to someone looking to be offended. Jews can’t pull that trick with every stinking issue. Not every issue of contention between the outside world and the Jews is begun because of anti-Semitism. I’m willing to concede that much anti-Israel sentiment is caused by double standards and anti-Semitism. But ADL types would be better served by only conjuring that explanation when it actually applies.
Please. The ADL wastes its time trying to pasken Catholic theology. I am waiting for them to express concern regarding how many angels that can dance on the head of a pin are Jewish.
It’s a biological fact; males cannot reproduce without achieving orgasm, although females can. Doing unpleasant things to the ladies seems inconsiderate as well as counterproductive.
You know, babies cry and have to be held down when you give them immunization shots, too – not to mention overloading a child’s immune system with a dozen lethal diseases in a single day resulting in a massive autoimmune malfunction is the most likely cause of autism and other developmental disorders. Does that mean we should now skip those, too? You need to be consistent.
Ahavah, I think the doctor was alluding to more problematic issues. But she is an employed OBGYN, and needs to tread carefully.
“Ahavah, I think the doctor was alluding to more problematic issues. But she is an employed OBGYN, and needs to tread carefully.”
An OBGYN, huh? A big expert on doing circumcisions? Remind me to call a urologist for my next C-section.
Sarah: “I can say that circumcision does not impact sexual performance.”
Bullshit – the head (glans) of circumcised penises become keratinized over time because of constant rubbing against clothing, and thus the glans becomes MUCH less sensitive which impacts sexual sensation and performance; conversely, the glans of uncircumcised penis is protected by the foreskin and remains much more sensitive throughout a man’s lifetime. The foreskin also contains thousands of nerve endings.
“Am I having fun yet?”–Zippy the Pinhead
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