The Genital Mutilation Thread

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Originally Posted by SuperFemme

I think as mothers we are pretty much forced/shamed into complying with doing the circumcision on our male babies in the hospital. It's not like the OB/GYN discusses it with you during pregnancy.

I agree. This was basically my experience. It was never raised or discussed in terms of health pros or cons by anyone prior to my giving birth. Once it was discussed I was in the immediate aftermath of labor (I did not know ahead of time that I was having a boy). I signed the papers. It seemed like the "normal" thing to do. I remember being told it was "healthier," I remember my mother saying, "all Jewish boys are circumcised," and my husband, who was not Jewish, was also circumcised and he wanted our son to be as well. (Yes, he did want the baby to "look like him," I distinctly remember that part of the conversation").

What bothers me the most when I think back on it was that I was not present when it was done. Because I was not religious, I did not have a Bris at home. It was done in the hospital while I was still in recovery. I hate that I wasn't there with my baby and that he went through that alone.

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