Circumcision harm

Circumcision and The Infection Myth

We've all heard this line before- "A circumcised boy won't get infections."

I come to you this morning to discuss the aura of medical authority being used as a smoke screen by supporters of Routine Infant Circumcision. Undoubtedly, we've heard many a reason why circumcision is beneficial. "It's more esthetically pleasing." Parents can usually shrug off an excuse like this if they're unsure about circumcising their son. "It's more hygienic." At this point, some parents may be irked into considering it, but others may still be on the fence because they can teach hygiene. "It prevents infections." Boom. To any parent who hasn't done the proper research, this false promise of better health will win them to the side of circumcision.

I am here to dispel what is probably the most prevalent medical lie. Read more . . .

Fixing my skin bridge

Click to Enlarge
My skin bridge on the dorsal side between my foreskin and glans

I would like to share with you all my recent experience in having my skin bridge (a piece of skin from my foreskin attached to my glans penis) removed. My hope is that this information may help answer some questions others may have about correcting a skin bridge.

About me

I am a 36 year old male from Melbourne, Australia. For many years I have been living with a bit of my foreskin attached to the glans (head /knob) of my penis. The foreskin covered a larger portion of the left side of my glans.

I didn’t really know why I have a skin bridge. I did not even have any idea what it was called, until I came across this website, which has been my inspiration to have the problem rectified.

I have learnt that at birth all foreskins are adhered (stuck) to the glans of the penis and after a period of time the foreskin slowly detaches itself away from the glans.

Skin bridges mostly occur after circumcision when two ‘raw’ skin surfaces adhere (stick) together. But I am uncircumcised (uncut or, more correctly, intact). My skin bridge is not a result of a botched circumcision. My skin bridge likely occurred when my foreskin was trying to detach itself from the glans. Perhaps it happened due to a forced retraction when I was an infant and the detached skin reattached itself, permanently. Read more . . .

A woman's point of view of intact and circumcised men

Foreskin: Nature's ViagraAs a woman who has embraced her right to pleasure as a sexual being, I have had experience with both cut and intact men. I always thought that neonatal circumcision was wrong as a form of male genital mutilation. A person should be able to choose permanent changes made to their body. In practice with partners, however, I had not given any thought about circumcision status for the first several years I was sexually active.

From an aesthetic point of view, there is not much difference to me between a cut or intact penis when erect. The glans is typically fully exposed by that point. A flaccid penis is a different story--I prefer the appearance of an intact penis when it's flaccid. A flaccid circumcised penis, to me, appears too much like a child's penis. You certainly don't want to think of changing a toddler's underpants when you're looking at your partner. It's only been recently that I have grown to appreciate the appearance of the glans itself; the smooth sheen of an intact man's glans is far more inviting than the standard skin texture of a circumcised man's, much the same way as men are attracted to the pinker color of a woman's vulva.

During oral sex, I have always noticed a difference between circumcised and intact. An intact man always responds more to oral stimulation than a circumcised man in my experience. Using my hands for added stimulation is easier with an intact man. The smoothness of the glans also made it easier for me to perform deeper oral penetration ("deep throating") without gagging. I have brought intact men to orgasm far more often than circumcised men. Read more . . .

Memories of my infant circumcision

Circumstraint restrains a baby as the most sensitive part of his body is cut"Babies can’t feel pain. And even if he does feel pain, he won’t remember it anyway!" A rather heartless justification for causing pain to your son.

My memories of circumcision:

Although I was raised in a family that didn’t talk about sex, or our bodies, and even used made up words to talk about bathroom behaviors and body parts, I had questions. I was very young when I started asking my mom about my penis. Of course nobody had ever mentioned it, but I knew that I had been "CUT" down there. I actually believed at the time that the doctor had carved the groove behind my glans (what I now know as the sulcus). I wasn’t sure what had been done, but I knew it had been an act of cutting. I knew I had been hurt. I learned later that I was missing something. I was missing something important.

I was in college when I had my first intact boyfriend; it was then that I figured out what, exactly, I was missing. When I first saw him without clothes, I was excited to see what a “normal” penis looked like—the way they’re supposed to be. What I didn’t expect to see is how he got pleasure from things that would have had no effect upon my scarred, diminished penis. Compared to him, I had to go to extremes to get even a little pleasure. I knew I had been robbed . . . I just hadn’t realized the extent and value of what had been taken.

This wasn’t my first knowledge of the intact penis. I learned about the intact penis and foreskin in school and had already developed the intactivist spirit. But it was my first "hands-on" experience with one. Read more . . .

What happened to my penis?

What happened to my penis? I'm circumcised?I just found a great blog called What I'm Missing. The author kurt_t has a lot to say about circumcision and he says it well. He tells his circumcision story from the beginning, with each blog post adding to the story of his journey. The posts remind me of story teller Jean Shepard, but Kurt should not give up his day job, yet.

My first hint that something was missing came about age nine or ten. Some grown up or another had given my friend John a new Slip 'N Slide for his birthday. He and I and our friend Michael were changing into our swimsuits in John's bedroom preparatory to slipping and sliding on this most coveted Wham-O product when one or the other of them (I forget which one.) said to me "What happened to your penis?"
 
I bent forward and looked down. "What do you mean what happened to my penis? It looks just it always does."
 
"What happened to the cover?" John-or-Michael said.
 
"The what?" I said. I straightened up and looked at John. Then I looked at Michael. And I don't mean in the eye.
 
Well, whaddya know? My penis looked like a little mushroom with a little brown stripe around it. And their penises looked like ...

A Distressing Journey of Self Discovery

Infant circumcision affects the man the baby grows up to beNeonatal Experience

The day after I was born in a New Zealand St. Helen’s Maternity Hospital I was sexually assaulted, as was the custom in those days. A doctor cut off part of my penis. This was probably done without anaesthetic or pain suppressants. My first sexual experience was pain and humiliation. The doctor used forceps to rip the foreskin from the glans, leaving it red and raw. Next he used scissors to cut off both layers of the foreskin, trimming off as much of the moist internal mucosa as possible. This removed the ridged band and most of the frenulum – both major sources of male sexual pleasure. I know he put in a stitch to stop any bleeding from the frenular artery, because the stitch tunnel can be clearly seen even today.

This act of genital mutilation was probably carried out well away from my mother so she could not hear my screams. Perhaps I went into shock fairly quickly and stopped crying. This violent introduction of the world was soon lost to my conscious awareness, although the effect of this so-called harmless procedure was to have long lasting consequences that even now haunt me several times each day.

Forced non-therapeutic circumcision of male babies was nearly universal in New Zealand in the 1940s. Many doctors pushed it for the money; others just went along with the medical folklore of the period. In my case the doctor appears to have convinced my mother that the procedure was necessary in case her son was ever to fight in a desert war where the sand would be an irritant to intact genitals. She may have felt she was doing the best for her son and of course the doctor got his fee. Read more . . .

Growing up circumcised and restoring to undo some of the damage

Michelangelo's statue of David at the Galleria dell'Accademia in FlorenceI was "circumcised" the day I was born, like most. Next to the words "reason to operate" were the hand written words "live birth". Since when is "live birth" a disease? My mother claims that she does not remember signing a consent form, so I assume they forged her signature.

Like most men, I was not aware of what was missing while growing up. When I noticed the drawings of Greco-Roman nudes and statues, I asked my mother "Why didn't they finish drawing it?" I guess she explained this to me, but I have no audible memory of her words. I was trying to figure out what she was saying, and was thoroughly confused.

When mother told me that I could be drafted one day, I told her I would cut my penis off She replied "You will bleed to death." I hadn't bled to death from the scar they gave me, and could not figure out how they did this. I was glad I did not have to do it again, but was instinctively curious.

When I grew older, in the back of my mind, I was always curious as to what that foreskin thing was all about. I had mixed and confused feelings, but knew that I wish I had been consulted. Assuming my Dad was cut, I was surprised to find out that he was not circumcised when he told me 35 years later. I grew up in a family that did not support nudity as anything good, so much so that when I went to life drawing classes, I was mortified. That mortification was intensified when I first witnessed a "circumcision." Read more . . .

I'll take mine INTACT, please!

Lemons, ready for lemonadeTrying my best to make lemonade out of the lemons that have been handed to me has been challenging. As a 25-year-old woman I feel that I’ve had sex with more than my fair share of men. I stopped counting after 50 (but not much more than that), hence the metaphor above. Most of my experiences can be attributed to a lack of self-respect and the inability to tell someone "NO." I did gain control over my life as I got older though. The last 5-6 years of my life have been more "stable."

In making the "lemonade" out of my life, I have observed several alarming trends among nearly all of the circumcised males I have had intercourse with. I have also noticed a great difference between circumcised men and intact men regarding sexual experience and satisfaction. Overall I have found that vaginal intercourse with intact men was more pleasant and satisfying. Read more . . .

Women overwhelmingly prefer sex with a man who has a foreskin

Is he intact or circumcised in those pants?Men restoring their foreskin often wonder how women will react to their foreskin. Most men in the United States who are sexually active are circumcised. That means most women who are sexually active in the US are used to circumcised men.

But, there are some lucky guys out there who have their whole sex organ, that is, they are intact, uncut, and uncircumcised. Women who have encountered these intact, uncut, and uncircumcised men have been favorably impressed. Some of them are so taken with sex with a man having an intact penis that they blogged about it. Below are links to those blogs.

One thing to consider is that foreskins come in all sizes. Likewise, circumcisions come in all styles. I was tightly circumcised. When erect, the skin on my shaft was tight. My penis resembled a broomstick with a knob on the end. Every woman I was with was often sore after sex. And, I always had to use lube. Many guys who have a loose circumcision say they never encounter these problems. Fortunately, foreskin restoration gave me enough slack skin that my partner no longer gets sore from sex and I do not have to use lube.
  Read more . . .

Another baby dies shortly after his circumcision

RIP my foreskin, removed from my body too soon. RIP all babies harmed from circumcision.Parents, protect your babies. Infant circumcision is unnecessary cosmetic surgery.

A firestorm erupted this week. The infant son of a blogger mother died shortly after his circumcision. Baby Joshua was born with congenital heart defect (CHD). Despite multiple surgeries and being medically fragile, the mother opted for circumcision after the doctors said that the circumcision was safe to perform, even considering the babies condition. Unfortunately, the circumcision was botched when a blood vessel was cut. The circumcision wound started bleeding. At one point the doctor applied pressure to the circumcision wound for 2-1/2 hours to control the bleeding. A urologist was called to correct the botched circumcision.[1] By the next morning, the baby was dead. The doctors said the cause of death was heart failure. Yeah, right. More likely, the trauma of the circumcision and the loss of blood from the circumcision affected the infants ability to cope with his CHD. Read more . . .