The Truth About Circumcision and HIV

Gussie Fauntleroy writes The Truth About Circumcision and HIV in Mothering magazine.

What does all this mean for American parents who may wonder whether to have their infant sons circumcised? How does the claim of HIV protection relate to neonatal circumcision in the US and the developed world?

The short answer: It doesn't. Short-term trials involving heterosexual adult males in Africa cannot be applied to babies in the US because the two populations have too little in common, experts say. In addition, a number of scientists and scholars are raising serious questions about the African studies themselves, in terms of methodology, statistical results, confounding factors, ethics, and other issues.