About Foreskin and Cleanliness
It may look like a small piece of skin from an adult perspective, but consider that circumcision removes half or more of the total skin of the penis, and a significant amount of nerve endings and other specialized tissues.
- Myth: It is difficult for parents to keep a baby's penis clean, and boys/men won't clean under their foreskins.
- Myth: If boys/men aren't circumcised, their foreskin will cause them to have more urinary tract infections (UTIs).
- Myth: An uncircumcised penis get covered in dirty, smelly smegma, and that's gross.
About the Circumcision Procedure
- Myth: What gets cut off is is just a small flap of extra skin.
- Myth: The circumcision doesn't hurt the baby because the doctor will use anesthesia, and my baby slept right through it.
- Myth: A circumcision will hurt much worse as an adult, so it is better to be done when still an infant.
- Myth: Maybe it is somewhat painful, but since a baby won't remember it happening, it is better do be done while still an infant.
- Myth: It is low risk and doesn't cause any long-term harm.
- Myth: Male circumcision and female genital mutilation are two different things because of why and how they are done.
Infants who appear to be asleep during/after the circumcision procedure are really going through physiological shock - where their body essentially shuts down because of the pain and trauma being inflicted upon it. Newborns can feel this excruciating pain, and they have not yet developed the coping mechanisms that an adult would have.
Image from the Peaceful Parenting post Nursing School: OB Clinicals and My Experience With Infant Circumcision by guest author Sophia Murdock, R.N.
About Medical Benefits of Circumcision
- Myth: Most doctors recommend baby boys be circumcised.
- Myth: Circumcision prevents HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, so it saves lives.
About Necessity of Circumcision
- Myth: My family has always circumcised our boys, everyone does it.
- Myth: My [relative/friend] who wasn't circumcised kept getting infections and needed to be circumcised as an adult. (Usually followed up with: it was very painful for him so my child should be circumcised before he is old enough for it to hurt and be memorable.)
- Myth: My son has phimosis and so he needs to be circumcised.
Links for Additional Information
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/myths-abou…
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/more-circu…