intact or cut? that is the question

God this pregnancy bit is good training for parenthood.
Andrew and I have had so many discussions regarding so many topics so far. And the top most difficult ones have been whether or not to get an amniocentesis and if we should circumcise the baby. Andrew has been a solid YES from the beginning and I had been a clear NO until this week and doubt began to course through my veins. Everything in my being is opposed to humans mucking around with what mother nature has put in place. I have always my highly suspect of the medical industry as a whole in general. Trusting to my own body to inform me as to what's right and wrong. Trusting the body's ability to heal and trusting that nature has created humans as evolutionarily perfect. I believe that which needs to be modified is changed over time and naturally evolves.

It's amazing to me that this little piece of skin creates such an interesting and somewhat emotional debate. I imagine most men in the US are of the mind set to have the skin removed. And as such, Andrew isn't unusual. Most of my friends who have male boys now have decided against this procedure. Which I find refreshing, fathers and mothers, deciding that this is an unnecessary procedure that has plenty of negative consequences: poor cuts, infections, skin bridges, cut too much, cut too little, they typically do not use any form of analgesic and have to strap the babies down so they aren't accidentally cut. Baby suffers but the doctors don't consider the procedure very dire and so don't bother with pain preventing steps.

All this and that why introduce such trauma so soon into this new life? Why subject a trusting soul to an intense affront such as this immediately upon birth? It really seals the deal for me, NO!

After our meeting with Dr Tapper though I have thought I should better research the pros and cons and ask a few opinions about it. The responses on Facebook have been interesting and helpful, especially the men who say they'd prefer to have their foreskin or who'd decided not to cut their own sons even though they were. I think the times are such that more and more people are determining that this is an unnecessary procedure and should not be done purely for aesthetics.

Another point that weigh in on the con side is why remove perfectly healthy skin? I can understand removing infected or diseased skin, but how can the medical ideology embrace a procedure that basically place a tribal cutting ritual in the hospital setting to justify its position in our society?

I trust that eventually Andrew will be ok with this and not place us at odds in the eyes of our child. I think initially it will be hard for him to claim any responsibility to this decision. I know he won't, but I hope that it won't be a point of division for us. I know Andrew and I will have differing opinions on various topics from here on out but that ultimately these differences won't play a huge role in how we raise this child. It seems these small discussions are needed to pave way for the larger more pressing matters. Whether or not we chose to keep our boy's foreskin does not make us good parents. If only it could be so simple.