Berkeley Parents Network: Teens and Circumcision

Berkeley Parents Network

Teens and Circumcision

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My 16 year-old son wants to be circumcised
Uncircumcised teen now wants circumcision

My 16 year-old son wants to be circumcised

Jan 2007

My 16 year-old son wants to be circumcised. He feels that it is abnormal to not be circumcised. But, more importantly, his sex ed classes at school have apparently told the kids that it is much safer/healthier to be circumcised. How safe is a circumcision for a 16 year-old? Is there really any advantage? Thanks for any info.

Our son was circumcised around 15 years of age. He did it in conjunction w/ a hernia repair that needed to be done. His foreskin was particularly tight so it made cleaning difficult and painful. It was painful after surgery, but in the end he felt it was worth it. My father was circumcised in his late 20's on entering the army in World War II, so my son had a family role model! We also celebrated it as a coming-of-age experience and gave him an Indian arrow with a flint arrowhead from a store on Solano Avenue. been there

My sister's stepson had a circumcision in his 20's so I do not think age is a factor. The stepson had the circumcision to solve a problem with painful erections. DF

Uncircumcised teen now wants circumcision

When my son was born I was told by my midwife that circumcision was not a medical necessity and that with the improved hygiene of our modern day lives that unless I wanted to do it for religious reasons, it wasn't necessary. Not wanting to put my newborn infant through any unnecessary pain, I opted not to do it. However, now my son is a teenager and wants to get circumcized to be like everybody else I guess. Has anyone else been through this and what did you do?

In Reply, to the question about circumcision as a teenager. I am a Jewish doctor and I have a 13 yr. old son who is not circumcised. At about age 9, I told him about circumcision, that many boys in the United States have some skin cut off of their penises when they are just a few days old. This practice is only done because it is a custom in the United States and for religious purposes. There is no other country in the world where routine circumcisions occur. This involved a lengthy discussion and his response to me was a great "Thanks, Dad" and it has not been an issue since. I know that he may bring it up again and I am very willing to have discussions about it, however, just as there are many things that I will not permit him to do, I would not let him have this unnecessary surgery until he is at least 18 and probably not until he is 21. I also would not let him get a tattoo or a large piercing until he is 18. And circumcision is a much more serious issue than a tattoo. A discussion between a physician and your son may help you and him to understand this request. Fred Strauss, MD

F.Ralph Berberich, MD, a pediatrician at the Pediatric Medical Group, in Berkeley, is also a mohel. A mohel is the person who performs circumcisions within the Jewish culture, observing various traditional ceremonial aspects of the procedure, as well as the physical ones. He is well versed on all aspects of the subject, and helped us make an informed decision for our son. He might offer good advice for your family. His office phone number is 510-849-1744.

I have heard that Dr. Sumner Marshall (sp?) in Berkeley is an awesome urologist. Perhaps your son should talk with him about the pros and cons of being circumcised. It seems like your original decision was to not remove parts of your son's body unnecessarily and without his permission. Now he is old enough to decide for himself, or at least close to old enough. Would you let him get a tattoo or body piercing at this age, if not perhaps applying whatever rules you would have about any other form of body-altering might be a good guiding principle. I have actually had to give a lot of thought to this because my son has hypospadia which is a birth defect where the opening to the urethra is not at the tip of the penis but instead somewhere along the underside of the shaft. In my son's case it is right under the glands so it is not severe, it can be as low as the base of the penis. The "standard" treatment is surgery where the foreskin is used to lengthen the urethra to the end of the penis, this is traditionally done while the boy is still an infant. You can imagine the invasiveness necessary here. We decided that it was not our decision to make, it was our son's penis, and it was not a "health issue". He is not quite 7 yet and is still blissfully unaware of his "difference", but at some point during adolescence I imagine he will face the question of how to deal with this. He only has a partial foreskin (imagine hood not turtle neck) so he will need to have it removed one way or the other because it would cause problems during penetrative sex, but once he is old enough, we will let him decide whether it will be part of "re-constructive" surgery.

It seems like the reason we did not alter our children in the first place was the same reason that we eventually have to let them do it themselves if they want - it is their body. The only question is at what point do we let them make these type of permanently altering decisions. Good luck - and remember whatever you decide, there are no wrong answers.

Have you shown him Dr. Dean Edell's website discussion of this issue? Edell is strongly opposed and gives evidence for his view that may interest your son.

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