Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

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LuckyR
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by LuckyR »

Actually circumcision is not sold to parents on medical grounds, it is demanded by parents on cultural/religious/family tradition grounds.
"As usual... it depends."
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

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SMUK44 You mention that you were circumcised as you turned 13. This raises a very interesting ethical question. Most 13-year-olds can slide their foreskin down and expose the glans Do you remember if you could? (I am wondering if there was claimed to be some ‘medical’ benefit to justify the procedure.)
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by Kate »

The Mayo Clinic advises; ‘As your child gets older...Teach him to… Pull the foreskin back over the head of the penis.’
This may not happen until puberty. Was your penis the object of this level of interest until you were 13 and you were subjected to the surgery?
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SMUK44
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

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Kate wrote: October 14th, 2019, 5:27 pm SMUK44 You mention that you were circumcised as you turned 13. This raises a very interesting ethical question. Most 13-year-olds can slide their foreskin down and expose the glans Do you remember if you could? (I am wondering if there was claimed to be some ‘medical’ benefit to justify the procedure.)
Yes, I could. Part of what I know think was abusive though, was that my foreskin was used as a way to justify being touched. Because I was told I had a problem with it.

I was told that I needed to be circumcised by those in my family who did these things to me and our doctor happily recommended I be circumcised too. The exact reasons were not explained to me, but I was told that I had a medical problem with my foreskin which required circumcision.

But yes, my foreskin could be retracted fully at that time and for as far as I can remember before that.
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

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SMUK44. In a society where most of the males have had a third to a half of their penis skin removed a person with normally functioning genitals becomes an object of curiosity. I cannot imagine the effect this has had on your life and this is much more than an ethical matter. The psychological and physiological aspects are of far greater concern to the individuals involved. I would like to personal message with you but so far I am not eligible to on this forum.
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SMUK44
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by SMUK44 »

Kate wrote: October 15th, 2019, 3:59 pm SMUK44. In a society where most of the males have had a third to a half of their penis skin removed a person with normally functioning genitals becomes an object of curiosity. I cannot imagine the effect this has had on your life and this is much more than an ethical matter. The psychological and physiological aspects are of far greater concern to the individuals involved. I would like to personal message with you but so far I am not eligible to on this forum.
Hi Kate. I'm not sure how to contact you but if you want to mail me, it's smuk44 @ protonmail . com
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SMUK44
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

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Kate wrote: October 14th, 2019, 10:27 pm The Mayo Clinic advises; ‘As your child gets older...Teach him to… Pull the foreskin back over the head of the penis.’
This may not happen until puberty. Was your penis the object of this level of interest until you were 13 and you were subjected to the surgery?
Yes, unfortunately it was. And it's something that as I've talked about, has troubled me more.

From as early as I can remember, my foreskin was retracted fully while I was being washed. I've also read that the foreskin usually does not retract until around puberty but in my case I always remember my foreskin being pulled back completely. I have some visible scarring on the area above my circumcision scar, which leads me to believe I may have been subjected to forced foreskin retraction as an infant.
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by Kate »

‘From as early as I can remember, my foreskin was retracted fully while I was being washed.’
They probably believed this was necessary. But it would have been painful and may have caused the scarring. When you were thirteen they may have seen signs of it becoming pleasurable for you. (Did you usually have an erection when you were being washed?) If so, this is probably why they believed it was the right time for it to be cut off. But I wonder what age this becomes a legal as well as an ethical matter.
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by Kate »

SMUK44. Thank-you for being willing to tell of your experience. I do have some idea of the impact this procedure must have had on your life and empathize with you. And I do wonder about the ethics of the doctor responsible.
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SMUK44
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by SMUK44 »

Kate - when I was younger, no. But around 12, I started to have those unwanted reactions. I guess from a legal point of view, I was still classed as a minor and so consent was not needed to circumcise.
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LuckyR
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by LuckyR »

SMUK44 wrote: October 20th, 2019, 2:11 pm Kate - when I was younger, no. But around 12, I started to have those unwanted reactions. I guess from a legal point of view, I was still classed as a minor and so consent was not needed to circumcise.
Parental consent was needed, and likely given. There's no evidence that the physician performed outside of their ethical standards.
"As usual... it depends."
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by Kate »

Which illustrates how variable physicians ethical standards are in different cultures.
I agree that there is no evidence that the physician performed outside of U.S. ethical standards.
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SMUK44
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by SMUK44 »

I don't disagree. I just wonder if the ethics of those requesting the circumcision are considered.
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LuckyR
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by LuckyR »

Kate wrote: October 21st, 2019, 5:12 pm Which illustrates how variable physicians ethical standards are in different cultures.
I agree that there is no evidence that the physician performed outside of U.S. ethical standards.
From where do you hail?
"As usual... it depends."
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Kate
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Re: Circumcision. Seeking opinions based on personal experiences

Post by Kate »

I was in U.S. but now in New Zealand. It seems to me to be a little ironic that it the more secular-humanist cultures (such as in this country, Germany and Scandinavia) that have started to get a conscience about interfering with their children’s genitalia.
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