Monday, March 12, 2012

Circumcision And Other Fun Stuff

A couple of years ago, when The Boy was still in high school, he suddenly became "slightly" upset that his dad and I had had him circumcised when he was an infant.  He became rather obsessed with this topic for months and very angry at us (mainly me) for having the procedure performed against his consent.  How can you get consent from a slightly jaundiced infant who only sleeps, eats, and poops?  This came rather out of the blue and took me by surprise.  I wondered if this was just another of his "special interests" that have come and gone throughout the years due to his Asperger's.  I'm not a psychologist so I don't know how these things work.

Where I was pregnant with The Boy, circumcision was just one of those things that you did after you had a boy.  Everybody, as far as I knew,  had it done.  My brothers, cousins, ex husband (The Boy's dad) had all gone through the procedure immediately after birth and we really didn't even consider any other option.  Since The Boy's dad is Jewish, the only options that were considered was whether or not we were having the circumcision performed at the hospital by the doctor or at home by the rabbi.

 I was at a loss for words when The Boy came home from school everyday and launched into an angry tirade of how I had violated his rights, how he wanted to reverse the circumcision and how he was going to sue me for what I had done to him.  It was very annoying night after night, listening to him and like it or not, there was nothing I could do now.  Too late.  My only defense was that right after he was born, I had heart failure and was put on life support for a brief time.  It was during that time that he had the circumcision and I was fighting for my life and never signed any consent for it.  (That one was on his dad for sure!)

The one time I wasn't annoyed and actually felt bad for The Boy, I entertained the idea that maybe he could get the procedure reversed, especially if it was going to cause some deep psychological scars.  After all, didn't that teacher on South Park grow a whole new penis on a lab rat?  If an entire penis can be grown, why can't a mere fore skin?  I told The Boy I would call my plastic surgeon.

Miraculously, one day The Boy stopped obsessing about it.  I didn't have to do anything, including calling the psychologist.  There was once again peace in the house at dinner time.  It was wonderful!  I can't tell you how sick to death Ken and I were of those circumcision rants.

Then I read an article today about how circumcision might protect against prostate cancer.  I thought I would forward it to The Boy just so he would see what a great decision his parents made by having him circumcised as an infant.  I KNOW!  Stupid thing to do!!  Parents NEVER make good decisions.
This is the link I sent The Boy:  http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/12/10651806-circumcision-linked-to-lower-prostate-cancer-risk

The Boy sent me this link in response:  http://negativeninetythousand.blogspot.com/2010/12/fact-anal-sex-reduces-risk-of-prostate.html
As well as a warning that for every argument I can come up with, he can come up with at least three counters.

Cute, huh?  Guess he'll have plenty of time coming up with all those counter arguments as he's doing his own laundry.

3 comments:

  1. the things he comes up with!!
    circumcision is, of course, routine in the US but not quite as common in the UK and other places across the pond. don't tell the boy!

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  2. Actually, he has a point. Why do we do it so routinely in the US? Shouldn't we allow boys to decide on their own if they want to have it done or not? As annoying as The Boy was (and can be) about things, he does have a good point.

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  3. yes, i think so, too. i never questioned it until i lived abroad and found that it wasn't so routine in most places around the world.
    it's good that the boy looks at things differently sometimes. if he has a son one day, he can say "no" to circumcision if he wants. maybe that will offer some consolation to him.

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