I love this simple video by Gloria Lemay discussing keeping boys intact.
As a Hypnobabies Childbirth Educator, we have information about circumsision and encourage our students to do more research, but we don’t actively discuss in class.
As a doula I talk more with parents about it and really like what Gloria said here.
I absolutely disagree with the “they will have to drive over my body” part :). I don’t believe I am ambiguous, and I do believe my job is to offer current, evidence-based information and then allow my students to make the choices they feel are right for their families. I present the pros and cons and trust them to create their reality according to their personal situation.
If I inject my opinion, I feel I am saying, “I don’t trust you to make and own your own choices, so just do it like I say you should do it.” 🙂
I think Gloria also skips out over the women who say they have the sons circumcised to “look better.” As experienced educators, that is often something heard from the mother.
I give the AAP facts. I give the insurance facts (how not all will cover it as it is a csmetic procedure). Then I tell them I am taking off my educator hat and putting on my mom hat, and I ask if I can share why I chose to leave my boys intact.
There are two things that really made an impact on me.
The first is, within my own spiritual beliefs, I believe we were created in a perfect way with a design and purpose, with no superfluous parts, and it felt like this one thing we do to change our baby boys.
The second, it’s not my body! If my boys later complain about not being circumcised, and they wish they had been, I will happily help them set the procedure up and pay for it. When it was time for me to make that choice, though, I felt like it wasn’t my decision to make.
Truly, when it finally comes time to talk about circumcision (class 4 in my line-up), I do finally say, after the facts, this is what lead me to my decision. I don’t do that routinely, circ is just close to my heart for different reasons…and I have three boys.
Thanks for sharing what you do. I agree that Gloria takes a very strong stance. A bit too strong for me as I believe parents need to make their own choices regarding their births, their babies, etc.
I do LOVE the wording of Leaving their sons intact vs circumcising them.
I agree with the wording, like when we talk about the risks of formula feeding versus the benefits of breastfeeding, since breastfeeding is the norm for our biology.
I think Gloria has earned her right to be strong in her wording :).