Circumcision Stats?

I think it's an issue that comes in & out of "vogue". I think moms think it's "crunchier" right now NOT to circ.

I have read similar stats. my 4th child and 3rd son isn't, but my husband and two older boys (11, 10) are, so little man will look different than everyone here, but I'm not worried about it later simply because it does seem fewer and fewer parents are having it done. Also kids don't shower and change at school like they used to, so outside of athletics in high school I don't think the issue will ever come up.

I think it is a personal thing. If someone wants their child to be circumcised they will and if they don't they won't. It is one of those hot-button choices in parenting that, while it doesn't matter what a family does, SOMEONE out there will jump all over them for not doing what THEY think is right (which is stupid because whether or not a child is circumcised will have absolutely zero effect on the adult who is making a big deal out of it).

Furthermore, as far as being a freak among his peers, kids in the locker room change pretty much as fast as they can and boys aren't whipping out their penises, comparing them, and having discussions.

My husband grew up uncircumcised in TX and he said no one made fun of him and in fact no one really said anything. Our son is not circumcised and many of our friend's sons are not as well. I don't go around asking other people so I'm not sure of the numbers exactly. My husband is very happy with the way he is (and so am I!!) and we both figure that our bodies are made a certain way for a reason and we don't need to mess with nature.

I have 3 boys (5, 3, 8 months) and they're all done. All of the little boys I've "seen"--maybe 6 or 7--were done. I know my BIL is not and hates that his mom didn't do it 32 years ago.

I am Jewish, so it was pretty much an easy decision. That said, we did NOT hire a moyel, we used the pediatrician at the hospital I delivered at, and was very happy. My dad is an ob, and my brother was done by an ob, not a moyel. So, I would definitely take the moyel advice with a grain of salt. IMO, local anesthesia is likely more effective than the moyel letting the baby lick some wine off their finger.

We chose not to circumcise our son who is now 7. My dh is circumcised but that was never a reason for us to mutilated our baby unnecessarily. I researched the heck out of it and the only argument for it was to be like others. Well I for one never want to impress the conformity need onto my child. Our pediatrician gave us a high five when we told him our decision. He couldn't council us on it, not sure why, but he was obviously on favor of our decision. Just watch a video on circumcision online and you will feel better about your decision.

I don't mean to offend others who chose this for their sons, this message is intended to reassure the op, not condemn others.

i'm with lucia. i had both of my boys circumcised, and most of the penises i've met over the years have been de-hooded. but my second boy wasn't done very well, and i really only went along with it because it seemed so *expected* and i wasn't confident enough at that time in my life to take a stand.
i'm hearing among my circle of friends (which does consist mostly of homeschoolers, unschoolers, pagans and other Dangerous Radicals) that very few parents are circumcising any more. i'd leave my boys intact if i had to do it over again.
sorry, i know this answer is more about the merits than the stats you asked for.
khairete
S.

I have always followed the rule if dad is, kid is if dad isn't kid isn't so I don't know how stats are comparing now that there are more options.

In terms of being the same in the locker room - there are so many other differences to consider such as weight, muscle mass, height, etc. I would treat it as a non-issue for that reason and if son has a question or sees daddy is different just explain it to him then.
I know kids (especially boys) can be rough, but by instilling a clear sense of self in him, I wouldn't worry regardless of statistics.
We are all a little different, righ?! :)

My son was circumcised in the hospital after delivery, before we were discharged. I let the nurse take him back alone then I got scared and ran to his side, to my surprise he was sitting up there just looking, he wasn't in any pain and he didn't cry; it healed right up and we haven't looked back since. I know grown men that are not circumcised and it's not a pretty sight and to me it's not as clean. To each his own though, so I wouldn't look to others for their opinion in order to validate or invalidate your personal choice. My son also had 12 fingers, 1 extra pinky on each hand and I had a dermatologist cut those off too, the extra fingers is a gene we all have from my dads side and we all had them cut off as young babies. Kids are cruel but young ladies are even worse so one day your son may have an issue or he may not, only time will tell.

I actually think nationwide it's about 50/50 for the age group of boys born in the past 5 or so years. Fewer people on the west coast circumcise than midwesterners, southerners and east coast folks, but fewer of them are circumcising as well. We circumcised our boys, but from what I can tell at playgroups, talking to other parents, etc. it's probably a 50/50 split. Here it seems to be about 70-30 or 60-40, but that's still many of each "type" so I don't think you have anything to worry about regarding your son feeling strange.

Here are my stats: Have had all three of my boys circumcised and if I had another one I wouldn't do it. My last one wasn't done quite right and I hear him cry when they did it. Nope, never again.

We didn't circ because we were so clueless about having a baby that we didn't want to add one more thing to worry about. Since we didn't do it with our first, we didn't do it with our second.
I don't think you'll have an issue with it. There will most likely be just as many kids who are as those who aren't by the time your son is in HS. :)

One of my nephews is and the other isn't (ages 6 and 2). In my experience, in the US, it is about 50/50 currently (perhaps 60/40) and I think your son will be fine. My husband isn't circumcised and he survived locker rooms just fine (he says it was probably 80/20, 20 being the uncircumcised) when he was younger. He said some boys noticed occasionally but for the most part they kept their eyes to themselves because no one wanted to be accused of being gay. Culturally, people of Jewish, fundamentalist Christian and Muslim faiths feel they must circumcise but I feel the majority of people who choose to circumcise in the United States do so for social reasons.

My father and brother are circumcised, my husband and son are not. I know of a couple children that are my sons age (about 2) that are not circumcised as well. We opted out of it because we found it unnecessary. When I was pregnant (back in 2008), I was told the current rate in the US is 40% of boys are being circumcised, and 60% are not, and the numbers are decreasing as the years go on.

I am just like Lucia. Both my boys (caucasian) were circumisized in the early 90s. If I had another boy now, I probably wouldn't do it.

:)

I think one of the big reasons for the sharp decline is that insurance won't pay for it anymore. That seems to really give parents a reason to stop and think why they're having this procedure done on their child when it's not medically necessary.

It's his body, after all, and shouldn't he get to decide if and how his genitals should be modified?

I know of a LOT of baby boys who were born around the same time as my son (2009), and out of let's say maybe 8 of them, only 1 of them isn't circumcised. My son is. Even with the babies that came the year before and the year after, they all were.