@hominid There are also complications with vaccinations as well. But as a parent, we weigh the benefits and the risks. As someone who is not religious, it is much too easy to dismiss the benefits of someone wanting to uphold their thousand year old tenant with their God. Male circumcision is not always just a “cosmetic” procedure.
Before anyone plays the is-it-okay-if-their-God-wants-to-practice-FGM-or-cut-off-the-tips-of-their-fingers-is-that-okay card, let me ask you if you have actually attended a Jewish brit milah?
Before I attended one, I thought it was barbaric and creepy. I mean, seriously? A roomful of adults that gather to chop of a part of an infant’s penis in the name of some imaginary God? It’s not even done in a sterile environment!
I was surprised to learn that most mohels are medically-licensed. Also, they wait until the 8th day to perform the bris milah. That is a world of difference. Being torn from your mother’s womb (birth) is already traumatizing. Then you are torn away from her again to be circumcised (in hospital circumcisions). At over a week old, the infant at the bris milah was surrounded by loved ones. There was a sharp cry of pain and then the infant was suckled at their mother’s breast. That was it. No anesthesia. I’ve heard babies crying longer over getting shots or their ears pierced.
I understand that this is my limited experience. But the only person I know who feels traumatized by their circumcision had it done in their teens. I know a few male friends who wonder if their sexual experience would have been more intense if they were uncircumcised. None of them were circumcised for religious reasons. None of them felt that they were assaulted.
My boy is uncut. If he decides that he wants to be circumcised, he can when he’s an adult. My daughter has unpierced ears. If she decides that she wants to have pierced ears, she can when she’s older.