A family says their newborn son nearly bled to death and is fighting for his life after he was circumcised at a New York City hospital.

Tim and Gabrielle Groth said their son, Cole, underwent the circumcision at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in Manhattan, where he was born on March 31.

  • sploosh@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    17 days ago

    There’s a really easy way to tell whether or not you should decide to circumcise a penis. First, check if it’s your penis. If it isn’t your penis, don’t circumcise it BECAUSE THAT IS NOT YOUR DICK AND YOU DO NOT GET TO DECIDE WHICH FLESH BELONGS AND WHICH DOESN’T ON IT.

      • Landless2029@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        16 days ago

        I had a foreskin issue where I couldn’t pull it back. Got it removed around age 10. Wasn’t fun but now my captain doesn’t wear his cap to dinner. Looks normal too.

        • markko@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          16 days ago

          I assumed they were specifically talking about babies. If there’s a genuine issue then it makes sense, but I don’t know of anything that’s diagnosable at birth that would require circumcision.

          I know a lot of young adults also get the procedure for the same reason as you. I was in your boat until probably my mid-teens before things fixed themselves, but it clearly doesn’t work out that way for some.

  • misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    17 days ago

    In parenting classes in my liberal area, the nurses will say “I’m required to tell you that circumcision has medical benefits”. Then they fume how it’s based off bad research and cut themselves short. “However it’s not like your son will be lined up for a nude photo. You can break the cycle of trauma”. I’m lucky to live here.

    • JustOneMoreCat@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      16 days ago

      Damn you have some good nurses. In my liberal area the best they did was mention that it’s optional (literally some people think it’s not). We also have liberal relatives who did it to their son just so he’d “look like dad.” Wtf

    • SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      I agree with you fully but there’s a discrepancy that needs to addressed. Now, before you get the wrong idea, I’m NOT defending or excusing anybody here. The medical staff and the parents should be held responsible for nearly killing this newborn. Child genital mutilation of any kind should be banned.

      Now, with that out the way, Male circumcision and female genital mutilation (or FGM, which is what I believe you’re referring to when you say ‘only applying to girls’) are not directly comparable. Male circumcision typically only removes the foreskin of the penis whereas FGM removes the both the clitoris and labia (I shudder while typing this out). It would be like castrating the entire penis and testicles.

      Again, this sort of thing should be banned and no child should suffer from the decisions they had no say in.

      • Wahots@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        17 days ago

        I’m fine with adults mutilating their foreskin, but I want the decision left up to the individual. Having the parents do it when they are a baby leaves the individual with no choice

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        16 days ago

        FGM removes the both the clitoris and labia

        There is an entire horrifying spectrum of FGM, not just what you posted.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        16 days ago

        It would be like castrating the entire penis and testicles.

        That is very much not accurate. Genital mutilation (of both genders) generally focuses on removing the ability to obtain pleasure from sex while maintaining reproductive capability.

        Circumcision is roughly analogous to clitoral hood amputation (one type of FGM). The foreskin also contains a substantial number of sensory nerves (Meissnar’s corpuscles, and ~10k-20k nerve endings specialized for pleasure). Additionally, the glans (head) is subjected to the external environment in a manner which it was not adapted for, resulting in formation of thickened, layer of skin to protect it. These two things, taken together, result in greatly reduced sensory and pleasure capabilities in the penis. The reason for its commonality in the US is the historical puritanical belief that sexuality is wrong and desire to repress sexuality in little boys.

        FGM is wrong. So is male genital mutilation. Inflicting either on those who can not consent is a crime against humanity that should not be accepted as commonplace.

        • seemefeelme@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          I agree it should not be performed on a non-consenting individual, ESPECIALLY KIDS, but please do not claim the result is guaranteed to reduce sensitivity, as it is simply not true. Source: I am living proof the opposite can actually happen!

          I had phimosis and experienced paraphimosis which can result in losing the whole thing. A circumcision was one of the best decisions of my adult life. It is NOT a sexual death sentence or designed to be only that. It can in fact be a saviour.

          • stetech@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            16 days ago

            Most genital mutilation on kids is not done due to necessity.

            It’s like saying we should perform mandatory surgery on everyone, but most everyone has to undergo it with no tangible benefit, just unnecessary risk – is it cool that we know how to perform the procedure in cases that medically necessitate it? Obviously. Does that mean there is a reason everyone needs it? Of course not.

      • Tedesche@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        16 days ago

        I’m curious: the person you replied to didn’t say they were comparable, so why did you feel the need bring it up?

        In my experience, people who point that out when no one has made the comparison are usually insecure about an issue that affects men getting attention and potentially eclipsing the issue affecting women. Like people who point out that female victims of domestic violence die more often from their assaults during discussions about male victims of domestic violence.

        You sure you wanna be that person? Try harder not to be, please.

    • entwine413@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      It depends on the day for me whether increased sensitivity would be a good or bad thing for me. But that’s mental illness and the accompanying drugs for ya.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        17 days ago

        Being intact is also preventative for some stds, iirc, but I couldn’t find anything to support that