February, 2013
Father's status influences circumcision decision
by Hugh YoungA study in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has found that regardless of the reasons parents give to circumcise, the father's status is an important factor in the decision.
Medical student Chris Rediger and his supervisor Dr Andries Muller surveyed 230 people at prenatal classes in the Saskatoon Health Region over a 3-month period.
Of all parents responding who were expecting children, 56.4% indicated they would consider pursuing elective circumcision if they had a son; 24.3% said they would not. They were asked before any prenatal classes, which may have changed their final decision.
The reasons they most often gave for supporting male circumcision were hygiene (61.9%), prevention of infection or cancer (44.8%), and the father being circumcised (40.9%). The reasons most commonly reported for not supporting circumcision were it not being medically necessary (32.0%), the father being uncircumcised (18.8%), and concerns about bleeding or infection (15.5%).
But when the expecting father was circumcised, 81.9% of respondents were in favour of pursuing elective circumcision. When he was not circumcised, only 14.9% were in favour of pursuing elective circumcision. The result was statistically significant.
The father's circumcision status also influenced whether parents-to-be thought circumcision was safe. 82.2% with a circumcised father-to-be thinking circumcision by an experienced medical practitioner was a safe procedure for all boys, and none thinking it unsafe, compared to 64.1% of couples with an intact father-to-be thinking it safe and 7.8% thinking it unsafe.
I guess Saskatoon parents don't think that their child has any human rights, e.g. the right to bodily integrity, the right to decide what body parts he gets to keep, being as how he is the one who has to live with the results of circumcision. Just goes to show how a custom, no matter how unreasonable, continues to be supported just because it is a custom. Because dad had to suffer being cut, son must also suffer.
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