Circumcision Gone Wrong: Lance's Story

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Note: This article has been removed at the author's request. 
It was one of several that was taken and used by another group without the author's permission or original edits to the text and names.  Please be respectful of others' work and do not copy/paste items without explicit permission of the author/creator/photographer.  Our guest authors have the ability to make edits, additions or changes as they deem necessary, and when others take work without permission, this renders authors unable to make these alterations to their own work.  It is also disrespectful and unethical to do so, and prevents a large audience from benefiting from this work. Help us reach out to parents in need and save little ones along the way by respecting the work that is shared here.

For additional information on this article, or to contact authors, write to SavingSons@gmail.com


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To learn more about the prepuce (foreskin), intact care and circumcision, see: Are You Fully Informed?

If you have a circumcised son, and are interested in keeping future sons intact, hear from others who have done the same, and join in conversations on pages linked here.


He Didn't Cry: Babies in Shock


Posted in honor of Griffin Starr, who entered this world perfect, suffered infection and breathing difficulties, and was taken from the NICU to be cut this weekend. May your suffering and loss not be in vain. May many more, in your honor, be spared what you endured at the hand of those who refused information for your sake. See below for photo credits.

This little one is not screaming. He is not sleeping. But he has gone into shock: a semi-comatose state that the human body slips into in order to physically survive extreme pain and trauma.

After the cutting of his genitals is complete, this little baby may sleep for many hours a day over the next several days or weeks (much more than is normal or healthy for a newborn, and similar to the deep depressive-state sleep that adults often slip into after trauma). He may experience severe 'colic' for weeks and months to come, as his body attempts to heal itself and deal with the very real pain and suffering of both a festering amputation wound, and post-traumatic stress. His cortisol levels (stress hormones) remain high. His metabolic brain functioning has changed. He may have trouble nursing or gaining weight, and he has a significantly greater risk of being deemed a 'failure to thrive' case. He will likely experience pain to a heightened degree in the future, even into adulthood. And his normal sexual functioning is forever impacted as a result of this alteration in form.


There are many side effects to the genital cutting of a human baby. Today, 68% of U.S. parents, 91% of Canadian parents, and the majority of the rest of the world keep their sons intact from birth. Please, be fully informed for the sake of your child.



Photo Credit:
This photo was originally printed in the December 1981 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. It was one of several images published in an eye-opening piece on the realities of infant circumcision. The horrors of this image are mild in comparison to the other photographs highlighting the brutality of genital cutting. Rosemary Romberg, author of Circumcision: Painful Dilemma, purchased the slides from the Saturday Evening Post in order to ensure they remained publicly available. She has the photos displayed on her website, Peaceful Beginnings, and granted DrMomma.org permission to post here.

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STOP Circumcising Babies

Disclaimer: Images, with the exception of the first photo, have been sent to us from various readers.



Photograph by Danelle Frisbie. 
In front of the White House, Washington Monument in background.
Washington D.C. March 2010




 photo taken in 2009

 Atlanta, GA

Foggy Bottom ~ Washington, D.C. 


 photo taken in 2005


 Publix parking entrance - Atlanta, GA






March 28 - April 3, 2011. Event details here.

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Circumcision Trauma

By Jessica Davis Olivera
Read more from Olivera at 4SKIN FTW
To learn more about the prepuce, intact care and circumcision, see resources at Are You Fully Informed?

No Longer Intact: My Son's Story

By Barbara C. Smalley © 2011


I have not been able to bring myself to tell my story until now, but I am hoping that in sharing, others may become more aware of the harm of genital mutilation.

My son was born in January of 1995 when I was just 19 years old. He was my first child, and only breastfed for a few weeks. He was born with the right testicle still in his groin and our pediatrician told us from the start that he would need surgery to bring it down if it didn't descend by 18 months of age. The issue of circumcision never came up at all during his well baby visits. In fact, I had no idea what circumcision was! I thought all babies were just born like my son (which they are), and eventually grew outward to look like my husband.

When my son's testicle still had not descended at his 18 month checkup, the doctor (who had just been assigned to us) said he needed orchiopexy, and we set the date. On the day of the surgery, there was no mention of circumcision as we were signing the surgery papers - not before or during or after. When the doctor came to speak to us post-orchiopexy, while our son was still under anesthesia, he made a casual comment to us that they were "going to go ahead and circumcise him." I asked what this meant. The doctor told us that it was not a big deal, just a simple procedure to prevent infections. They would remove some extra skin from the head of his penis. My Mom said she had to have it done to my little brother... and the doctor then turned to my husband and added that most "men are circumcised." In that moment, I wasn't given any information or time to think about it. I did ask about the pain of the procedure, and the doctor told us it wouldn't hurt him at all. We were not handed any papers to sign or consent to the circumcision surgery itself, and looking back I am not sure how the doctor was able to legally perform the amputation. I nodded my head when he told me it would not hurt my son... and I guess this was our agreeing to the circumcision.

After our sweet baby boy was awake and in recovery, the pressing thought crossed my mind that I had just allowed something terrible to happen to my baby. From birth he had been such a satisfied and happy baby, easy going and socially excited - but not after this. The first time he wet his diaper, and I went to change him, he was wincing with pain and whimpering. His little mutilated penis was so swollen, black and blue, bruised, and crusty with blood. The saddest thing is that my sweet boy wouldn't talk! He wouldn't interact! He was so withdrawn and no longer my happy, social toddler. The first ten days of healing, he just slept most of the time, and kept bleeding a little off and on, and crying. His sweet spirit was gone. And he was not the same emotionally. Where did my son go?

I was heavily pregnant with his sister at this time. And when she was born, his remaining babyhood was robbed due to how "high needs" she was. He didn't get the attention he deserved and his resentfulness escalated - toward me, his sister, and his Dad. His behavior worsened. He got kicked out of the nursery at church for being a bully before he was even two years old. But I see now that he was really hurting inside. I realize looking back that he was an emotionally, mentally, and physically injured boy who was struggling to stay happy, free from anger, and continue to enjoy life as he had those first 18 months.

To this day he struggles with depression and self esteem. And I blame myself. He does not enjoy hearing about the intactivism efforts I'm involved in, but he is very emotionally compassionate toward people in pain - especially his mommy! After I became an intactivist, and when I realized what I did to him as a toddler, I cried for weeks. He was there by my side, ready to accept my apology and forgive. He doesn't like me blaming myself. Even now, as I am finally writing this, it hurts so much inside and I am reliving the nightmare of it all with an elephant on my chest...and I cannot breathe.

I was looking through all our pictures last night and could not find the cute naked baby pictures - the intact ones I have of my whole, happy, son before his circumcision...

But today I will try not to let it upset me, because I want my son to know that I love him more than words can say, and that he is my world, no matter how he looks, or what he has or has not done, or what he will do in his life - he is my son, my very own boy. And while some things may be able to be taken from us, robbed from us without so much as a whisper of our consent, no one can take this from us.

I love you V., I am so sorry that I let this happen to you.
Thank you for forgiving me, 
Mom


One year ago, I inquired about a circumcision info pack from Dr.Momma.org, not knowing how much her kindness, understanding and willingness to share with me and send me that packet would mean to me, and change my life forever. Thank you, DrMomma. ❤

If you are reading my story, and would like a circumcision information pack, you can request one here. If you cannot afford the donation to cover the whole cost of materials and shipping, please write to me (through peaceful parenting at DrMomma.org@gmail.com) and I will see what I can do to cover the cost for you. The info packs contain lots of great information to read as well as 3 DVDs to watch.

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Barb Smalley is mom to three children aged 16, 14, and 4 1/2. She mothers in an attachment parenting manner, homeschools, and advocates for children's rights both in real life and online. Read more from Smalley at SmalleLife

To hear from other parents with circumcised sons, or join with moms and dads keeping future sons intact, see items at: I Circumcised My Son: Healing From Regret

Resources on the prepuce organ (foreskin), intact care and circumcision are cataloged in Are You Fully Informed?

Onesies & Tees Available at MadeByMomma

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