Parents face so many difficult decisions when it comes to having a child: decisions about nursing, sleep patterns, discipline, teaching methods and, in the case of boys, whether or not to circumcise. In addition to being the most common surgery for males in the U.S., circumcision has been practiced in various cultures for centuries. Yet when it comes to the health and best interest of your newborn, is circumcision the way to go?
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Circumcision is a preventive health measure which protects against many diseases and disorders. It is analogous to having infants immunized or having children’s teeth filled. Of course parents have the right, if not the duty, to give permission for their infant to have a procedure that promotes their future health. As for it being ethical for a physician to perform newborn circumcision, preventive health is the main role of a physician in this modern world. One could more easily argue that it would be unethical for a physician to refuse to perform a circumcision requested by the parents. As for “genital integrity”, has someone without an appendix lost their “intestinal integrity”, and does removal of wisdom teeth means one no longer has “oral integrity”?
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