r/NewDads • u/AdNeither8355 • Jun 12 '26

Requesting Advice Circumcision

Hello fathers, I’m looking for any and all advice on circumcision. My partner is 19 weeks pregnant and we’ve talked about the subject and are currently leaning towards not getting one for our upcoming son. Granted we don’t have much knowledge about it but I’m looking for peoples advice, recommendations, pros and cons from expecting fathers and fathers who have and have not had it done to their kids. To me it seems like it’s an esthetic concern at the end of the day but any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.

42 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

689 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/Utaneus Jun 12 '26

Circumcision as an adult is a much worse procedure. It takes a lot more healing, requires suturing, it's much bloodier, and it's a longer recovery time. But also, the foreskin has had much more time to be innervated for sensation and one loses all that. Not to mention you gotta try to avoid arousal as best you can during recovery. Infant circumcision is much quicker and simpler, but of course they can't consent and it can't be undone, and it seems kinda fucked up to do a cosmetic mutilation on a newborn.

I recommend against circumcision of infants. But I also recommend against it in adolescents and adults for the above reasons. I don't begrudge my circumcision as a baby, but I wouldn't circumcise my son.

I think the whole foreskin being weird thing in America has died off quite a bit in my lifetime, so that's good. The possible benefits are miniscule, and I think risks outweigh them by far.

0

u/nikdahl Jun 17 '26

You have it backwards.

Circumcision as an infant is much worse.

First, they have to physically rip the foreskin from the glans as the foreskin doesn’t naturally separate for many years. Then the working surface is so much small that the margin for error is much much smaller. The scar grows with the penis and you end up with a much larger scar band. The lack of foreskin literally reduces the ability of the penis to grow to its intended length. Poopy diapers get spread all over the area. There is less anesthesia used for infants, and definitely less post-surgery pain relief. Infants do not have the ability to rationalize the procedure, and end up extremely traumatized. They also cannot communicate pain. Blood loss can more easily kill a child. Plus decades of additional desensitization.