This is one of the greatest articles on the subject of what a baby goes through when his parents choose circumcision. Happened in the 80s but nothing much changed since. Every parent should read this before deciding to circumcise their child. Photos speak for themselves. Follow the link to read the whole thing, and this is what you can expect:
“The following pictures were taken from a slide series depicting a routine circumcision of a newborn infant within a typical hospital nursery setting. These pictures were originally published in the December 1981 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and were provided by The Curtis Publishing Company (subsidiary of The Saturday Evening Post). The accompanying text was written by Rosemary Romberg.
10. The first part of the circumcision operation is called the dorsal slit. Since the opening of the baby’s foreskin is very tiny, it must be made larger before the “bell” part of the circumcision instrument can be inserted and the clamp applied.
First a hemostat, a scissors-like clamp, is applied to the end of the foreskin. This smashes and flattens a small length of the skin so that there will be little or no bleeding when the cut is made.
Tweezers are also used to lift the foreskin away from the glans and hold it out as the hemostat is applied.
11. This picture continues to show the dorsal slit procedure and the baby’s obvious distress. When skin is pinched, clamped, cut and torn, this causes pain.
The idea that newborn infants feel no pain is absolutely false! In years past mothers were often heavily anesthetized during labor and baby boys were commonly circumcised shortly after birth, so those babies would have had some anesthetic in their systems.
Today most mothers give birth either naturally or with regional anesthetics that have less direct effect on the baby. Also, today, most medical professionals prefer to wait at least a day or two after birth before performing a circumcision.
13. The operation continues as the baby continues to cry. Most babies are not anesthetized for circumcision (although anesthesia is usually administered for more serious, necessary operations performed on infants.)
Some practitioners do give the baby a local anesthetic for circumcision, although its use is tricky and its effectiveness questionable. Most babies scream and cry when they are circumcised. However, a few babies go into a semi-coma state of shock for which the trauma is too intense to cry out.
Adults have sometimes mis-interpreted the lack of crying in these instances as indication that circumcision is not painful for a baby.
20. The baby is now lifted up out of the Circumstraint board and is ready to be re-diapered and placed back in his crib, or hopefully be brought back to his mother for comforting. There is a look of betrayal in the baby’s expression, especially in his eyes. He now knows that this world is not as safe or harmless as he once supposed. Babies learn from their experiences. Even experiences not consciously remembered later in life contribute to a negative or positive effect on each individual.
We can only speculate what the long term effect of this assault on a baby’s body may be, but many have suggested that the tendency for insensitivity, callousness and violence on the part of many males in our society may have its roots in this traumatic operation during infancy. In any event, it is obvious that the infant who is spared the trauma of painful, unnecessary medical procedures will certainly be a much more peaceful, trusting individual.
This alone should be the basis for parents’ consideration in leaving their infants whole, peaceful, natural and intact.”
Boys Deserve Better 