Infant Circumcision Reconsiderd by CDC

Do you have a son? If so, it’s likely that you have had to make the choice whether or not to circumcise him at birth. While a difficult decision at times, historically it has been a private decision made between parents based on personal or religious beliefs with no specific recommendation from the CDC. This past month, the CDC has suggested that they may change their recommendations and encourage parents to circumcise all male children based on new evidence from recent studies. There has been a strong reaction to this possibility and many parents are feeling that this recommendation could be made for the wrong reasons.

It all began with a recent study of heterosexual men in African countries with high prevalence of AIDS. The NY Times explained the results:

“Clinical trials in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda found that heterosexual men who were circumcised were up to 60 percent less likely to become infected with H.I.V. over the course of the trials than those who were not circumcised.”

The NY Times went on further to quote Dr. Peter Kilmarx, chief of epidemiology for the division of H.I.V./AIDS prevention at the C.D.C.

“What we’ve heard from our consultants is that there would be a benefit for infants from infant circumcision, and that the benefits outweigh the risks.”

That being said, the studies have only included heterosexual men. There is virtually no evidence that there would be any benefits of circumcision for homosexual males. There is also no evidence that male circumcision would lower any risk of transmission to female sexual partners either.

Intact America, a group against infant circumcision, quotes John W. Travis, MD, MPH on their website who says the following:

“Infant male circumcision is medically unnecessary, ethically indefensible, and, at a time when the country is struggling to reform our health care system, adds billions of dollars annually to cost of that system. It would be unconscionable for the CDC to use African studies of adult men to recommend surgery on infant boys who cannot consent to the removal of healthy bodily tissue, on the chance they might engage in unsafe sexual activity twenty years into the future.”

At this time, the CDC has not made a decision yet whether they will or won’t encourage circumcision in American males yet. Their statement reads:

“Whatever the content may include, CDC’s final circumcision recommendations will be completely voluntary. While CDC has not yet determined if male circumcision should be recommended for any population, ultimately the decision will rest with individuals and parents. CDC’s public health imperative is to provide the best possible information on the risks and benefits to help inform those decisions.”

So it seems the CDC’s recommendation for circumcision is still only a possibility. But it does still remain a possibility.

As a mother of two uncircumcised boys, I have a few concerns. Firstly, while this study shows a reduced risk of HIV infection, circumcision does not in any way prevent AIDS. Choosing to circumcise a child should not be based solely on the possibility of lowering the risk of AIDS by a percentage. In fact, the best way I could protect my child from such a risk would be through education about sexual health and the consistent use of condoms. I would think the CDC might want to focus their resources there too, rather than a blanket recommendation to circumcise all male infants irregardless of their future sexual habits.

Also, this is a private choice. My choice not to circumcise my boys was made for a number of reasons. One reason simply being that my children were born with a foreskin, it must be there for a reason, and so we chose to leave it alone. But that was my choice and my husbands, perhaps not another parent’s choice and certainly not the CDC’s. If the CDC were to encourage circumcision, as a parent I would need a lot more evidence that this choice was the best one. We are all at risk of many things in life, but I won’t remove a body part based simply on risk.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you feel the CDC has enough evidence to recommend circumcision for male infants?

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