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Comment by Freak_NL | Hacker News Reader

Not mentioned here yet, as this should be a no-brainer to most people, but if you're American and it's a boy: don't start his life by cutting of a perfectly good piece of penis (i.e., circumcision). That's his call, optionally (but probably not, rare medical conditions excepted) later in life. Don't do it just because the cornflakes guy said so.

If you're going to do that anyway because of religion you won't be convinced otherwise of course.

If you're not a follower of one of those religions that stimulate this, and not an American (or, I think, South Korean), carry on. The thought wouldn't have crossed your mind. As a European the percentage of parents in the US that still chose to mutilate the genitals of their young sons always astounds me¹.

1: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/circumcisio...

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Fellow American here.

Didn't realize circumcision was not at all prominent in the UK and Europe until I married my British wife.

Also, there's a huge amount of cognitive dissonance in Americans when it comes to circumcision, so be prepared for backlash should you not circumcise your son.

Netflix even has a documentary on the topic worth watching: 2018 American Circumcision

> Not mentioned here yet, as this should be a no-brainer to most people, but if you're American and it's a boy: don't start his life by cutting of a perfectly good piece of penis (i.e., circumcision). That's his call, optionally (but probably not, rare medical conditions excepted) later in life. Don't do it just because the cornflakes guy said so.

Also if it's a girl there's no need to pierce her ears. She can do it when she's older if she wants to.

Obviously not on the same level as genital mutilation, but yeah, this weirds me out too, and unlike circumcision this seems quite a global phenomenon (although seemingly limited to lower socio-economic demographics). There's a baby girl at our local kindergarten who has her ears pierced. It makes her look like a fashion accessory instead of a child.

Disagree. It’s totally reversible and becomes a reason to stick out in elementary school. Not piercing the ears is akin to naming a kid something weird.

Pain inflicted to the baby is not reversible. Plus clip on earrings exist.

To offer the not-so-rare medical condition story, my wife and I were house-parents at a children's home and one of the 10-year old boys was having recurring infections because of poor hygiene habits. After the second time in the hospital to deal with it, the Dr. decided circumcision was the best course forward. The pain and discomfort that poor boy went through as he recovered is something I'd never wish on anyone.

I have 7 kids of my own now, 4 boys. I had them all circumcised when they were babies. The bell devices are clean and simple and even the chance that they'd have to go through that later was worth it to me.

Doesn't this just come down to better education on personal hygiene? My parents had a talk with me when I was a kid about washing properly and I've never had an issue and I doubt I'm alone on that.

Speaking as a parent of three boys, one of whom had to be circumcised in second grade or so due to a phimosis, I still feel completely comfortable with my decision not to circumcise my boys as infants. He experienced discomfort for a week or so. It was nothing extreme. He'll suffer far more when he breaks his first bone, but I'm not preemptively amputating any of his appendages to spare him that pain.

Dafq, I live in Europe, ex-USSR in fact, and Ive NEVER ever seen a circumcised man (and we have a huge sauna culture, so its not for the lack of possibilities)

To cut something from your child just for "looks" or smth...fck thats sick.

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