So, let's start with the basics. What is circumcision? Circumcision is the amputation of the foreskin of the penis. The obstetrician or pediatrician usually performs this procedure at the request or consent of the parents, and it's usually done within the first day or two after birth.

It turns out that a lot of people who choose to have their son circumcised are misinformed about the procedure and the part of the body that the procedure amputates. Everyone hears the rumors, locker-room talk, and urban legends about circumcision, but how many people study it and really know the facts? How many people even want to know the facts?

In truth, much of what people have heard about circumcision is completely false. Examples of these common falsehoods are: "circumcision makes the penis cleaner and easier to wash", "it isn't painful for the baby", "it is important for a boy to look like everyone else", "it doesn't affect sex", "women prefer the circumcised penis", "being circumcised has health benefits", etc. The list of false rumors and misconceptions goes on and on. These myths aren't spread by people in the know, like doctors or scientists; they are spread by the average person, in the same way that a rumor spreads.

Unfortunately, expectant parents usually only hear the rumors, and aren't told the scientific facts. And because circumcision is so accepted and so common, and deals with an area of the body that is still "taboo" (let's face it, not many people can talk about the penis without becoming uncomfortable or embarrassed), many people don't want to think the issue through.

Here's a good example of a thought that should be obvious, but is rarely considered: what is the foreskin for? The foreskin is the part of the body that is amputated by circumcision, so doesn't it make sense that we should learn about that part of the body? Shouldn't we understand what it is we are cutting off? Why is the foreskin there? What does it do? What role does it play during sex? Most Americans have not seen a diagram or picture of an intact penis, and even fewer have seen an intact penis in the flesh. So, shouldn't we learn about the foreskin?

What if we find out that the foreskin is actually a hugely important part of male sexual anatomy? What if we learn that the foreskin is, in fact, a really good thing to have? Wouldn't that change the discussion quite a bit?

Well, before we talk about the foreskin, let's talk about the typical things that are brought up during a discussion about circumcision. Some people say that circumcision makes the penis cleaner, but this isn't true. Intact men keep clean very easily, and millions of American women that are married to intact men don't have a problem with it (remember that not all men in America are circumcised). The rumor that circumcision doesn't affect sex isn't true either (this goes back to the functions of the foreskin). Some people have heard that it's medically beneficial to circumcise, but not a single one of the major medical organizations in the entire world recommends it. That's right, every single one of the biggest groups of the smartest doctors in the world say that there is essentially no medical reason to circumcise a baby boy.

The rumors that claim that circumcision is a great thing are all false - all of them. But that can be hard to accept. Most of us that grew up in America heard all our lives that circumcision is a good thing. Heck, most of the men in America are circumcised. It has to be a good thing, right?

Actually, the truth is very sad and even shocking. The truth is that every man that was circumcised had one of the best and most useful parts of his penis cut off without his consent. And those men don't even know what they are missing - literally.

And that brings us back to the foreskin. The foreskin is a large, double sided tube of skin, nerves, blood vessels, and muscle. In the adult male, the foreskin represents one third to one half of the penile skin, or about 15 square inches (the same as a 3x5 note card).

So, what is so great about the foreskin you ask? Well, the list is long, but the first and most important thing to know is that the foreskin is actually the most sexually pleasurable part of a man's body, similar to how the clitoris is the most pleasurable part of a woman's body. Near the tip of the foreskin is an area called the ridged band. This area that circles the end of the penis contains almost 20,000 nerve endings designed to be sexually pleasurable. That's over half of the erogenous nerve endings in the penis. Of course, circumcision removes almost all of these nerve endings, so circumcised men never feel the wonderful sensations those nerves were designed to provide. Men who have not been circumcised (we call them "intact", meaning they have all of their body parts) love the fact that they have a foreskin. It's very rare for a grown man that still has his foreskin to intentionally part with it by having himself circumcised; the foreskin just feels too good. Most intact men say that the foreskin feels a great deal better than the glans (or head) of the penis. In contrast, circumcised men usually claim that the glans is the best feeling part of the penis. The sad truth is that the glans is just the best feeling part of what's left of their penis. If you think that's sad and depressing for all of those men that were circumcised as a baby, it is.

What else is good about the foreskin? Well, this one is for women. During intercourse, the foreskin works like an effective natural lubricant, and that's very important for women. The foreskin's design is really quite amazing. No other part of the human body is like it. The foreskin and the rest of the shaft skin are loose and can move or "glide" up and down the shaft of the penis. Looking at it in another way, the penis shaft can move and glide inside the foreskin. So, during intercourse, the shaft of the intact penis doesn't rub up against the walls of the vagina like a circumcised penis does. Instead, it slides back and forth inside its own foreskin. This gives the woman a great sense of motion, but almost eliminates the uncomfortable rubbing friction that is felt during intercourse with a circumcised penis. According to surveys of American women who have had intercourse with both intact and circumcised men, the vast majority said that they liked the feel of the intact penis better. And that really makes a lot of sense when you consider what a man's foreskin does for a woman. There are 3 common complaints from American women about sex: vaginal dryness, vaginal discomfort or pain, and difficulty achieving orgasm during intercourse. At close inspection, all three of these problems are not the woman's fault at all. Those problems exist almost entirely because her partner's penis is missing its most important part. If you think that's sad and depressing for all of those women whose partners have been circumcised, it is.

The next best thing about the foreskin is that it covers and protects the penis from cold temperatures, dirt, infections, and constant rubbing against clothing. The glans of the circumcised penis feels cold and exposed when a man is naked, but circumcised men don't realize that this isn't normal. Some circumcised men have actually chosen to re-grow or restore their foreskin through a natural stretching process similar to how doctors grow new skin for burn victims. These men all talk about how much better and warmer the penis feels when the glans is covered by their new foreskin. The glans, after all, isn't an external organ; it's an internal one. It's meant to be covered, and it's very sensitive to pain, abrasion, and cold temperatures. That is why the foreskin is there to protect it.

There are quite a few other good things about the foreskin, but let's move back to the topic at hand: circumcision.

There is a lot of social and cultural pressure to circumcise in America. It's a lot like peer pressure. Everyone else is doing it, right? Actually, that's not true anymore. The nation-wide circumcision rate of newborn boys is about 55 or 60%. A lot of parents nowadays are deciding that circumcision isn't right for their son. There are also a lot of doctors that are stepping up and saying circumcision is not a good thing.

But what about the rest of the world? Who else circumcises? Well, not too many. Circumcision is pretty rare in the rest of the world, outside of the Islamic countries and the U.S. Most people outside the U.S. think Americans are just downright crazy for routinely circumcising baby boys.

You see, circumcision has never been very common, historically speaking. Circumcision started many thousands of years ago, probably in Egypt, and before Judaism adopted the practice, but no one is really sure exactly when, where, or why it started. Up until the 1870s, almost no one anywhere circumcised baby boys except people of Jewish or Islamic faith. It was purely a religious thing. But at the end of the 19th century, there were a few people in the English-speaking countries that were really afraid of sex, and especially of masturbation. They thought that masturbation was the cause of all kinds of diseases and insanities. So, they thought that they had to figure out a way to stop boys from masturbating. "Well", they thought, "if touching the penis feels good, and those good feelings lead to masturbation, then the best way to stop boys from doing that is to cut off the part of the penis that feels the best - the foreskin." That's how circumcision got started in America. If that sounds impossible, just realize that the doctors of the 1870's were still bleeding people to let the "sickness and disease run out of them." Of course, we now know two things: masturbation doesn't cause disease or insanity, and circumcision doesn't prevent or reduce masturbation. We also know that bleeding people isn't a valid treatment!

In the early 20th century, some people started claiming that circumcision had health benefits, but these ideas weren't ever based on medical studies or scientific facts. In fact, no one had ever before in the history of the world said that circumcision had health benefits. It had only ever been done for religious or cultural reasons. Despite that, the idea soon spread, and by the 1940s, circumcision was becoming pretty common. It reached a peak in the 1970s, when about 90% of baby boys were routinely circumcised in America, but by that time, the medical community knew that circumcision wasn't beneficial. People and doctors kept doing it because it was just so common. Everybody was doing it, so that just became the normal thing to do.

But now, the number of parents and doctors that are viewing circumcision favorably is dropping. At these rates of decline, in 20 or 30 years circumcision will probably be a thing of the past. Most of the babies that are circumcised today will not circumcise their own children, because by that time, people will know more about circumcision and the foreskin. And as soon as that happens, circumcision won't be the "in" thing to do anymore.

So, what do we do now? We should all learn about circumcision and the foreskin, so that we can be informed, and make an informed decision when the time comes. And that is what this web site and many others are all about. We hope that this site has encouraged you to learn more about circumcision. There are a great number of good resources on the Internet about circumcision. Avail yourself of the opportunity, and read more!