Is your penis "mutilated"?

[Warren DeMontague]

20. My wife and I went back and forth over it for months, esp. b/c she's more traditionally Jewish

however, she found some resources that convinced her that a foreskin or lack thereof has nothing to do with a Jewish identity, so by the time she was 9 mo. she was leaning towards "against".

Despite being the secular Atheist in the family, I was actually slightly leaning in the "for" column, mostly because "well that's how I am and..." along with the experiences of other family members who weren't (and grew up in times and places where that was out of the ordinary) and had been a little uncomfortable with the decision.

But the birth was real tough, long, and I felt pretty bad for my son by the time he came out. I held him when they pricked his foot for a glucose level, and the way I felt when he screamed... at that moment I couldn't imagine letting anyone do anything to him that wasn't ABSOLUTELY necessary.

... we kicked it around in the post-delivery room for about a half a day, and at one point my wife and I looked at each other and were both like "you know, if thinking about this is making us so miserable, let's just not do it"

So, we didn't. Haven't regretted the decision once. Wouldn't 2nd guess anyone else's choice, but I feel we made the right one for us.