Patricia Grisafi
If you have a baby boy, you may choose to circumcise him or not. Historically, circumcision used to be very popular in the United States, but the rate of circumcision has been dropping.
Health-wise, there is a small chance that circumcising your son will help protect him against certain STIs in the future, but it’s a very marginal percentage.
Some parents choose to circumcise due to religious reasons while some prefer not to circumcise at all, seeing it as unnecessary. Whatever you do, it’s your choice, and you don’t deserve to be shamed for circumcising or not circumcising your son.
Unfortunately, one mom took to the Parenting subreddit to explain that she did, in fact, get “circumcision-shamed” at her son’s 32-week check-up by the nurse:
“She asked if I needed a copy of the circumcision form since I’m having a boy. I politely told her that I didn’t need it. Then she said, ‘Honestly I don’t know why we have a form for it, they should just automatically do it to everyone. I can’t imagine why some people don’t circumcise their sons, it’s just so disgusting. I have three boys and of course they’ve all been circumcised.’ I like to avoid confrontation, so I just said, ‘Well I guess not everyone feels that way’ and I tried to change the subject,” the woman wrote.
Obviously, it’s just incredibly unprofessional for a nurse to push her opinions down a new mom’s throat, especially when a circumcision is an elective procedure. Moms get a lot of shaming for basically every choice they make about their babies, from what they feed them to how they feed them and a ton of other really marginal stuff.
“It just pisses me off that a ‘medical professional’ who should be non-biased on personal choices feels the need to inject her opinion in my son’s life. I was shamed enough when I breastfed my two daughters up until their 2nd birthday, and now I’m being shamed for not circumcising my son when we are not even Jewish or Muslim or anything,” the woman added.
The woman asked if anyone else had experienced something similar, and a few folks chimed in to share their stories, including healthcare workers.
“After I had my son every nurse that came in the room asked if I scheduled the circumcision. I had to keep telling them I wasn’t doing it. It got awkward after the third time,” said AnnualWishbone.
“Healthcare worker here!” Juggzzzz wrote. “I’ve heard of this happening before, and it’s pretty common. Honestly, I would report her to your doctor. Obviously, healthcare professionals are allowed to have their own opinions on things, but they shouldn’t be broadcasted to patients.”
