There’s no good reason to circumcise a healthy infant.
Not tradition. Not culture. Not aesthetics. Not health.
- Circumcision of newborn babies is medically unnecessary.
- Circumcision is neither guaranteed nor necessary to prevent any disease – behavior matters much more.
- The evidence on the alleged medical benefits of circumcision is conflicting, inconclusive, and often methodologically flawed.
- Most health reasons given for circumcision, such as STIs, are not relevant to babies.
- Effective conservative treatments exist for most penile problems – amputation should always be a last resort.
- The intact penis needs no special care or attention.
- Most intact men are happy to be whole, regardless of whether their fathers or friends are.
There are so many reasons not to:
- No medical organization in the world recommends circumcision for all males.
- Circumcision causes unnecessary pain, stress, and trauma.
- Circumcision exposes a healthy child to unnecessary surgical risks, such as hemorrhage, infection, and surgical errors.
- Later complications are not uncommon, including adhesions and meatal stenosis.
- Some complications, though rare, can be catastrophic – including death.
- Many boys will need a repeat surgical procedure.
- Circumcised males often experience long-term emotional and sexual effects.
- Circumcision irreversibly takes away the child’s own right of choice.
- Circumcision violates the principles of medical ethics and human rights.
Take a Stand
As medical professionals, it’s up to us to educate ourselves and parents, share our knowledge, and provide informed, safe, supportive clinical care for intact boys.
Are you ready to stop this unnecessary, unethical practice? Join D.O.C.!
Need more info?
Parents look to you for unbiased, current, and accurate information, which you may not have received in your medical training. Find the facts below.
Click on a link to go to the page for more information.
THE PREPUCE
Anatomy, development, and functions of this specialized, erogenous tissue.
ALLEGED MEDICAL BENEFITS
An alternate look at the evidence.
COMPLICATIONS
Circumcision complications are common, can be serious, and carry life-long consequences.
CARE OF THE INTACT PENIS
What you need to know to become a foreskin-friendly provider.
CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT
Effective non-surgical treatments exist and are the preferred standard of care.
MEDICAL ORGANIZATION STATEMENTS
No medical organization in the world recommends routine circumcision of male newborns.
MEDICAL ETHICS
Medically unnecessary amputation of a normal, healthy body part from a non-consenting patient violates every principle of medical ethics.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Non-therapeutic circumcision offends human rights principles as laid out by the United Nations.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
It takes courage to refuse involvement in an unethical procedure. Find support, resources, and legal advice here.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT
Circumcision causes emotional harm to babies and the men they will become.
SEXUAL IMPACT
Circumcision alters sex from what nature intended, for both the man and his partner.
FORESKIN RESTORATION
Tens of thousands of circumcised men are restoring their foreskins non-surgically. Learn why and how.
“I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in creation born in the condition that requires immediate surgical correction is the human male.”