Congratulations! You’re having a boy! Beyond that burning question of what color to paint the nursery looms the much weightier decision of whether or not to circumcise your baby boy (or maybe-baby-boy if things are still too new to tell). For many parents, both for and against it, the decision is simple. And for just as many, it’s a tough one. Either way, statistics show that, in the end, fewer baby boys are losing their foreskins, especially on the West Coast, where circumcision numbers are in steep decline.

Sacramento area parents Jason Long and Lottie Aston are expecting their first child early this month, and the couple is among that growing number of California parents deciding against circumcision for their sons. Jason said, “We honestly didn’t care, one way or the other, whether it would be a boy or a girl,” but, he added candidly, had the ultrasound revealed a girl, they would have been relieved to avoid the whole circumcision question.

“It was on both of our minds, I could tell, as soon as the technician gave us the news. We were like, ‘Hooray! We’re having a boy’…and then immediately, ‘Oh—now we have to make this decision.’ We did a lot of research on it, and we will not [circumcise].” Faced with the prospect of putting their newborn under the knife, Lottie explained, “I could not come up with a good enough reason to do it.” Jason was quick to add that they would never judge other parents for choosing differently, and that they respect the roles that religion and culture can play for families who decide in favor of the procedure.

Circumcision, a surgical procedure which removes the foreskin from the penis, is common in many Jewish families where religion and tradition dictate it; it is also common in Muslim communities and in many Christian denominations. But circumcision is less common in Asian and Latin American countries, and experts believe that California’s growing population of Asian and Latino families is the greatest factor accounting for our State’s declining circumcision rate.

Experts also cite parents’ growing desire to avoid unnecessary medical procedures. Records indicate that as rates for drug-free labor and breast-feeding rose, two decades ago, circumcision rates began to decline, indicating a shift in attitudes toward clinical procedures. The natural approach seems to be a factor for Jason and Lottie, who are preparing for a natural delivery, and have chosen a water birth as a means of natural pain management and for other reasons.

The couple says they were further deterred from circumcision by stories they heard of cases that healed poorly or required follow-up procedures.

So, are there any advantages to circumcision? According to Dr. Jeremy Friedman and Dr. Norman Saunders, authors of The Baby Care Book: A Complete Guide from Birth to 12 Months Old, “While circumcised men have a lower incidence of urinary tract infections and less risk of developing penile cancer and some sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV, there is no overriding advantage to circumcision, so the decision is an individual one based on your religious or personal preference.”*

* © 2007, The Hospital for Sick Children, excerpted with permission from The Baby Care Book: A Complete Guide from Birth to 12 Months Old by Dr. Jeremy Friedman and Dr. Norman Saunders, Robert Rose, Inc. 2007. Distributed by Firefly Books.

For more information, including recent study results and advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, read our related online story, “The Circumcision Debate,” right here at SacramentoParent.com.