Boston boy - circumcised as a toddler.

At any rate, since my father was circumcised and pretty much all other men in my family of younger generations, my parents had it done on me sometime around age 2-3.

My father said he was initially unsure if they should go through with getting it done once I was home from the hospital, but as some time passed, he pressed for it to be done, for two reasons: One was the strong social stigma and growing up in the Boston area, circumcision was extremely common; being singled out in the locker room wouldn't be fun. He was concerned leaving me intact would have some kind of damaging effect socially, which I absolutely agree with even to this day. There was also the stigma that uncircumcised meant poverty. He remembered a couple of uncut guys who were teased mercilessly about it as boys and I can recall the precious few in my school that were treated likewise--they were "not boys" or men, as it was bluntly put a few times. The other reason was for the sake of cleanliness and risk of infection or other problems. My dad was also not circumcised until age 1, and that was due to persistent infections of the foreskin and urination difficulties ---interestingly, his older brother had the same problem(s) and was also circumcised at a young age. Both were born in the northeast in the earlier 1940s.

As for myself, there used to be a rather noticeable reddish-brown scar with a few dots or tags on and near it, especially on the top side, but this has seemed to fade a bit over the years, especially after age 30 (I'm 41 now). I wonder what sort of technique was used, as by age 2 or 3, it can no longer be done quite as easily as when an infant. The scar area looks pretty neat and there have never been any problems as a result of circumcision. When totally flaccid, some skin will sit on the corona of the head, but this has never been a problem really. When erect, there is some 'play' of the skin but I can't pull the skin over the corona, only touch it when erect, so there's still a little 'slack'.

   

I am attaching a few pictures to give an idea: It doesn't look like any kind of freehand cut, I don't think, but I wonder how it was done? Just to clarify, this was done at a hospital in Boston, Mass sometime in the mid-1980s (late 1985/86?); my mother couldn't fix a date any more precisely when I asked recently. I am very glad I was circumcised. I've never had to worry about problems that sometimes foreskins cause, not to mention the social aspect growing up: as an adult, I have long gotten plenty of compliments from women..and men.

Jerimiah B.