30th December, 2017. Giant penis in downtown New York
NY mural

A mural appeared on Christmas Eve

This picture appeared on the wall of a 6-storey SoHo building on December 24th. It has a companion piece, a giant vagina on the wall bordering a skate park. Both are the work of Swedish street artist, Carolina Falkholt, and they were commissioned by a local art collective. The stated intention of the works was to make New Yorkers talk about their sexuality.

In fact the penis seemed to provoke a mixture of amusement and outrage. But it didn't last long - the building's owner had it painted over on December 27th. No news on the fate of the vagina.

Tom, who sent me the story, thinks the penis is definitely circumcised. But I wonder is it's just a firmly retracted foreskin. After all, Falkholt is Swedish and so one would expect her to be much more familiar with the uncut version.

The story, by Will Pavia, appeared in The Times (London) on December 29th. Because it is behind a paywall I've put it up as a pdf, and you can access it here. Close the new window to get back to this page.




29th December, 2017. Amazon removes circumcision training kit

.... from its UK site.

For some time Amazon has been offering an infant circumcision training kit from ESP for sale . It included a model of a boy's genitals made from "lifelike" material, plus scissors and scalpels.

Now it has been withdrawn from the Amazon UK site as a result of a complaint by the 'National Secular Society'. In other words, we are in alt-right race/religious hatred territory. However, there is some basis to the view that it might encourage do-it-yourself infant circumcisions, which would certainly be a very bad idea. And from what I have heard it was really aimed at the fetishist market rather than clinicians. Anyway, it hasn't been withdrawn from the US site (where is is available in both pink and brown versions). Amazon US will not ship it to the UK.

The story has been quite widely reported, but I will quote the report from the Guardian since it doesn't have a paywall. (Note to UK contributors, The Times requires payment from anyone outside the UK.) The Guardian article states, totally untruthfully, that no national health authority recommends circumcision on health grounds. We all know different.

Thanks to both Tom and AM for the story.


28th December, 2017. The World's longest penis

..... is not what it seems.

In 2015 a video went viral showing the supposed 48cm (~19 inch) penis of Mexican Roberto Esquivel Cabrera. He tends to wear bandages around it which might just arouse suspicion. He refused to remove the bandages even when having a medical examination, but he did consent to a CT scan of the organ, which revealed that his penis was in fact around 16-18cm long. That's actually larger than average but a long way short of 48cm. The remaining length is just foreskin and inflamed tissue.

It turns out Cabrera has been stretching his penis with weights since he was a teenager (he's now in his 50s). But all he's really been stretching, and deforming, is his prepuce! He was deported from the US in 2001 for displaying himself to underage girls. Quite why is debatable, since he isn't able to have sex. Dr Muro, the doctor concerned, says he'd be able to have normal sex if he were circumcised, but so far he has refused.

The story comes from Brian Morris' regular news post, but the link he gave has been taken down. You can read the same agency story at The Sun. Cabrera's dick is pretty much blocked out in that but you can see more of it at The Daily Star, which is less prudish.

Cabrera has reportedly been offered a part in a comedy-porn movie to be shot in the Czech republic. Seems appropriate.


27th December, 2017. Singing for circumcision

South African pop singer Khuzani Mpungose launches new song for HIV prevention

Well-known Maskandi musician Khuzani Mpungose has released a new song‚ Soka Ndoda (get circumcised) promoting medical male circumcision to his fans. The launch was held at the KwaMuhle Museum in Durban. In his song‚ the Maskandi king and Soka Ambassador urges young men to join the campaign to help "save their lives."

Read the article at the South African Sunday Times. I haven't found a link to the song - if any reader finds it please email us.


26th December, 2017. BXO and obesity

Sad correlation for uncircumcised boys

Balanitis xerotica obiterans (sometimes called lichen planus) is a truly horrible skin disease affecting uncircumcised men and boys. The inner foreskin becomes hard and immovable. Opinion is, so far, out on whether it is a pre-cancerous condition. The only remedy is circumcision - which would have prevented it in the first place. Prevalence in boys is increasing, but as a recent article in Global Pediatic Health shows, it is strongly correlated with being overweight or obese.

So the message is that if you choose not to circumcise your sons, make sure that their weight stays in the normal range. Thanks to Brian Morris for the link.


2nd December, 2017. Underwear for circumcised men

Dutch engineer designs a novel range for roundheads.

Architectural engineer Rinke Feenstra was circumcised at age 3. After a spell in his teens hating it - a victim of anti-circ propaganda - he realized that actually he was part of a large community who were happy with their state. So he started the company Ynside Underwear to produce a range of organic silk underwear to suit his sort.

These are trunk-style underpants, which seem to be styled for exceptionally well-endowed men (maybe that was his real problem) combined with a sort of sock to wear over your dick. Taking a leak must be a complicated business. (There used to be a similar 'sock' in the US - called the Manskin, I think - but it seems to have disappeared.)

This is reported in the gay newspaper GayStarLove.

Thanks to Tom, who sent it as an 'afterthought'.


1st December, 2017. Family circumcision

Chinese Malaysians decide that circumcision is for them, too.

Malaysia is officially a Muslim country, but it has substantial Chinese and Indian minority populations.

Now we have a story about a Chinese family whose three boys have decided to join in the mass circumcision ceremony organized by the local Neighbourhood Watch. (I wish our local Neighbourhood Watch would organize circumcisions!)

The boys are aged 4, 7 and 10. Their father, Lee Kaw Seng, said "I didn't force them. In fact, they decided to be circumcised because we know the goodness of circumcision, and that it's good for family bonding." "It was fun, the pain was minimal … I'm glad that it is over," said Ming Xuan, the 10-year-old. You can read the story in the English-language Malaysian newspaper The SunDaily.

Thanks to Tom, again.


Sky image
25th November, 2017. Interesting skywriting

Vapour-trail graffiti!

Crack US Navy aircrew used a state-of-the-art F/A-18 "Growler" plane to draw an interesting image with its contrails. You'll have seem similar ones on many toilet doors. Whether it is circumcised or not is not really clear.

This was clearly the biggest piece of news ever to hit Okanogan County in Washington state. "One mother told news outlet KREM 2 that she was upset that she might have to explain to her young children what the images were." Do her children not possess genitalia?

The US Navy reacted the only way they could (laughing it off, British style, is not the American way). "The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values. We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation." You can read the story on CNN.

Thanks to Tom, again.


18th November, 2017. Ask the sexpert - Indian style

My girlfriend wants me to get circumcised.

"Ask the sexpert" is a column in the Ahmedabad Mirror. "My girlfriend is insisting that I go in for circumcision. She is of the opinion that an uncircumcised penis is unhygienic. I have read online that this is not true but she refuses to budge."

The 'sexpert', Dr Mahinder Watsa is, to put it mildly, extremely conservative. His reply was not exactly helpful. "The person to decide would be a surgeon. Take her along when you visit one. If she's still adamant, list out other things she has demanded and how you can fulfill them instead. If she is persistent, your relationship is in jeopardy." Note the assumption that the surgeon would automatically oppose circumcision! So the good Dr Watsa is happy to jeopardise a relationship for the sake of a minor operation that will enhance both sex and health for both partners.

You can read the dialogue at The Ahmedabad Mirror There is the option of posting responses - would any of our Indian readers care to inform the good doctor about the health and sexual benefits of circumcision?

Thanks to Tom for this one.


11th November, 2017. The Nottingham case resolved?

No charges laid.

Saimo Chahal

On June 4th and June 25th we reported the case of a 4-year-old boy who had allegedly been circumcised (at the age of 3 months) at the request of his Muslim father and paternal grandparents without his mother's consent. At the time police decided there was no case to answer. However, the seriously weird so-called 'human rights lawyer' (read anti-circumcision campaigner) Saimo Chahal QC (Hon) (pictured left) decided to take up the case.

As a result of her intervention the doctor, the boy's father and the boy's grandparents were arrested . They were all released without charge - after all what could they be charged with? Chabal claimed "grievous bodily harm" which, if upheld would have made all circumcision illegal in the UK.

The mother, and Chabal, have resolved to fight on. Chabal says she will 'appeal' - except there happens to be no legal decision to appeal against. Thank goodness that sanity has prevailed! You can read the story from the BBC or the Independent.

Thanks to both former editor Chris and regular correspondent Tom for sending this information more or less simultaneously.


9th November, 2017. Circumcision makes sex better

Follow-up of Prepex circumcision in Uganda

The Ugandan government encourages the uptake of male circumcision to combat AIDS. Prepex non-surgical circumcisions (see our Instruments and Techniques page) seemed a promising way to speed up the process. The study was a one-year follow-up of 634 men who had undergone Prepex circumcision.

Only 304 men could be reached for follow-up but their satisfaction level was very high. 97.7% liked the color, texture and thickness of their scar. Of those who had experienced intercourse both before and after circumcision 76.6% reported improved sex life afterwards, only 1% reported their sex life was worse. The others said it was unchanged. Leading the benefits were easier, smoother penetration and longer staying power. 15% said that their partners enjoyed sex more post-circumcision. All in all a pretty impressive demonstration of the benefits of losing one's foreskin.

The paper, by Galukande and colleagues, was published in BMC Research Notes, a well-regarded journal. It is open access - you can read it here.

Thanks again to Professor Brian Morris.


5th November, 2017. Excessive foreskin and premature ejaculation

Italian doctor persuades men to get circumcised

Another somewhat eccentric study. Italian doctor Luigi Gallo runs an andrology/urology practice. Almost 60% of men complaining of life-long premature ejaculation turned out to have an 'excessive prepuce', defined as a foreskin that extends for a centimetre or more beyond the glans. Of 207 men thus diagnosed, just 27 agreed to be circumcised as a possible cure. Gallo's circumcision technique (see picture) was very low and very loose, removing all inner foreskin but leaving enough skin to cover the corona (rim) of the glans - and more.

Excessive foreskin image

Gallo clearly subscribes to the generally discredited idea that the inner foreskin is highly sensitive and cites refences from anti-circumcision activists to that effect. Nevertheless, 26 of his 27 patients reported an improvement, in most cases a very dramatic improvement, in their problem. But these were patients who wanted to be circumcised. It is a pity Gallo couldn't persuade more of his 207 patients to get cut.

The paper was published, equally eccentrically, in the Arab Journal or Urology. But adult Arab men don't have foreskins! Anyway, it is open access and you can read it here.

From Professor Brian Morris.


18th October, 2017. Circumcision reduces coital injuries

Young Kenyan men report huge reduction post-circumcision

This is really a bit left-field. Apparently young men in Kenya frequently suffer minor injuries to their penises during intercourse. This study followed more than 3,000 young men, median age 20, over a 2 year period. Half of these were circumcised (at their own request, of course) at the start of the trial and they were matched with men who elected to remain natural. At the start of the trial, before circumcision, over 50% had reported some sort of penile injury (cuts, abrasions, pain, soreness, bleeding) from intercourse. This declined dramatically after circumcision, overall from 56% to 15% (a 73% decline). For the individual categories decline was: scratches/cuts/abrasions (81% decrease), penile pain/soreness (71% decrease), and penile bleeding (87% decrease). All these gains were apparent only 6 months into the 2-years trial. For the men who elected to remain uncut, there was a 25% decline in bleeding but other injuries remained unchanged.

The paper, in the highly-regarded online journal PLOS-ONE, is open access and you can read it at PLOS-1 website.

From Professor Brian Morris.


17th October, 2017. Circumcision really does benefit women too

Prestigious report from Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University in the US is probnably the world's highest ranking medical campus. Their in-house newsletter the Hub carries a report that studies carried out by their researchers show that male circumcision brings more benefits to women than just the risk of HIV infection. You can read the original paper in the UK journal the Lancet, one of the world's oldest medical journals, founded in 1823.

From regular correspondent Tom.


7th October, 2017. Circumcision advert on prime-time television

Standards board says it can stay

The South African Health Board is advocating that boys should get circumcised at age 10, and is running a television advert promoting the operation, at a time when kids would be watching. A mother complained saying it was embarrassing having to explain to young children what circumcision was. The standards board did not support her complaint, saying an important public health issue took precedence over parental embarrassment.

Read the full story in the South African Sunday Times.

From regular correspondent Tom.


1st September, 2017. Circumcision in a log cabin - the verdict

Joshua Chubb let off lightly.

As we reported a few days ago (see below), 23-year-old Joshua Chubb was due to be sentenced yesterday for advertising unlicensed circumcision services. The prosecution were only asking for a mild sentence, but in the end he got off even lighter, with 40 hours community service and one year probation. He also had to pay $100 'victim surcharge' - I don't know what that is but maybe out of pocket expenses for the woman who dobbed him in and presumably had to give evidence. Read the story here.

From regular correspondent Tom.


27th August, 2017. Circumcision in a log cabin

Unqualified young man offers his services.

The Daily Mail recently carried a story about a young Canadian man advertising circumcisions, and claiming to have qualifications in pediatric urology. In fact he had been training as a mortician at a local funeral parlour, and didn't even complete that qualification! Joshua Chubbs, 23, pleaded guilty to advertising circumcision services without qualifications; a charge of practising medicine without a licence was dropped. The prosecution has asked for a fine and probabation - he will be sentenced on Thursday (31st). Read the story here.

Somehow it's the log cabin that gives the story its piquancy - it wouldn't have been the same if it was a suburban bungalow. Thanks, Tom.


21st August, 2017. Doctor did what exactly?

Mystery story in UK newspaper.

Regular correspondent AM sent in this story from the UK Daily Telegraph. But nowhere is it explained what the doctor did. Did he just break down adhesions, or did he do a circumcision? Can any UK reader with access to other newspapers shed light on this matter?


18th August, 2017. Male circumcision helps prevent AIDS in women

30% reduction in infection

It has long been suspected that male circumcision, by reducing the risk of HIV infection in men, would therefore reduce the risk of infection being passed on to women. On 25th of July a paper presented by Carlos Toledo at the International Aids Society conference in Paris confirmed that this was so. You can read the abstract from the conference proceedings here. After the paper was presented Ayesha Kharsany (one of the authors) gave a press conference and the subsequent articles based on the talk and the press conference give more details. One is from the medical newsletter Medpage, on July 26th. Access to this can be difficult - if you have problems please click here. There were several more popular reports and one very good one was posted in the South African IOL magazine site on August 11th.

These results came from a cohort of 4,766 women in Kwa-Zulu Natal. HIV infection rates were tear-jerkingly high - 54% for those with uncircumcised partners, 42% for those with circumcised partners, but nevertheless the difference is clear (and statistically significant). Furthermore, women with circumcised partners were much less likely to be infected with genital herpes. This is an extreme environment, but the effect is clear, expecially since on average women had two or three sexual partners, and the survey focussed only on the most recent one.

I would like to make the point here that I am just the editor - Circlist depends, in all its departments, not just the news, on contributions from all our community. Tom, who provided much of this material, gets embarrassed when I credit him, but it's only fair. We need contributions from all of you, to all of our sections, to keep the site relevant and interesting. It's your site!


17th August, 2017. Zulus bring back circumcision.

King Chaka's edict overturned.

Some two hundred years ago King Chaka (or Shaka) united a hodge-podge of tribes into the Zulu nation. He determined to set up a more effective army than had been seen before in Africa - and succeeded. All young men had to do military service, and could not have wives until their service was completed (but he had wives ready for them on completion). Nor could they have sex with women - any soldier who did faced the death penalty. To help enforce that he banned circumcision, since traditionally circumcision had been the sign that boys could have sexual relations with girls. In 1828 he was assasinated by his brother Dingwane through the treachery of his own bodyguard. As he lay dying he said "Dingwane, you think you have won but the swallows (white men) will win". In this he was right, but the Zulu nation held out for a long time. (Golan D. The life story of King Shaka and gender tensions in the Zulu state. Hist Africa. 1990;17:95–111). See also the SA History page on Chaka / Shaka.

Now they have changed their tune, as this article from News24 (sent by Tom) tells us. The current King, Goodwill Zwelithini, has recently reversed the ban, and the Crown Prince Nhlanganiso Zulu is out there promoting circumcision. BUT, the key point is that only medical circumcision performed by a registered doctor is permitted. This has to be very good news.


11th August, 2017. South Africa's circumcision disasters

Penis transplants are not the answer

South Africa has a deplorable record when it comes to traditional circumcisions (see the 30th July news item). Unscrupulous and untrained operators are mutilating and even killing boys and young men every year. It is also a pioneering country in transplant surgery, where the world's first heart transplant took place. And also the world's first penis transplant - see our news items for 16th March and 14th June 2015. The success was proven when the young man fathered a child only 6 months after the operation.

In a recent paper in Medical Ethics Keymanthri Moodley and Stuart Rennie argue that this is an inappropriate response to the problem. "Given the current fiscal deficits in healthcare and public health sectors, how can one justify costly, high-technology interventions for conditions affecting a small section of the population? Since botched traditional male circumcisions are preventable, is a focus on penile transplantation as a form of treatment reasonable? Finally, do such interventions create undue expectations and false hope among a highly vulnerable and stigmatised group of young men? In this paper, we argue that given limited healthcare resources in South Africa and competing healthcare needs, prevention is a more appropriate response to botched traditional circumcisions than penile transplants."

Thanks to Professor Brian Morris for the story.


8th August, 2017. Boy caught masturbating .....

.... in the womb!

A Spanish team has captured a 3D ultrasound movie of a baby masturbating in the womb. One can see his erect penis and his tiny hand pulling his foreskin all the way back, then all the way forward again. Incidentally, this would seem to give the lie to the claim that the foreskin is not normally retractable at birth. The paper, by Vanesa Rodríguez Fernández and Carlos López Ramón y Cajal, was published last August in Prenatal Diagnosis, 36, 985–986. The full text requires payment, but if you go to the PubMed citation the full text should become available next month (one year after publication). If you can't wait contact me.

There is a twist to this tale. This year one Israel Meizner wrote in to claim that Rodríguez Fernández and López Ramón y Cajal had misinterpeted the images and they didn't show masturbation. The original authors responded that Meizner had misidentified the umbilical cord as the penis. The catch? Back in 1987 Meizner has claimed to observe fetal masturbation (cited in the Fernandez paper). As New Scientist put it: "It seems no niche is too small to be defended." Judge for yourself - although the actual paper is behind a 'paywall' the movie is not. Go to Prenatal Diagnosis, 36, 985–986 and scroll down to "Supporting Information" and you can download the Quicktime movie - warning, it is 87 megabytes.

Thanks to New Scientist, 22nd July 2017, for bringing this story to my attention.


7th August, 2017. Safe circumcision in Cambodia.

Specialist Muslim medical team set up.

Cambodia isn't a country we hear much from in Circlist. It is a poor country with a minority Muslim population, who have previously had to choose between traditional practitioners charging $10 - $13, or hospitals charging $50 - $60, when their sons need to be circumcised. The results from the traditional circuncisers were not satisfactory, with young boys taking a month or more to heal. Now, with funding from Islamic countries, a specialised team of Cambodian Muslim doctors has been set up to provide free circumcisions and boys are healed and running about again within a week. Read the full story in the Khmer Times.

Another link from Tom.


30th July, 2017. Eastern Cape circumcision season 'best ever'.

"Only" 12 fatalities.

Twelve fatalities may seem distinctly high from such a safe and simple procedure - but it is better than last year, when 29 boys and young men died. What's more six of these died when their hut burned down. As Tom, who supplied the story, said "that young men could perish, unable to escape from a simple mud hut?" We can only assume they were blind drunk. So only six deaths were actually from circumcision.

The major problem in South Africa is that many 'cowboy operators' do it for the money, with little or no idea of what to do. Read the full story at the: South African Broadcasting Corporation site.


11th July, 2017. Medical ethics in Belgium

Committee considers circumcision - slowly.

In early 2014 the Advisory Committee on Medical Ethics set up a sub-committee to investigate the question of circumcision "when the intervention is not on necessary medical grounds" reports the Brussels Times. Apparently the sub-committee now intends to report "by the end of the year". Will 4 years of deliberation give a meaninful conclusion? It seems unlikely, opinions are too polarised. The final recommendation will not be binding, but it will probably carry some weight.

The article is full of errors. It refers to the 2013 resolution of the Council of Europe calling for banning religious circumcision - but that was overturned (by a huge majority) two and a half years ago! See our news item for 7th October 2015. It also states that 15% of Belgian men are circumcised - in fact the figure is more than double that - see our Belgium page and our news item for 1st November 2016.

Thanks to Tom for the link.


27th June, 2017. Norway's circumcision ban is now off the agenda.

Progress party does an about-face.

Last month the Norwegian Progress Party voted in favour of a bill to ban circumcision of males younger than 18 years. However yesterday Siv Jenson, Finance Minister and the leader of the Progress Party, announced that neither she nor her party supported the bill. She told a meeting of European Jewish leaders: "The bill is not on the agenda of the government, nor on the agenda of the Progressive Party, nor on my personal agenda ... We in Norway are opposed to any form of anti-Semitism and we will always defend our Jewish community, with which we have an excellent relationship."

Read the full story in Arutz Sheva-Israel National News.

Thanks to Tom for the link.


25th June, 2017. More on the Nottingham case (4th June)

Muslim grandparents who had their baby grandson circumcised.

The doctor, as well as a man and a woman (presumably the grandparents) were briefly arrested, then released, according to a BBC News report on June 22nd. The charge is "grievous bodily harm" which, if upheld, would presumably make all circumcision illegal in the UK. Let's hope the Jewish and Muslim communities are watching. Continue to watch this page for updates....

Thanks to former editor Chris Eley for the information.


23rd June, 2017. Why do parents choose circumcision for their sons?

A Texan study

A recent survey was carried on parents on newborn boys at Northwest Texas Hospital, to discover what influenced parental choice for or against circumcision. The overall circumcision rate was 87%. The strongest correlation was with the father's circumcision status. Caucasians were most likely to choose circumcision, Hispanics least likely. Working backwards from their figures I get circumcision rates of 92% for Caucasians, 75% for Hispanics and 89% for African-Americans (these are not stated as such in the paper). This is a much higher rate for Hispanics than given in earlier surveys (see our USA page.

Higher educational levels also made parents more likely to choose circumcision. Catholics were less likely to circumcise, but this was probably because Hispanics are mostly Catholic. Interestingly, medical counselling (or lack thereof) made no diference at all. Parents with private insurance were more likely to circumcise than those on Medicaid, but the paper doesn't explain if this was because of a difference in coverage. The paper is in the June issue of Global Pediatric Health. (Open access)

Thanks to Brian Morris for the information.


4th June, 2017. Another mixed religion dispute

Grandparents had the baby circumcised.

Back in 2013 the paternal grandparents of a 3-month-old baby Muslim boy were looking after their grandson, and arranged a circumcision for the boy at Bakersfield Medical centre in Nottingham. The boy's mother subsequently complained to Nottingham police, who decided that there was no case to prosecute. Now the boy is 4 and his mother has got the ear of 'human rights lawyer' Saimo Chahal QC, who wants the doctor, Dr Balvinder Mehat, prosecuted. That's where it stands at this moment. See the BBC News report and watch this page for updates..

Thanks to former editor Chris Eley for the information.


23rd May, 2017. Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy

When the going gets weird the weird get going.

On May 7th I was relaxing on a subtropical island, glad to be out of reach of both phone and internet. So I had no idea that this was the "Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy". Now to me 'genital autonomy' would imply giving your private parts the right to self-determination - and my wife would doubtless say that in my younger, friskier days my dick did indeed run the show. Sadly, though, that isn't what it's all about. It's a day created by German far-right activists and anti-circ campaigners to commemorate the day in 2012 when a judge in Köln (Cologne) declared that religious circumcision was illegal. You can read all about it on our Germany page. As you can imagine the Bundestag (German Parliament) swiftly enacted legislation to ensure that the right to circumcise was assured. One of the craziest things about this was that Germany has one of the highest non-religious circumcision rates in Europe. There is a very judiciously balanced article about it on Deutscher Welle, the site of the German international broadcaster.

Thanks to Tom for the link.


22nd May, 2017. Prepex update

No longer a non-surgical technique.

On April 5th Prepex co-founder and former CEO, Tzameret Fuerst, was honoured on Wall Street as part of 'Israel Day' at the Stock Exchange. Read about it here. Behind the scenes, though, things were getting a bit rocky.

Back on February 20th a paper in the Journal of the International AIDS Society reported that 'adverse events' were 3 times more likely after Prepex procedures than conventional surgical circumcision. See the abstract in Pubmed. Most of the problems came from attempted self-removal before day 7, which suggests that wearing the device is less comfortable than the makers claim. The smell of the necrotic foreskn is also said to be unpleasant.

More serious is the tetanus issue. As far back as 2014 it was being reported that the African circumcision campaign carried a risk of tetanus infection, and eventually it turned out that although this applied to all methods, it was more common following Prepex circumcision. This led Prepex to adopt a radical procedural change. The device is unchanged but now the prepuce is removed the same day. After half an hour the foreskin is checked and once it is totally numb it is cut off with scissors. The ring is still removed after a week. This is said to reduce the tetanus risk to a level comparable with other techniques, and also eliminates the unpleasant smell. Details in the May 16th Prepex newsletter. For an African comment see the report on All Africa.

Thanks to Brian Morris, Tom, MP and Prepex for the information.


21st May, 2017. Short Skin

A foreskin movie!

Not exactly breaking news - this is an Italian movie from 2015 but it is bound to interest Circlist members. It is a coming-of-age comedy, full title "Short Skin - I dolori del giovane Edo" (the problems of young Edo). Eduardo (Matteo Creatini) is a tall, gangly but handsome 17-year-old who, like his friend Arturo, wants to lose his virginity. He has no shortage of willing helpers - the girl across the street, a more experienced girlfriend, even the old Maggie May cliche, the golden-hearted prostitute.

The problem is that he suffers from severe phimosis - even erections are uncomfortable - and that is the basis of the comedy. You can view the trailer (with subtitles) here. The New York Times Review complains that even though we see his butt as his parents, his doctor, and even his kid sister investigate his problem, we never get to see it for ourselves. Then again, Matteo Creatini probably doesn't have the problem, and it might be hard to find a 'dick-double'!

I haven't watched the movie, but presumably he eventually gets circumcised. It can be streamed or downloaded from the regular sites for a small fee and more inventive members can probably find it for free. If anyone would like to write a review it would be most welcome for our Reviews page - contact us.

Thanks to regular correspondent AM for the link.


23rd April, 2017. Circumcision in Papua New Guinea

Dorsal slit does protect against HIV and other STDs

See our March 28th item. Recent research has shown that the traditional dorsal slit, used by many of PNG's various peoples, is indeed effective against AIDS. This implies that it more important to introduce circumcision to those tribes that don't perform any sort of penis operation. See: Pubmed.

Thanks to Brian Morris for the link.


22nd April, 2017. Penis cut off - update

Doctor exonerated

See the 4th April news item. Reprise: Back in 2014 an Italian doctor in Switzerland was circumcising a young Muslim boy. The father was taking photographs, and the boy turned on his side to pose for the picture. Unfortunately this was at a rather critical moment and the upshot was that his penis was cut off. It was successfully reattached. The court has now ruled that the doctor was not to blame. (Incidentally, the doctor concerned has since performed 2,500 more circumcisions).

Read about it at the Daily Mail

Thanks to Tom for the original story and this update.


15th April, 2017. Wolverine?

Filipino clinic uses super-hero to promote circumcision.

A circumcision clinic in Antipolo is using a dramatic image of the super-hero Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to recruit patients - check out the Dionisio M. Cornel Memorial Medical Center. I must say I'd have thought it would scare boys away!

The curious thing is that though I posted (1st March) that based on his birth date Hugh Jackman was probably circumcised, the Aussie website Helmet or Hoodie has him as a a 'hoodie' - uncircumcised. I would have thought that in the discussion with Patrick Stewart on the Graham Norton show (see our 1st March post) he would actually have revealed his status but it isn't in the youtube clip. Did any of our readers watch the show? If there is anything you can add please email us (see link above).

Thanks to Tom (who tried to persuade me he had no idea who Wolverine was) for the link.


14th April, 2017. The male body in art

How the male body has been depicted over the centuries

The online arts magazine Artsy ran a feature on the male body in art - the conflict between muscular and slim. Circumcision isn't specifically covered but .... Pioneer bodybuilder Eugene Sandow (who'd win the booby prize these days) is hilariously depicted with a tin figleaf clipped to his privates. The last image is the most startling, a recent sculpture by Frank Benson. I'm not giving a spoiler - go to the site: Artsy - male body.


4th April, 2017. Penis cut off

Muslim circumcision went horribly wrong

Back in 2014 an Italian doctor in Switzerland was circumcising a 4-year-old Muslim boy. The father was taking photographs, and the boy turned on his side to pose for the picture. Unfortunately this was at a rather critical moment and the upshot was that his penis was cut off. It was successfully reattached, though it is said that he might need further surgery at age 18. (Why 18? The age of consent in Europe is 16.) The case has now reached court, and both sides are blaming the other.

Read about it in the Independent and the Daily Mail.

Thanks to Tom for the story.


3rd April, 2017. "Typhoid Mary" mohels

New York gives them a slap on the wrist.

The mayor of New York has identified two of the ultra-Orthodox mohelim who have infected several babies with herpes. They have been issued with $2,000 fines ($2,000, for infecting an innocent child for life with an incurable disease!) and asked (with no compulsion) to be tested for herpes (Eh?). The city will not release their names. Recklessly endangering a child's life carries a jail sentence, but now these people will justifiably believe they are above the law.

Details here and here

Thanks to Tom for the story.


28th March, 2017. Circumcision in Papua New Guinea

Push to boost rates

Papua New Guinea has the highest HIV incidence of any country in Oceania, and health authorities are urging an increase in circumcision rates. Over half of the population practice traditional circumcision, most with a simple dorsal slit, but some with a full circumcision (see our PNG page). Epidemiological evidence suggests that this does protect against AIDS, but the push is on to get the whole male population done, preferably with a full circumcision. Read the story in this item from Radio New Zealand.

Thanks to Mark P. for the link.


18th March, 2017. Updates

Status updates on recent items

March 10th. Ultra-orthodox Jewish mohelim in New York infecting infants with herpes. It is now confirmed that in spite of the deal struck two years ago the Ultra-Orthodox community has done nothing about conducting health checks! City authorities are now promising a clamp-down but no details as yet. Read it in the New York Post.

March 2nd. #ZwakalaSkeem Day was a success, with 2,000 men taking advantage of a free circumcision. Actor Kagiso Modupe, who launched the nationwide campaign, was naturally done, with full support of his wife. Read about it in The Citizen or the S.A. Times.

Thanks to Tom for these links.


10th March, 2017. Babies infected by mohels

Barbaric ancient practice spreads herpes virus

Ultra-orthodox Jewish mohelim in New York are insisting on carrying out the rite of metzitzah in which the mohel sucks blood from the baby's penis after the cut. This has led to several cases of babies being infected with the herpes virus. Herpes is a very severe infection in babies since the immune system is not fully developed, and often causes permanent brain damage.

Two years age New York relaxed restrictions on the practice in exchange for a undertaking from the Ultra-Orthodox community to carry out health checks on mohels. As the latest horror story shows, they didn't keep their side of the bargain. The story has been in several papers - here is the report from The Independent.

Thanks to Tom for this story.


9th March, 2017. How can you improve your sex life?

Get circumcised, according the the Sun

The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, reports very enthusiastically on a study carried out at the University of Chicago. 362 men were followed up after their circumcision - 94% were very satisfied, two thirds said their sex lives improved, 75% said their partners preferred it, and coital injuries were significantly reduced.

The Sun used this information to enthusiastically recommend the cut. The newspaper has a huge readership so maybe we'll see a rush for the op in Britain. Read the story here, or the Daily Mail version here.

Thanks to Tom and Mark for this story.

Update Thanks to Brian Morris we now know that this study was actually carried out in the Dominican Republic. Read the original paper here.


2nd March, 2017. Free circumcisions Saturday week!

Famous South African actor is getting done, and urges others to follow.

Actor Kagiso Modupe is getting medically circumcised at the age of 33 on March 11. He said in a press release, "I would like South African men to join me in a celebration of masculinity, brotherhood and good health. I'm calling on men to be circumcised with me on Saturday, 11 March 2017. There are 200 clinics involved in #ZwakalaSkeem day and it's absolutely free. Because it's a Saturday, men who work, won't need to take time off." #ZwakalaSkeem means 'come with me, brother'.

More details, including a phone number for South African readers, at News 24

Thanks to South African reader EK for this story, which has apparently created a bit of a stir in South Africa.


1st March, 2017. Patrick Stewart thought he was circumcised

His mother told him so.

Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard, Professor X) appeared on the British TV programme 'The Graham Norton Show' on February 24th, along with Australian actor Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), to celebrate the end of their participation in the X-Men movie series with the film 'Logan'. Somehow (I haven't seen the show and I do find it weird) the conversation got round to circumcision and Patrick Stewart revealed that he had gone through life thinking he was circumcised until his wife told he wasn't. Apparently his mother had told him he was, and that it was the normal thing when he was born (some truth in the latter part). He's had three wives and it was the third one who enlightened him!

So how can it be that he didn't find out at school? He came from a poor family, and attended state primary and secondary modern schools. (Secondary Modern schools were the lower level of the two-tier selective state education system at that time.) That means that circumcised boys would have been in the minority. My hypothesis is that his foreskin was forcibly retracted and dilated when he was a baby. This was also common at the time and led to a loose foreskin which, even before puberty, only half covered the glans. It wasn't too much different from a 'partial' circumcision. (I've seen both in my English schooldays). So, in a predominantly uncircumcised milieu, he passed as circumcised. Maybe his mother didn't even realise that what was done to him wasn't circumcision.

You can read all about it at The Evening Standard newspaper. So what of Hugh Jackman? Born Australia 1968 - circumcised for sure.

Thanks to Tom for this story.

Addendum, March 10th. The relevant part of the show is now on Facebook. Thanks to AM for the link.


28th February, 2017. Accucirc wins!

What device would be best for early infant male circumcision in east and southern Africa?

A group of practioners in the field were asked 'What would be the best device for mass routine infant circumcision?' Many favoured the Mogen clamp if they were performing the operation themlelves, but felt it needed too much skill for less-trained paramedics. For them, Accucirc won easily as the safest device, and the simplest to use. Prepex also had some supporters, but only if used with an injected local anaesthetic, not just topical EMLA cream. The study was published in the prestigious journal PlosOne, open access, and you can read it here. For details of the devices mentioned, check out our Instruments and Techniques page.

Thanks to Brian Morris for the information.


11th February, 2017. New study in the news

Major Australian review paper in International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

A new paper by Brian Morris and many co-authors: "Early infant male circumcision: Systematic review, risk-benefit analysis, and progress in policy" appeared in the International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics on February 8th. The paper is open access and you can download or read it here. It attracted immediate media attention, appearing in the news.com.au site on February 8th in both the Lifestyle and Breaking News sections. Both reports were broadly sympathetic. It also got a sympathetic write-up in the UK Daily Mail and a less sympathetic treatment in The Guardian (Australian edition).

Some of these stories make the incorrect claim that 'cosmetic' (i.e. prophylactic) circumcision is banned in public hospitals in Australia. This is nonsense - it is just no longer free to public patients. You can still get it done as a private patient in a public hospital, and Medicare, the Australian universal health insurance system, will pay part of the cost.

Thanks to Tom and Roger for the news links and Brian Morris for the link to the paper.


2nd February, 2017. Margaret Thatcher was in favour of circumcision

She had son Mark done

Regular correspondent AM has dug up an interesting story from 2013. The late Baroness Thatcher, UK hard-right Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, appointed Charles Moore, editor of the conservative British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' as her authorised biographer. Given full access to her papers he found a lot of stuff that had not previously been made public, and to her credit she didn't redact anything. This included a letter in which she said she was going to ask Dr Robert Henderson, a former boyfriend, to recommend a private surgeon to have baby son Mark circumcised because she did not want to use the NHS (National Health Service, the universal health insurance system in the UK). (I didn't think the NHS would do routine circs, anyway. Ed.)

The story is in the Evening Standard newspaper, 23 April 2013.


29th January, 2017. Antibiotics in circumcision

Do they do any good - or any harm?

It has become common in minor surgery to use antibiotics as a preventative measure against infection of the operation site. This practice is widely criticised as encouraging the spread of antibiotic resistance. Now a recent large-scale survey of routine infant circumcisions, published in the Journal of Pediatric Urology, has shown that antibiotic use has no significant effect in preventing infections, but does have a small but significant risk of causing allergic reactions to the antibiotic. This suggests that antibiotics should not be used in RIC.

Read the story here.

Thanks to Brian Morris for the story.


24th January, 2017. Nurses to circumcise in the US

Wisconsin hospital introduces cost-saving procedure

The Mayo-Franciscan Hospital in Lacrosse, WI has started training neonatal nurses to perfom circumcision on baby boys. This is a first for the US, though of course it happens all the time in Africa. Dr. Dennis Costakos, neonatology chairman at Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, suggests that the move can save money, free up physicians' time, and allow mothers and babies earlier discharge from hospital, since neonatal nurses are always available while physicians are not.

Read the story here.

OK, Tom again!



15th January, 2017. Malaysia circumcision

Government lays down a "Standard operating procedure"

Following on a series of more or less serious accidents (some horrendous) the Malaysian government has set out a standard operating procedure for circumcision. This is obviously a welcome move but at this time it isn't clear how this affects circumcisions done with disposable devices such as the Tara Klamp and Sunathrone.

Read the story here.

Thanks yet one more time to tireless correspondent Tom for sending us the link.



1st January, 2017. Health insurance cover for circumcision

Netherlands insurer defends its policy

Zilveren Kruis (Silver Cross), the Netherlands' largest medical insurer, has defended its coverage of voluntary male circumcision against criticism from far-right groups that it is assisting the spread of Islam.

Read the story here.

Thanks once again to Tom for sending us the link.



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