Massachusetts, USA: The Circumcision Decision
Here in the USA, circumcision’s a big deal. It’s a big financial deal for the hospitals performing the procedure, it’s a big deliberated deal for the parents of a newborn male and, I can only assume, a big traumatizing deal for the baby going under the knife.
When I was pregnant with our second and final child two-and-a-half years ago, I hadn’t intended to find out the baby’s gender but when a pronoun slipped at an ultrasound appointment and I learned I was having a boy, I was thrilled. At the time, my close friend, RO, also was pregnant and already knew she was having a boy. Our daughters were four days apart, we lived within a mile of each other and now the due dates for our sons also would be just a few days apart.
We openly talked about the new challenges we might face raising sons and our stances on circumcision, which we both felt apprehensive about. Neither of us needed to conduct it for religious reasons (both the Jewish and Islamic cultures practice circumcision as acts of commandments) yet both of us had grown up in a generation where the practice was wide-spread. (more…)
Kyla P'an (Portugal)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
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