I am always happy to hear anyone from another country express their
surprize and concern that the USA persists in the practice of
non-religious circumcision.  Many Americans are unaware that
circumcision is not accepted in other parts of the industrialised world.
It reminds me of the time I heard some American military wives in
Germany, laughing at the "backward" Germans for not having their little
boys circumcised.  They were quite unaware that most of the rest of the
world is laughing at the "backward" Americans for still practicing
something that they have either long since rejected or never taken up in
the first place!

One of the benefits I tell parents that comes of leaving their baby
boys' anatomy intact is avoiding the interruption of breastfeeding that
can occur when a baby is put through something as traumatic as
circumcision.  There has been some research that has demonstrated this.
My husband has had OB patients who commented to him that their babies
had been nursing well to begin with but would not nurse well after being
circumcised (by another doctor, not my husband).  This, of course leads
to jaundice in the baby, engorgement in the mom, anxious nurses trying
harder to push bottles, etc., etc..

I hope that more people from other countries will take opportunities to
express their concern about circumcision in America.  The incidence is
much lower now than 15 years ago, but it is dying a difficult death.

Aloha,
Darillyn Starr