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"There is no absolute medical indication for circumcision of the newborn." ...The American Academy of Pediatrics

Circumcision

When the ultrasound showed that we were going to have a boy (3 weeks before Alex was born) I just about fell off the exam table. The first thing I said to Phillip on the way home was "I don't want him circumcised" Phillip had a real problem with that at first. I told him that I thought it was cruel and unnecessary. I did a lot of research on the topic, showed it to Phillip and we discussed it over and over. There were all the usual debates:

• He should look like his father: Sorry but no child will ever look exactly like one of their parents - besides, would you color you kids hair so it matched yours, or send your teenage daughter for a breast reduction because she's bigger busted than you?.
• Circumcised boys will make fun of him in the locker room: Guess what - circumcised boys are quickly becoming the minority - besides, he can always wear his foreskin pushed back if he wants to look like them.
• It's healthier: This argument just doesn't hold water anymore - back to the teenage daughter again, would you have a radical mastectomy performed at puberty because she might develop breast cancer someday?.
• It's just a little piece of skin, you don't really need it: Little?! The average amount of skin removed during an infant circumcision is equal to 15 square inches of adult skin, or enough to completely cover a 3x5 note card, and it's filled with more nerve endings and blood vessels than just about any other area of skin on your body.

Phillip eventually started to agree with me and finally decided that I was right. People who have asked if Alex is circumcised or not I have replied to with: "No, I don't question God or Mother Nature, he was made that way for a reason, besides who am I to decide for him whether to cut off a harmless piece of skin or not?"

• NOCIRC Home Page : National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers is a non­profit educational organization committed to securing the birthright of male and female children and babies to keep their sexual organs intact.
• NOHARM : National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine Mutilation of Males asserts that an intact body is a universal human right.
• D.O.C. : Doctors Opposing Circumcision is an organization of physicians, and others who are opposed to routine neonatal circumcision.
• Nurses for the Rights of the Child: is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of infants and children to bodily integrity..
• Mothers Against Circumcision: is an organization founded by a mother, dedicated to informing parents about the risks of circumcision .
• CIRP : Circumcision Information and Resource Pages providing information about all aspects of circumcision.
• Anatomy of the Penis and Mechanics of Intercourse : What the foreskin is, how it works and why it's important.

Vaccinations

(Vaccination is the term sometimes used instead of immunization, since vaccines do not guarantee immunity from childhood diseases). I am just not comfortable with someone injecting toxic chemicals and inactivated diseases into my child's body - I never have been. Unfortunately when our first child was born I didn't realize I had a choice in the matter. Every shot he received scared me to death, the fevers, the swollen red bump at the injection site, the crying - I couldn't sleep for fear that he would stop breathing.

Since Alex's birth I have done a lot of reading on the subject and a lot of soul searching and I really have not seen anything that convinces me that vaccinations are either safe or effective. Just finding out about the toxins that are used in making the vaccines is enough to make me refuse the boosters they keep pushing on me, why on earth would I let them inject the same substances into my child? Then there are the possible long term effects - implications of lowered immune functioning, links to increases in illnesses and diseases such as allergies, asthma & cancer (just to name a few). It's really scary when you start realizing that the vaccinations you have been brainwashed to accept as necessary and good might actually be more hazardous to you child's health than the diseases they were designed to protect him from.

• Global Vaccine Awareness League : is dedicated to the education of parents and concerned citizens regarding vaccination. With education comes the freedom of choice, and respect for the choices of others.
• Vaccine Information & Awareness : Empowers parents to question, challenge, investigate, research and become more informed and aware about the risks and dangers that exist with vaccines.
• The National Vaccine Information Center : A national, non-profit educational organization dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education.
• Citizens for Healthcare Freedom : Supporting Your Right to Informed Vaccination Decisions.
• Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute : Offers the world's largest selection of uncensored information on childhood shots and other immunizations.
• U.S State Exemptions : A quick reference guide to state exemptions.

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Natural Mothering: Newborn Choices Page
First on-line: 10/05/1997

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