Pregnant Mom Leaves Appointment Outraged After Nurse Shames Her For Not Circumcising Son

Oct 07, 2021 by apost team

A fed-up Redditor took to the Parenting subreddit in May 2020 to share her experience of how a nurse shamed her for not having her son circumcised. “I do not need any sympathy this is just more of a rant,” her post begins. The woman’s rant seems to have struck a chord with the parenting community on Reddit, as it quickly shot up the rankings to become one of the top posts that day. Since then, nearly 300 Redditors have shared their thoughts on the matter, with most community members taking this mother’s side.

As the Redditor recounts in her post, she was at the OB-GYN’s office for her 32-week check-up when the nurse asked if she needed a copy of the circumcision form, as she is set to have a boy. Not wanting to make a scene or argue, the Redditor writes that she calmy declined the form. But the nurse wouldn’t stop talking about it, adding that she didn’t understand why parents would want an uncircumcised son.

The original poster (OP) found the interaction unprofessional, arguing that the nurse should not “inject her opinion in my son's life.”

Although ritual circumcisions for Muslims and Jews are common, the OP added that she isn’t affiliated with any faith, and so she’s even angrier that the nurse suggested that it was wrong to have an uncircumcised child.

After her “rant,” the OP then asks the parenting community if others have had similar experiences, which led to a series of interesting discussions on the topic of circumcision and its popularity.

The top commenter responded to the OP’s post with a question of their own, asking why it was that circumcision is so popular in the U.S.

Another Redditor echoed the comment, writing that “from a European perspective it‘s really hard to imagine how much societal pressure there is in favour of circumcision.”

According to Quartz, there are a variety of reasons why circumcision remains “the most common surgery in America for over a century.” For some, the very fact that it’s popular and normal in the U.S. means that there’s peer pressure to follow suit. “I didn’t want (my son) to look weird,” the writer’s brother-in-law told Quartz of his own experience. The CDC reports that nearly 60 percent of babies in the U.S. were circumcised in 2010.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, male circumcision has waned in popularity. The New York Times reports that the Danish Medical Association even recommended ending the practice altogether, though they stopped short of saying it should be outlawed given the surgery’s ethical, cultural and religious complexities.

Quartz reports that the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics endorse the procedure, claiming that it has health benefits, such as lowering a boy’s risk of developing diseases later in life.

The nurse mentioned in the Redditor’s story was clearly in support of procedure, though she went so far as to shame people who don’t circumcise their children. 

“She said, ‘Honestly I don't know why we have a form for it, they should just automatically do it to everyone. I can't imagine why some people don't circumcise their sons, it's just so disgusting. I have three boys and of course they've all been circumcised.’”

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The OP, who doesn’t want to have her son circumcised, reacted with anger and frustration at the nurse’s comment.

“I was shamed enough when I breastfed my two daughters up until their 2nd birthday, and now I'm being shamed for not circumcising my son when we are not even Jewish or Muslim or anything!! I really like my OB but that nurse just really pissed me off,” she wrote.

One Redditor who claims that they are a nurse took the OP’s side.

“As a nurse myself, that is really unprofessional, unnecessary and inappropriate for nurse/patient relationships. My son is uncircumcised and I seem to recall being asked about the scheduling with the assumption I was going to do it, but also total acceptance when I said that I wasn’t by both nurses and OB,” the Redditor commented.

Not all medical professionals in the U.S. agree that circumcision is a healthier choice.

In an interview with Quartz, Timothy R.B. Johnson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan and an expert on the topic, said, “I have no qualms if it binds people to their God, but I think the data is pretty slim to support medical indications for circumcision.”

Johnson added that circumcisions are “highly remunerative.”

“I think the professional charge in our state is somewhere between $150-200,” he explained. “That’s real money if you can do four or five circumcisions in an hour.”

Regardless of whether one is against or for male circumcision, the vast majority of Redditors were in agreement. It’s unprofessional and inappropriate to shame someone for either choice.

What do you think of the circumcision debate? Did the nurse overstep her bounds? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to get other opinions on the matter.