Parents' regrets

Hear from parents who learned too late about the true cost of circumcision.

Online Support Forums & Individual Therapists

Personal Experience Stories From Regret Parents

My Promise (Chrisann P., RN)
I was over-the-moon in love with my twin boys way before they were born. We found out early that they were boys and that’s exactly what I wanted! I made them check at each appointment that the last ultrasound tech wasn’t wrong. I researched their nursery, car seats, pediatricians, all the usual baby topics. The subject of circumcision came up. My husband was circumcised as an infant and insisted that they would be just fine if they were circumcised too.

But Shouldn't They Match? (YWB)
Let’s set the scene. You have one or more sons who were circumcised before you questioned the procedure. Maybe you regret putting them through that pain and/or have started to feel badly about doing it at all. You’re jumping in feet first to learn more and arm yourself with information. Now you’re pregnant with another boy. Yay! Another boy! Suddenly, a question creeps into your inner dialog from the recesses of your mind: Won’t he feel left out? 

The Medical Community Failed My Son (YWB)
“It was the worst decision I have made, so uninformed... After I saw his raw wound, I knew I did something wrong... When I changed his diaper for the first time after the procedure I was horrified… It was the worst day of my life. And the worst choice of my life… If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat.”

They Lied to Me by Chelsea Fields (YWB)
"I am in tears as I write this. This is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I think it is necessary... They told me he would be fine. They said it was best. It's cleaner, it looks better, it's just what everyone does, he won't feel it."

Tiffany's Regret Story (Little Images)
"When he was brought back, he was an entirely different baby. The light in his eyes was gone. 15 minutes later, they came in to say that they forgot to weigh him while he was naked, so I needed to undress him and remove his diaper so they could weigh him now. I did – and the gauze came off, too. It was a horrific sight."

Almost a Regret Mom (YWB)
"In January 2015 my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our first child. The first thing I said to my husband is if it was a boy I didn't want him circumcised and if it was a girl she couldn't get her ears pierced until she asks for them after she starts elementary school. My husband was fine with the ear piercing but thought if we had a son he should be circumcised."

I Want Him Back (YWB)
"It was three years ago when my husband and I found out we were having a boy during my anatomy ultrasound. There was no question in either of our minds as to whether he would be circumcised. We happily checked "yes" to circumcision on our birth plan without a second thought."

For Callum
“'Meatal Stenosis.' What’s that? Does your son have it? Do you know what it is? I didn't know what it was, six years ago. I'd never heard of it until I started learning about the harms of infant circumcision — far too late, I might add, to protect my son."

One Mom's Letter (YWB)
"I am writing to you on the behalf of my three year old son. He is an amazing child. He is full of energy and life. He has always been a blessing to my husband and me. Since the day we found out he was coming, we were ecstatic to be welcoming another addition to our family. He was born PERFECT on August 19th, 2012."

Regrets from a Circumcision (Summer Doula)
"And then I saw B retreat into himself.  He stopped crying, his eyes clouded over and he was gone.  The vacancy in his eyes was (and still is) haunting.  I kept talking to him through my tears." 

Regret Moms Remember (YWB)
A compilation of mothers' memories of their sons' circumcisions. 

A Collection of Mothers' Regrets (Mothering Magazine)
"It was a bad circumcision. Part of the foreskin was left intact and the whole head looked like it was twisted. And he bled for a long time. I regretted it very much. I cried every time I changed his diapers... I took such an important part of his penis, a part that gives so much pleasure to men, and we threw it into the garbage."

How I Almost Lost My Son to Circumcision (Family Sprouts)
"After a long and frightening hospital birth, exhausted and bruised from forced pushing, I allowed a nurse to take my perfect little boy to another part of the hospital to be circumcised."

My Precious Love, I Am Sorry (Our Muddy Boots)
"It would be years before I found validation that my intuition was right, and even then I would not be able to read all of the reasons why.  It is still too painful.  But I have learned enough to know that routine infant circumcision is wrong.   I know that the reasons we do it do not make sense, and that I allowed my baby to be mutilated."

One Baby's Experience (Peaceful Beginnings from Rosemary)
"The following pictures were taken from a slide series depicting a routine circumcision of a newborn infant within a typical hospital nursery setting."

Mother Claims Doctor Disfigured Son After 'Botched' Circumcision (WMC News)
"Circumcision for newborn boys is considered one of the most common medical procedures in the world. But one Memphis mother says her son was mutilated during the common surgery."

Infant's Brush with Death After Routine Circumcision (The Whole Network)
"I have a story to share. This is a story about my son. A curly red headed boy who gives the best hugs and has the most delightful giggle. A boy that is madly in love with his brothers and sisters. A boy that I know will forgive me and his daddy for the horrible choice we made on his behalf..."

Time Ran Out (YWB)
"So I let them take him, even though every muscle in my body was telling me to run after her and take my son back. After a long labor in which I already felt like I had my rights stripped from me and told my concerns did not matter, I honestly did not feel like I had the power to say no, so I let her take him."

A Question that Should Never Have Been Asked (Legos on the Stairs)
" I didn’t want to give him to them. But I did. How I wish I could go back to that very moment and say “No! You cannot have him!” But I didn’t listen to that voice inside me."

Rethinking Circumcision: Why I'm Over This "Boy's Club" (Babble)
"When they returned, my baby was asleep, but he no longer wore the content, dreamy newborn expression he’d left with. Looking at photos of our first few days with our baby, I know exactly which ones were taken before and after his circumcision, and I regret consenting to it. Everything about it — everything I was assured was normal, even — didn’t feel normal, or right, at all, from his bandaged penis to his lethargy... "

Circumcision Part 1: Uninformed Consent– The REAL Dangers That Doctors Don’t Tell You About (Mother Wise)
"Hello, I’m Amanda Tyson and I had my son circumcised. I did it because it was “healthier.” I did it because my husband and brothers are all circumcised. I did it because it is what I knew and was comfortable with.  I did it because my doctor did not tell me about the risks and complications. What I did is better called uninformed consent."

When a Mama Changes Her Mind (Parenting)
"Perhaps most significantly, when I look back at our first photographs, I know which were taken before Kaspar’s penis was cut and which were taken after. And I can see a difference in his face. "

I Used to be Pro Circumcision (The Whole Network)
"As my due date drew near I began to get this feeling in my gut. I don't know how to explain it other than feeling nervous and edgy. I knew what it was about. I had the same feeling when it was time to set up the appointment to get Blake (my six-year old) circumcised. "

Why We Chose to Keep Our Son Intact (April Moments)
"Ten years later, I can’t help but wonder – what if we had chosen differently? What if we had left him intact? I have thought about the circumcision decision many, many times over the past decade. I will admit, I regret it."