September 21, 2013

If She'd Been a Boy

Marlena...sweet,precious Marlena.
The little sister to four amazing little men-oh,the joys they bring me.

Marlena.
Most people see a chubby cheeked babe all dressed up in pink and consider how lucky I must feel to now have a daughter.
Yes,I feel very blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby-and of course elated that I now have a daughter.

But one thing that most people probably don't consider-in fact it probably never enters anyone's mind but my own: Marlena is blessed herself.


Marlena's mommy chose NOT to circumcise her next baby.

*letting that settle in your mind*












Yes.I decided that I would leave my next baby WHOLE after I learned about circumcision.


"Now,of course" You might say "It's illegal to circumcise baby girls!"

And you would be right.
The genital mutilation of females in the United States of America has been outlawed.

It's.A.Crime.


Baby girls are afforded the basic human right to FULL AUTONOMY;the right to their WHOLE BODY.

They are protected against an unnecessary,painful and scarring procedure.

In a country where baby boys are routinely circumcised at birth,baby girls are blessed with having a basic human right.



Baby girls are protected from:

  • Being one of 117+ babies who die yearly from circumcision related complications.
  • Having their genitals scarred and disfigured from circumcision and/or related complications.
  • Having the most erogenous zone of their body desensitized-circumcision removes up to 20,000 nerve endings.
  • Having a part of their body amputated to protect against cancer,STD's and UTI's.
  • Complications breastfeeding-about 75% of babies who are circumcised have issues breastfeeding post-op.
  • The Physical pain and trauma of being forcefully strapped down and cut-often without any anesthesia.
  • The psychological trauma-circumcised men/boys are 60% more likely to experience psychological disorders.
  • The biological consequences-circumcised men and boys experience more discomfort,frustration and sexual difficulties from being cut than ever likely if they'd been left alone.
  • Future sexual dysfunctions-circumcised men have a 5X greater incidence of erectile dysfunction.
  • Having their genitals cut to avoid something as treatable as a yeast infection.



No one would ever think of saying:

"Cut her so she looks like her mama" 
"If you remove her labia it reduces her risk of STD's"
"She'll be cleaner if you cut off part of her genitals"



Baby girls get to:

  • Keep their whole body-the law protects them.
  • Experience full physical and sexual pleasure.
  • Be treated for UTI's with antibiotics or homeopathic remedies-rather than being cut.
  • Avoid 'healing' from an unnecessary cosmetic procedure in a urine and feces soaked diaper.
  • Be treated as competent enough to wash their body-rather than having parts removed.
  • Have any cancer or STD's TREATED,rather than the body part removed as a precautionary method.




Yes,Baby girls like Marlena are blessed.

Blessed to be treated with DIGNITY.RESPECT.CONCERN.
Blessed to have BASIC.HUMAN.RIGHTS.

The rights that ALL human beings deserve.

Somewhere along the way,somebody decided that little girls shouldn't be cut anymore-that it's barbaric and cruel.

The same reasons were given for female genital mutilation that are still used for cutting baby boys.

And yet,we decided that our baby girls didn't deserve to have parts of their body painfully amputated.
We decided that there was no benefit to this brutally inhumane procedure.

So.We.Stopped.It.

We looked at the facts.We looked at what we were doing.We made a change.

Isn't it beyond time that we do the same for the boys?
Can't we do the same for our sons-don't we want them to experience their full bodies?

I made the choice to circumcise my first four children without knowing the facts.

That can't be undone.

And even though I learned too late for my boys,I was able to educate myself and decide that the future would be different.

I would let my next baby choose what to do with their body.

Their body.Their Choice.


So I left Marlena intact-The way she was born:
PERFECT.

And I would have done the same If She'd Been a Boy








Here is a list of sites full of information that helped ME learn better-that helped ME change MY mind.
That made me decide that Marlena would have her full body....even if she'd been a boy.


http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/circumcision-facts/
http://www.circumcisionfacts.com/
http://www.drmomma.org/
http://www.savingsons.org/
http://www.intactamerica.org/
http://www.stopcirc.com/christian.html



**********************************************
I am aware that in some developing nations Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still a ritual.
I find it devastating that we are unable to branch out and help those girls like we have helped our own.
I find it JUST as saddening that the little boys in our own backyard (The USA) are still experiencing Male Genital Mutilation (MGM) and we are condoning it.
The cutting of ANY UNCONSENTING INDIVIDUAL IS WRONG.

10 comments:

  1. Thank you!! I also have three intact children: one girl and two boys. They thanked me as children and now as adults.

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  2. Thank you! Boys and girls are born perfect. It has nothing to do with being a crunchy parent. It has to do with human rights.

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  3. AMEN!!! Amen and amen. Could NOT have put it better hun <3

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  4. I enjoy your blog but I don't agree with your views on male circumcision... and that's ok.

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    Replies
    1. I respect your opinion,but I have to point out that what I write is based on science,not simply my beliefs.I circumcised my sons based on 'beliefs',but changed my mind based on facts pf biology. :)
      Thanks for taking the time to read it....hopefully I can help you see new ideas!

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  5. I found your website from youtube. I watch some other mommies for great ideas. can you do a 'day in the life' or some grocery hauls to show how you budget? also, do you do baby led weaning? how were your kids when starting them on solids? Will you start your daughter at 4 months or 6 months? some people have strong opinions on this.
    Maybe you did this already somewhere... if so then ignore this lol
    I think your a wonderful mom to your kids!

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  6. I so agree! Thank you for putting this reality to words. We had an appointment to circumsize our baby son, now 9, and we cancelled after a nurse noticed our discomfort. She told us "given the opportunity to "redo," I would never have modified my childrens' genitals. We realized that we had no sound, firm reason for doing it. Even my husband, circumsized, said "I should have been allowed this decision. To this day, I am glad we never did. His body, his decision. It resonates more and more with me, every day.

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