More prominent concerns focus on sexual function and satisfaction. Opponents argue that the foreskin, like much of the penis, contains many nerve endings. It also protects the head of the penis; without it, the penis might become less sensitive over time.
But does this actually happen? A recent study in the Journal of Urology, discussed in The New York Times, measured penile sensitivity in circumcised and uncircumcised men and found no real difference. It wasn’t the first, or the best, study to look at this.
A randomized controlled trial of more than 2,700 men in Kenya found that after circumcision they experienced increased sensitivity, and that they had an easier time reaching orgasm. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that circumcision was unrelated to premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction or difficulty achieving orgasm.
Over all, the evidence arguing for and against circumcision fails to make a compelling case in either direction. The benefits, while arguably real, are small; likewise the harms. In such cases, we usually leave the decision to the patient.
There is, of course, an ethical problem here, since the choice is almost always made by parents, not by the boys themselves. Circumcision is irreversible, and many argue, quite stridently, that this is “genital mutilation” inflicted on children for no reason.
All cards on the table: I’m Jewish, and I’m circumcised, as are both my sons. The procedure has a spiritual weight in my community. When confronted by people who use terms like mutilation, I generally recoil. Circumcising my boys was a personal decision for my wife and me, and I understand the various arguments for and against. People angry about this choice seem to imagine that we haven’t thoroughly considered it.
I also live with the knowledge that it’s possible that my children might have chosen differently. But we also have to recognize that parents make many, many decisions for their children with a greater and more meaningful impact on them than circumcision. That’s what parents do. Assuming that this is the most consequential one we might have made about our boys’ lives, and focusing so much attention on it — when evidence makes the value of either choice unclear — seems out of proportion.