sion, its current state, and now-waverineg future t effective HIV prevention tools > HIV is more prevalent, such as ale circumcision is becoming more ¢ male circumcision like never s performed annually is ona ard to show, the simultaneous umcision rates is impossible er cent of the population now liation,” the highest percentage same time, only half of male ‘ircumcisions, down significantly newborns underwent the identification means a drop in rf Anti-circumcision activists claim a variety of reasons why the surgery should not be practiced. Aside from arguing that the operation is painful for the infant, the possibility of “botched” circumcisions can have severe consequences. The most infamous example would be that of David Reimer, who underwent sexual reassignment after a failed circumcision rendered his penis unusable. Reimer’s parents then approved of a sexual reassignment procedure, gave him the name “Brenda,” and proceeded to raise him as a girl. After a lifetime of sexual confusion and bullying, which eventually led to Reimer’s parents telling him the truth about his initial sex, Reimer underwent another reassignment. He would later commit suicide, with depression being seen as a major factor. Reimer’s highly documented case of sexual reassignment as the result of a failed circumcision has often made him a martyr for anti-circumcision advocates. While cases like Reimer’s are rare, the risks involved with male circumcision mean that fewer people are willing to pursue the entirely optional procedure. When I mentioned to a co-worker, newly a father himself, that I was writing an article on male circumcision, he told me of his own experience with the perspectives of modern parents. In a prenatal class he had taken prior, only one set of parents had entertained the idea of circumcision, and it was only because the father was pushing for it. None of the other parents were even considering the procedure. While certainly a small sample to look at, my co-worker’s story further established the belief that male circumcision is no longer as prominent as it once was. Headed towards a consensus? For every country that begins advocating male circumcision, another begins to experience a decline. While the motivations behind the procedure have shifted in the last few decades, it’s not likely that male circumcision will be disappearing anytime soon. Groups like Jews Against Circumcision and Mothers Against Circumcisions continue to put pressure on the procedure’s legality and practice, but it’s doubtful either side will prevail. My own stance in this debate doesn’t lack bias: I myself fall under the category of uncut, a decision my parents made for me when I was younger—and none of us have really looked back since. “Did you put much thought into why you didn’t have me circumcised?” J asked my mom during one of the weirdest four- minute phone conversations we'd ever had. “Well, I thought about it a little bit and I thought ‘Are we supposed to do that?’” she replied, recalling the question many mothers go through when dealing with a newborn. “But I also thought ‘What's the point?” Unaware of both the benefits and risks to the procedure, my parents’ decision was completely untouched from external influences. And because my family is relatively unreligious, there was no pressure to have the operation performed for religious purposes. “In Judaism, the book of Genesis says that God told Abraham that every boy should be circumcised.” I tell her. “But didn’t God also tell Abraham to sacrifice his son?”