Myth 3: My doctor uses anesthesia.
Reality check: Not necessarily. Most newborns do not receive adequate anesthesia. Only 45% of doctors who do circumcisions use any anesthesia at all. Obstetricians perform 70% of circumcisions and are least likely to use anesthesia - only 25% do. The most common reasons why they don't? They didn't think the procedure warranted it, and it takes too long (Stang 1998). A circumcision with adequate anesthesia takes a half-hour - if they brought your baby back sooner, he was in severe pain during the surgery.
Myth 4: Even if it is painful, the baby won't remember it.
Reality check: The body is a historical repository and remembers everything. The pain of circumcision causes a rewiring of the baby's
brain so that he is more sensitive to pain later (Taddio 1997, Anand 2000). Circumcision also can cause
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
depression,
anger, low
self-esteem and problems with intimacy (Boyle 2002, Hammond 1999, Goldman 1999). Even with a lack of explicit
memory and the inability to protest - does that make it right to inflict pain? Ethical guidelines for animal research whenever possible* - do babies deserve any less?
