Before You Sign the Consent Form
How America learned to treat infant circumcision as normal, and why expecting parents deserve time to question it.
AutonomyHistoryInformed Consent
Read article The editorial library
Articles
Long-form history, anatomy, bioethics, intact-care education, medical evidence, and careful attention to men’s experiences.
Featured
The History America Forgot: How Circumcision Became Routine
Circumcision did not become routine American medicine because newborn boys were suddenly found to be defective. Its normalization grew from Victorian anxieties, institutional authority, changing hospital practices, and a culture that stopped asking why.
HistoryAutonomyInstitutional Incentives
Read article The Foreskin Is Not Extra Skin
A clear guide to the anatomy removed during circumcision and why informed consent requires more than calling it a small flap of skin.
AnatomyMedical EvidenceInformed Consent
Read article Consent Before Custom: The Bioethics of Infant Circumcision
What informed consent, proportionality, bodily integrity, and the child’s future autonomy mean when surgery is elective and the patient cannot speak.
BioethicsAutonomyInformed Consent
Read article What Intact Care Actually Requires
Normal foreskin development is often misunderstood. Intact care is generally simple, and forced retraction can cause the very problems it is mistakenly meant to prevent.
Intact CareAnatomyMedical Evidence
Read article Listening to Men Who Wish They Had Been Asked
The circumcision debate often ends after infancy. For many men, the emotional and sexual meaning of the decision does not begin until much later.
Men’s VoicesAutonomyInformed Consent
Read article An Irreversible Procedure and a Billable Decision
A healthy intact newborn requires no surgical correction. Circumcision is an elective procedure that can generate professional and institutional revenue. That does not prove misconduct, but it makes transparency essential.
Institutional IncentivesMedical EvidenceInformed Consent
Read article Benefits, Risks, and the Question That Lists Leave Out
Benefit-risk comparisons matter, but they cannot answer the entire ethical question. A small possible benefit does not automatically authorize an irreversible intervention on a nonconsenting child.
Medical EvidenceBioethicsAutonomy
Read article