[quote="Spidette"]True, not every circ is like this... but just last semester when I was doing my OB rotation for nursing school, I observed circumcisions being preformed. I had assumed the worst seeing all the circ videos and such, but in reality every circ this one doc did that day was the exact opposite. The only time the baby cried was at the very begining when the doc numbed the penis (injected anesthetic). From then on none of the babies cried and even 3 of them fell asleep during the procedure./[/i]quote]

I'm sorry but I find this so disturbing it chills me to the core. Just seeing one newborn strapped down naked to that board was enough to make me want to cry every time I think about. My baby was not relaxed, he was screaming bloody murder, and when I tried to nurse him for comfort they yelled NOOO! don't do it or he'll throw up. That sounds like severe distress to me. They then regretted letting me in the room and eventually threw me out. Not picking him up and saving him is something I sadly have to live with forever. I don't know, maybe seeing it done over and over to other people's children is like working in the nursery and hearing babies cry all day - it loses its effect on you.

My Brother( a redneck) was convinced when he read info about intact that said that sex is better when penis is intact. Maybe that'll get the dad's thinking. I have five intact sons and their dad is circ.

oh, i'll take an intact penis over a circed one anyday! for those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting one, trust me, you won't want to go back! it's a whole different ballgame.

I have two sons; the oldest is circ'd and the younger is intact. I wish I had known with the first what I knew with the second, but I feel like my husband and I made the best decision we knew at the time. Our younger son is the only one of all his cousins and uncles to be intact and our family thinks we're a little strange for it, but what swayed us to leaving him intact was not all the horror stories and cruel "facts" about circumcision. What changed our minds was the fact that we realized, after our experience with our older son, that our reasons for having him circ'd didn't hold up. We thought he would look more like dad - he doesn't because the circumcision methods were different. We thought it would be easier to clean - it's not; the little bit of foreskin my son has left has to be pulled back every time he bathes so it doesn't get rashy whereas my intact son will be protected and not have the same cleanliness issue.

My point is that sometimes you will just turn off parents with facts that feel so out there that they are difficult to believe when you make blanket statements (ie, I'm sure hospitals around here don't sell foreskins since circumcision isn't routinely done in the hospital. They don't even ask parents about it. If you want your son circ'd, you have your pediatrician do it at the baby's two-week appt. If you want it done right after birth you have to specifically ask and make arrangements for it.)
I was happy with the response my husband had for his sisters when they asked why we didn't circumcise our son. He just said that the real question was why should we circ, not why we shouldn't.
I would just get the parents talking about circumcision and ask them why they want to circ and go from there. Only present the info if needed and let them talk it out so you don't seem so pushy. That's what I would do, anyway.