Were you really hoping that your loved ones included a gift receipt this year when you opened your present?

Let’s face it. Sometimes we all question whether or not it’s “the thought that counts.” Lucky for us, we live in a day and age where exchanging, store credit, and regifting are socially acceptable.

And there’s a pretty high chance that you yourself have given a few duds.

If you could somehow find out in advance that the recipient of a present wouldn’t like it, would you still give them the gift? Or would you get them something else instead?

Well, there’s one gift that a lot of men aren’t thankful for this year: circumcision.

Wait, what?

That’s right. Many times we hear parents of baby boys claim things like:

“He’ll thank me later.”

“Do him a favor and get it done now.”

“I’m saving him from being teased later on.”

But as well-intended as this ‘gift’ might be when it’s given, thousands and thousands of guys aren’t thankful that they’re cut, especially not once they learned what was taken from them and what the process entailed.

Never mind the fact that none of the statements above are medical rationales for circumcision, or that all of the medical “reasons” for circumcision are easily disproven using science, statistics, and logical reasoning. Forget the ethical dilemma of lack of consent. We’ve written on these issues elsewhere in the Little Images blog.

Let’s focus on something else instead:

Many men wish they had not been circumcised.

In loving memory of Jonathon Conte, 1981-2016.

The fact is, many men are not thankful that their parents did this to them. As more and more guys are learning what circumcision entails, more and more are saying, “I wish my parents would not have done this to me.”

There are thousands upon thousands of men who are currently restoring their foreskins to undo some of the damage and complications caused by their circumcisions.

There are hashtags like #IAMNOTTHANKFUL dedicated to men coming out and publicly saying that they do not appreciate having been circumcised.

Type “I am angry that I was circumcised” into Google and you get almost 440,000 results. View the Global Survey of Circumcision Harm and you see that side effects and emotional distress are more common than pro-circumcision advocates would have you believe. Read the testimonies of men who have used devices such as the TLC Tugger, the Senslip, or another restoration device to hear how physically and psychologically healing it is for them to take back what was taken from them without their consent.

But thankfully, this “gift” is getting less and less common.

More and more men every day are choosing to leave their sons intact, even though they themselves are circumcised. This trend will only continue rising.

Here’s the simple logic:

If you were not circumcised as a baby, and are unhappy with it, then you can get circumcised if you want to. You can make that choice for yourself, for any reason that you want, because you have given your informed consent.

If you were circumcised as a baby, and are unhappy about it, you’re out of luck. You only get one penis, and if it’s cut, you can never fully get back what was taken from you. Even though you did not consent, you’re stuck with the results.

Once they cut, there’s no undoing it. There’s no gift receipt, no returns. What you get is what you get. Too much skin taken off? Tough luck. Tight, painful erections? Oh well. Skin bridges? Deal with it. Erectile dysfunction come middle age due to keratinization of the glans? Too bad.

The only safe choice is letting him choose.

On the other hand, giving your son the gift of leaving the hospital with all God-designed parts ensures that he suffers none of the painful, embarrassing side effects above – and most of all, it respects your son’s right to bodily integrity and acknowledges God’s wonderful design for him.

So, before you drop lots of money at the hospital paying someone to cut off an important part of your son’s body, think twice. Saying ‘no’ to circumcision costs you nothing, and it’s a gift that keeps on giving.