Craig, 28 – Scotland
Where were you born?
Scotland. When did you first become aware of circumcision? After I started school, myself and a classmate went for a pee at the urinal and the head of his willy was grey, so I asked why his willy looked different to mine, he said he’d had the skin cut off as he couldn’t pee properly. "I said to her, 'this might look a bit different, but I'm circumcised.'" Are any members of your family circumcised?
I’ve only ever seen my cousin and my dad naked and they were intact. At what age were you circumcised? I was 7. What is the main reason you were circumcised? It was the same reason as my friend. I kept getting UTI’s and had a tight foreskin, it wouldn’t retract, my mum asked me to do it one day in the shower and I couldn’t do it. The next day she ran a bath thinking that the hot water would work, unfortunately to no avail. She took me to the GP and I was referred for circumcision. When the time actually came to getting circumcised, I only remember going to the hospital for it then the recovery after I was home. Are you happy about being circumcised? Absolutely, yes, it looks better and is easier to keep clean after I go for a pee and you don’t need to do anything in the shower as it’s all on show. Are you happy about being circumcised? Absolutely, yes, it looks better and is easier to keep clean after I go for a pee and you don’t need to do anything in the shower as it’s all on show. What is the best and worst thing about being circumcised? The best thing is how it looks, it feels better too. I’d probably say the worst thing which isn’t a big issue in the grand scheme of things but it’s just having to use lube. |
Have you had any memorable conversations about circumcision with mates?
Yes! As soon as I went back to school when I was 7, everyone was asking me about my new willy and were looking at it when in the showers or at the urinals. I’ve also had conversations with my partner when we first got together. Before she saw me naked for the first time I said to her, 'This might look a bit different, but I'm circumcised.' She asked me a lot about it; like how old I was when I had it done and if it felt different. There were a lot of questions, but I was happy to answer them. If you had a son would you circumcise him?
I’ve got 2 sons, they are 6 and 4 and we got them circumcised when they were about 3 months. It was actually my partner who brought it up, when we found out we were having a son. She asked about circumcision and if we should have them circumcised as had been. I said, 'It's probably for the best as I don't want them to have the problems I had.' Then when our second son came along we got him circumcised, again to prevent problems, but also so he wouldn't look different to his older brother. |