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==Video==
[[Intaction]] (2022) has provided an introductory video.
<youtube>v=DcfyCpRUlFY</youtube>
Add external link.
'''Informed consent''' is a legal and ethical prerequisite for surgery and other procedures in the [[United States]] and many most other nations.
It is defined as:
The name for a fundamental principle of law that a physician has a duty to reveal what a reasonably prudent physician in the medical community employing reasonable care would reveal to a patient as to whatever reasonably foreseeable risks of harm might result from a proposed course of treatment. This disclosure must be afforded so that a patient—exercising ordinary care for his or her own welfare and confronted with a choice of undergoing the proposed treatment, alternative treatment, or none at all—can intelligently exercise judgment by reasonably balancing the probable risks against the probable benefits.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Informed+Consent
|title=Informed conesntconsent
|last=
|first=
==Information for parents regarding non-therapeutic circumcision of infant boys.==
This section is for all parents of boys, but is addressed primarily to parents of boys who are located in the [[United States of America]], who appear to be most uninformed or misinformed about the [[foreskin]] and [[circumcision]]. Information is not making it to parents. Studies have shown that doctors provide parents with almost no accurate or useful information about circumcision. <ref name="alissa2025-03-25A">{{REFdocument |title=What Every Doctor Should Know About Circumcision: A Call for Better Medical Practices |url=https://intactamerica.org/what-doctors-should-know-about-circumcision/ |contribution= |last=Alissa |first=Kristel |publisher=Intact America |format= |date=2025-03-25 |accessdate=2025-03-28}}</ref> After several generations of promotion of and near universal neonatal circumcision in the United States, most Americans are profoundly ignorant of a normal body part and its valuable functions.=== Surrogate consent ===Parents act as surrogates for their minor children who are too young to personally grant consent.<ref name="alissa2025-03-25A"/> [[Surrogate consent]] ethically is limited to the granting of consent for diagnosis and treatment of disease.<ref name="aap1995">{{REFjournal |last=Committee on Bioethics |etal=no |title=Informed consent, parental permission, and assent in pediatric practice |trans-title= |language= |journal=Pediatrics |location= |date=1995-02 |volume=95 |issue=2 |article= |page= |pages=314-7 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/AAP/ |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=7838658 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2023-09-14}}</ref> <ref name="aviva2016">{{REFjournal |last=Committee on Bioethics |etal-no |title=Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice |trans-title= |language= |journal=Pediatrics |location= |date=2016-08 |volume=138 |issue=2 |article= |page=e20161484. |pages= |url=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/2/e20161484/52512/Informed-Consent-in-Decision-Making-in-Pediatric?autologincheck=redirected |archived= |quote=Continuing limits on the widespread use of pediatric assent/refusal makes this review and restatement of AAP policy important. |pubmedID=27456514 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |doi=10.1542/peds.2016-1484 |accessdate=2023-09-14}}</ref> <ref>{{REFjournal |last=Katz |first= |init=AL |author-link= |last2=Webb |first2= |init2=SA |author2-link= |last3=Macauley |first3= |init3=RC |author3-link= |last4=Mercurio |first4= |init4=MR |author4-link= |last5=Moon |first5= |init5=MR |author5-link= |last6=Okun |first6= |init6=AL |author6-link= |last7=Opel |first7= |init7=DJ |author7-link= |last8=Statter |first8= |init8=MB |author8-link= |etal=no |title=Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice Technical Report |trans-title= |language= |journal=Pediatrics |location= |date=2016-08 |volume=138 |issue=2 |page=e20161485 |url=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/2/e20161485/52519/Informed-Consent-in-Decision-Making-in-Pediatric |archived= |quote=A formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative notes that we are obliged to act out of fundamental respect for other persons by virtue of their personal autonomy. |pubmedID=27456510 |pubmedCID= |DOI=10.1542/peds.2016-1485 |accessdate=2024-07-09}}</ref>
===Provision of relevant information===
|issue=2
|page=E20
}}</ref> Doctors commonly fail to provide information on the nature and functions of the [[foreskin]] which are lost when a person is [[circumcised]]. Doctors must be fully informed regarding the nature of the [[foreskin]] and [[circumcision]].<ref name="alissa2025-03-25>{{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/what-doctors-should-know-about-circumcision/
|title=What Every Doctor Should Know About Circumcision: A Call for Better Medical Practices
|last=Alissa
|first=
|init=K
|author-link=Kristel Alissa
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2025-03-25
|accessdate=2025-07-01
}}</ref>
|volume=6
|pages=69-77
}}</ref> This suggests that doctors are very well aware that [[circumcision]] is a harmful, [[Pain| painful]], [[Trauma| traumatic]] non-therapeutic surgery (in short, a ritual); but they do not appear to share this knowledge with parents.Doctors usually omit information on the nature of the [[foreskin]] and its functions.<ref name="alissa2025-03-25A"/>
A busy physician can supplement their income by as much as $60,000 per year from circumcision surgeries alone.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Fleiss
|first=Paul M.
|issue=3
|pages=318-323
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Goldman
|init=R
It appears that the major reason to administer analgesia to infants undergoing circumcision may be to minimize parents' feeling of guilt and to get their consent for a profitable [[amputation]].
==Informed consent for non-therapeutic circumcision of minor boys==
However, the vast and overwhelming majority of circumcisions of children are performed to excise healthy, functional tissue from the body of a child who is too immature to grant consent.
The Bioethics Committee of the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (1995) considered the power granted to parents to grant surrogate consent for diagnosis and treatment of a child. The Committee says that a parent may give "informed permission" for investigation and treatment of disease. The difference between informed consent and informed permission is unclear. When a child is ill, it is the practice to allow a parent to grant informed permission for diagnostic tests and appropriate treatment.<ref name="aap1995">{{REFjournal |last=Bioethics Committee, American Academy of Pediatrics. |first= |author-link= |etal=no |title=Informed consent, parental permission, and assent in pediatric practice |trans-title= |language= |journal=Pediatrics |location= |date=1995-02 |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=314-7 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/AAP/ |archived= |quote=Only patients who have appropriate decisional capacity and legal empowerment can give their informed consent to medical care. In all other situations, parents or other surrogates provide informed permission for diagnosis and treatment of children with the assent of the child whenever appropriate. |pubmedID=7838658 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2020-07-23}}</ref>
Infant boys are born with a healthy [[foreskin]]. No disease or deformity is present to be diagnosed or treated. [[Circumcision]] of an infant boy is neither a diagnostic procedure nor a treatment for disease. The limited parental surrogate powers to grant informed permission recognized by the Bioethics Committee do not extend to the granting of permission or consent for the non-therapeutic circumcision of a minor child.<ref name="aap1995" />
If the medical [[circumcision industry ]] had actually followed this sound ethical guidance, then the [[circumcision]] of male infants would have ended abruptly. The medical industry has chosen to ignore this advice and allow parents to grant surrogate consent for non-therapeutic circumcision of male children, so that the physician income derived from circumcision may be maintained.<ref name="alissa2025-03-25B">{{REFweb |url=https://intactamerica.org/ethical-debate-behind-circumcision/ |title=Are We Sacrificing Newborns for Tradition? The Ethical Debate Behind Circumcision |last=Alissa |first= |init=K |author-link=Kristel Alissa |publisher=Intact America |date=2025-03-25 |accessdate=2025-03-29}}</ref>
Svoboda et al. (2000) examined the ethics and legality of informed consent for non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision. With regard to ethics, they concluded:
A court of appeals in Cologne, Germany [[Cologne circumcision court judgment]] ruled in 2012 that non-therapeutic male circumcision is an assault on the child, an injury to the child, and a violation of the child's rights under the [https://www.btg-bestellservice.de/pdf/80201000.pdf Basic Law of Germany]. No American court has so ruled. Until such time as an American court issues such a ruling, non-therapeutic circumcision of children in America, driven by the [[Financial Incentive| financial incentive]] is expected to continue.
At the present time, ethics and law notwithstanding, non-therapeutic circumcisions of boys are performed with parental consent. <ref name="alissa2025-03-25B" /> Parents will be offered medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic circumcision and encouraged to grant consent, the sole beneficiary being the bank accounts of the hospital and the doctor. The information supplied below is intended to inform and assist parents of boys.
The Bioethics Committee (2016) of the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] updated its guidance on informed consent in pediatric practice,<ref name="aap1995" /> however it still does not recognize the child as a human being with rights under domestic and international law.<ref>{{REFjournal
</blockquote>
Although this may be an a slight advance, Wasserman et al., speaking for the [[AAP]], still do not recognize the [[human rights]] of children.
== Correct age for circumcision ==
}}</ref>
Bioethicists Myers & Earp (2020) answered Hill's question. They exhaustively reviewed the evidence for and against the alleged health benefits to a healthy person claimed for non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] of a neonate, infant or child. They balanced this against the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and loss of body tissue and function. They concluded the claimed health benefits are insufficient to support surrogate consent for non-therapeutic circumcision. Given this, ''only'' the subject can grant consent for a non-therapeutic circumcision, and then ''only'' after he reaches the right age for circumcision, which does not occurs until a male reaches the age of consent in his jurisdiction which may vary from 16 to 18 years of age. No other person may grant consent for the non-therapeutic circumcision of a minor boy. The present practice in the [[United States]] and elsewhere of allowing parental surrogate consent for non-therapeutic circumcision is entirely unethical because it exceeds the powers granted to surrogates.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|archived=
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-09-17
}}</ref>
==Video==
===Circumcision — Your Legal Rights===
<youtube>v=8GT03orcHWM</youtube>
[[Intaction]] (2022) has provided an introductory video.
<youtube>v=DcfyCpRUlFY</youtube>
<br>
===[[15 Square]] has provided a video.===
<youtube>v=xjqxeTg7JUc</youtube>
===Infant circumcision operation===
(This video is age restricted, so one must be signed in to view it}
<youtube>v=W2PKdDOjooA&t=124s</youtube>
=== Infant circumcision procedure ===
This is a video of an actual infant [[circumcision]]. It has a sound tract so one can hear the comments of the doctor and the sounds made by the infant. The doctor gives an injection of local anesthetic that apparently does not stop any pain at all. The infant goes silent at about 6:15 on the video, so he may have gone into [[shock]] at that time. Not for the squeamish:
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivism/comments/qbpzqr/trained_medical_professionals_restrain_infant_to/
|archived=
|title=Trained medical professionals restrain infant to amputate part of its body while baby kicks and screams in pain
|trans-title=
|language=
|last=
|first=
|author-link=
|publisher=
|website=
|date=
|accessdate=2022-03-11
|format=
|quote=
}}
*[https://www.reddit.com/r/Intactivism/comments/qbpzqr/trained_medical_professionals_restrain_infant_to/ Circumcision video]
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Ethics of non-therapeutic child circumcision]]
* [[Human rights]]
* [[Litigation over circumcision]]
* [[Pain]]
* [[Risks and complications]]
* [[Surrogate consent]]
* [[Wrongful circumcision]]
* [[Trauma]]
|title=Physicians for Informed Consent
|accessdate=2022-08-25
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/dyk-parental-consent/
|title=“Do You Know?” About the Limits of Parental Consent
|last=Chapin
|first=Georganne
|init=
|author-link=Georganne Chapin
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2023-02-01
|accessdate=2025-11-21
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://intactamerica.org/assent-vs-consent/
|title=Assent vs Consent (in Regards to Bodily Autonomy and Circumcision)
|last=Garrett
|first=Connor
|init=
|author-link=Connor Judson Garrett
|publisher=Intact America
|date=2024-03-03
|accessdate=2024-07-11
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.reddit.com/user/C4Charkey/comments/1jun080/the_accidental_intactivist_manifesto_v_the/
|title=The Betrayal of Informed Consent: The Architects of Compliance and the Conspiracy of Silence
|last=C4Charkey
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Reddit
|date=2025-04
|accessdate=2025-04-12
}}
{{REF}}
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]