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The '''United Kingdom (UK)''' was the scene of early efforts to promote male circumcision. It influenced the adoption of male [[circumcision ]] in other English-speaking nations. Later it was the scene of efforts to reduce and eliminate the practice.

While Jews living in the UK practiced ritual circumcision of boys on the eighth day of life in accordance with the [[Abrahamic covenant]], the practice was nearly unknown among gentiles.  French physician Claude-François Lallemand (1790-1854) recommended circumcision as a treatment for spermatorrhea (excessive, involuntary ejaculation), which was then believed to be a disease. Lallemand influenced English physicians such as William Acton.<ref>{{REFjournal |last=Darby |first=Robert |init= |author-link=Robert Darby |etal=no |title=Pathologizing Male Sexuality: Lallemand, Spermatorrhea, and the Rise of Circumcision |trans-title= |language= |journal= J Hist Med Allied Sci |location= |date=2005-07 |volume=60 |issue=3 |article= |page= |pages=283-319 |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/33685574/RD-Pathologising.pdf? |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=15917258 |pubmedCID= |DOI=10.1093/jhmas/jri042 |accessdate=2021-09-04}}</ref>