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→Surrogate consent: Add citation.
==Surrogate consent==
Patient autonomy is an important the first principle of medical ethics.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Beauchamp
|first=Tom L.
|publisher=New York: {{UNI|Oxford University|Oxon}} Press
|date=2001
}}</ref> Consent for a non-therapeutic operation offends the principle of autonomy, when granted by a surrogate.<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 |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=2025-06-28}}</ref>
Since children, and especially infants, are legally incompetent to grant [[informed consent]] for medical or surgical treatment, that consent must be granted by a surrogate — someone designated to act on behalf of the child-patient, if treatment is to occur.<ref name="conundrum">{{REFjournal