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Add O'Hara paper; add childhood section.
== Structure ==
===Foreskin in adulthood===
The foreskin (also known as the prepuce) is the double-layered fold of smooth muscle tissue, blood vessels, neurons, skin, and mucous membrane part of the penis that covers and protects the glans penis and the urinary meatus.<ref name="cold-taylor1999"/> The foreskin comprises more than fifty percent of the epithelium of the penis.<ref name="taylor1996">{{REFjournal
|accessdate=2019-10-15
}}</ref>
===Foreskin in infancy and childhood===
Baby boys are born with the foreskin fused with the glans penis by a [[synechia| synechial membrane]]. The tip of the foreskin is usually too narrow to be retracted.
==Physiological functions==
</blockquote>
As previously reported, the foreskin reduces the force required for penetration of the female partner's vagina by as much as ninety percent.<ref name="taves2002" /> The gliding action of the foreskin reduces friction and abrasion, while conserving vaginal lubrication.<ref name="warren-bigelow1994" />
In a first of its kind, O'Hara & O'Hara (1999) carried out a retrospective surevy of 138 women with experience of both intact and circumcised partners. The women overwhelmingly concurred that the mechanics of coitus was different for the two groups of men. Of the women, 73% reported that circumcised men tend to thrust harder and deeper, using elongated strokes, while unaltered men by comparison tended to thrust more gently, to have shorter thrusts, and tended to be in contact with the mons pubis and clitoris more, according to 71% of the respondents. Women with intact partners had a higher rate of orgasms than women with circumcised partners. O'Hara & O'Hara concluded:
<blockquote>Clearly, the anatomically complete penis offers a more rewarding experience for the female partner during coitus. While this study has some obvious methodological flaws, all the differences cannot be attributed to them. It is important that these findings be confirmed by a prospective study of a randomly selected population of women with experience with both types of men. It would be useful to examine the role of the foreskin in other sexual activities. Because these findings are of interest, the negative effect of circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner needs to be part of any discussions providing 'informed consent' before circumcision.<ref name="ohara1998">{{REFjournal
|last=O'Hara
|first=K
|author-link=
|last2=O'Hara
|first2=J
|author2-link=
|etal=yes
|title=The effect of male circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=BJU Int
|location=
|date=1999
|volume=83 Suppl 1
|issue=
|pages=79-84
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1079.x
|quote=
|pubmedID=10349418
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1079.x
|accessdate=2019-10-22
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
''The following content is part of the [[Circumpendium]].''