DADDY CLAY: In our experience, in the entire universe of issues pertaining to raising babies, there is only one decision where our wives would absolutely defer to our judgment.

DADDY BRAD: Circumcision. Own it.

DADDY CLAY: The Lab is brought to you BabyBjorn. One look at the materials and you know, these guys don’t cut corners. BabyBjorn.

DADDY BRAD: We were inspired to discuss this issue recently at one of our numerous big celebrity appearances.

DADDY CLAY: Yes, we were at the Metroplex Baby and Kids Expo where we were the honorary judges of the what is probably the nation’s most hotly contested Diaper Derby.

DADDY BRAD: You got to call those tight, or things can get out of hand.

DADDY CLAY: While we were there met an interesting guy with strong opinions on the issue of circumcision.

DADDY CLAY: You’re Michael Smith and you’re with Intact America and you guys are all about preventing circumcision, right?

MICHAEL: That’s what we do all day.

DADDY CLAY: So basically you’re fighting for penises worldwide.

MICHAEL: Penis rights.

DADDY CLAY: What are your biggest reasons to be opposed to circumcision?

MICHAEL: Like we say in the garage, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

DADDY CLAY: So the penis works perfectly without taking away the foreskin. These guys are trying to make this tough decision. They’re trying to say, hmm, hoodie up hoodie down? You know the wife thinks I should, the dad’s not so certain. So you say, here, consider these things.

MICHAEL: You want your kids to have it better than you had it and why would you want them to have it worse. The foreskin is the most sensitive skin on a man’s body. Why would you take that away from him?

DADDY CLAY: You know it’s kind of awkward in general to stand close to another guy and talk about foreskins.
MICHAEL: You’d be amazed at how receptive people are.

DADDY CLAY: Do you feel like fewer and fewer circumcisions are being performed in this country?

MICHAEL: How I feel doesn’t matter. It’s dropping like a stone. I’m 44 and in just my lifetime it has gone from 90% to 52%.

DADDY CLAY: What do you think is the deciding factor for dads who decide that they do want their children to be circumcised?

MICHAEL: A lot of them say they want their son to look like them or they project it on to their son and say “my son wants to look like me.”

DADDY CLAY: Do you think that’s a valid reason to make a decision?

MICHAEL: That’s the worst reason. Weather you are intact or circumcised your status has no bearing on your son’s.

DADDY CLAY: How many foreskins do you think you’ve saved?

MICHAEL: I hope it’s in the high hundreds but you just never know what people are going to do on their own.

DADDY CLAY: Michael from Intact America, thank you very much. Where can people get information from you guys when they’re trying to make this decision for themselves?

MICHAEL: Lots of sites out there have lots of good information. We collect them all at IntactAmerica.org.

DADDY CLAY: IntactAmerica.org. Might as well check it out if you’re trying to make the decision whether or not to snip your child. Is it snip? Clip?

MICHAEL: Yeah… makes me shudder.

DADDY CLAY: I’m thinking of a t-shirt. Maybe a onesie that says “keep your knives away from my junk.”

DADDY BRAD: Michael makes some good points.

DADDY CLAY: Yes, and to be fair, next week we’ll have an expert interviewed on the reasons in favor of getting your son circumcised. So come on back for that. Because you just can’t get enough circumcision talk. One most convincing arguments against circumcision is an newborn boy immediately post-op. I regretted my decision the second he came back.

DADDY BRAD: But you had two. You did it twice.

DADDY CLAY: I did it again. I made the same decision with our youngest, mostly because of the appearance issue. I didn’t want him wondering why he didn’t look like his brother. How about you guys?

DADDY BRAD: When we had our first child, just one boy so far – when in Rome do as the Romans! Like father, like son!

DADDY CLAY: You’ve got one on the way. Congratulations. How about that? You going to circumcise that boy?

DADDY BRAD: Opinions on the issue tend to cut very hard one way or the other. So I haven’t completely decided but this time before he gets here, we’ll decide.

DADDY CLAY: You definitely need to have a discussion with your wife early on. Don’t let it sneak up on you. Obviously this is a hot topic and we’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue. We will start a “Circumcision Decision” discussion at DadLabs.com. Join us there and sound off.

DADDY BRAD: Thanks to our sponsors BabyBjorn. Dads in mind when they design, BabyBjorn.

DADDY CLAY: We’ll see you next week for some info on the argument for circumcision.