Circumcision is the cutting off of the fold of skin that normally covers the glans of the penis.
This double layer of skin, the prepuce, is commonly known as the foreskin. At birth, a baby's foreskin and glans are attached to each other, very much the way the eyelids of a newborn kitten are sealed closed. The foreskin and glans may not fully separate from each other until after puberty. Before a baby's foreskin is cut off, it must be forcibly separated from the glans with a metal probe. The entire glans of the baby's penis and the site of the incision are then raw, open wounds.