That meant we'd have to decide about circumcision. After trying together for years to conceive, we were suddenly at odds over a small part of our baby, and the stakes were things we held to be important. I hadn't started out as an advocate for the foreskin. The more I learned about circumcision, the more opposed I became. It started when I was invited to a bris.
Jewish custom has boys circumcised on the eighth day after birth.
We had pastries and coffee until the women were shooed into the kitchen, the mother upstairs. When it was done, the father held and comforted his son. Soon after, I found myself reading up on circumcision at the medical library and my position moved into the zealous, almost evangelical range. As someone brought up to empathize with the less fortunate, I thought defenceless babies needed my support just like the homeless or dispossessed. If it were up to me, I'd ban circumcision except for religious reasons.