Intactivists successfully propagated the hoax that circumcision was introduced as anti masturbation measure by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
With this argument, they try to make people believe that circumcision was introduced to “disable” people.
While he promoted it to prevent masturbation, it was not really accepted among medical experts for this cause.
Even in Europe circumcision against masturbation was discussed and declared ineffective. Instead, chastity-belts were used on chronic mastubators by Christians.
Lewis Albert Sayre (left), 1820-1900, of Bellvue Hospital, New York, was primarily an orthopaedic surgeon, and is regarded as the founder of the discipline in the US.
He found that often what presented as orthopaedic problems, particularly in infants, were secondary symptoms caused by phimosis and balanitis.
The infant would contort its limbs to minimise the pain from the infected member.
He first published on this in 1870, but his best known paper appeared in 1888: "On the deleterious effects of a narrow prepuce and preputial adhesions".
In it he quoted many examples sent to him by other doctors (many of these subsequently quoted more or less verbatim by Remondino).
But there are several problems with calling him the father of modern American neonatal circumcision. First of all, like many other 19th century physicians, he only advocated the operation when there was an obvious problem.
Secondly, his preferred operation on infants was a simple dorsal slit, without removing any tissue unless it was necessary. He only recommended full circumcision for boys of 10 or over and adults.
In the subsequent discussion, Dr I.N. Love of St Louis took the dissenting view that a radical circumcision was the best course to take.
"It is all very well to instruct the mother or the nurse to keep the parts within the prepuce clean but they cannot or they will not do it. Complete and proper removal of the covering to the glans takes away all the cause of disturbance."
Sayre had commented that some infant circumcisions were cosmetically unsatisfactory, and Love replied "An improper performance of a surgical procedure is no argument against the operation, but rather against the operator" - an argument just as relevant now as then.
It is Dr. Love who has the strongest case to be regarded as the father of modern American routine circumcision.
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