Circumcision Story - Hypospadias

Betts12

I want to share the story about my son's circumcision to inform other moms-to-be.  Let me be clear: I do not mean to scare anyone.  Rather, my intent is that a parent who is told that their son has hypospadias makes sure that a circumcision is not performed before consulting a pediatric urologist.

My son was born with hypospadias.  It is a congenital birth defect where the hole on the penis is not in the center of the penis but, rather, on the underside or even further down in the most extreme cases.  The incidence rate for this condition is unclear but the numbers vary between 1 in every 3000 to 1 in every 200.  Because the foreskin is often needed to make surgical repairs, it is recommended that a boy with hypospadias NOT be circumcised.  This is all information that DH and I have learned in the last couple months...when DS was 5 months old.

The rounding pediatrician at the hospital made us aware of DS's hypospadias after his birth and called it mild.  He said we should check with the doctor who would be doing the circumcision as to whether DS could be circumcised.  My OB was scheduled to do the circumcision (in my area, OBs routinely do the circ) and said that, yes, he could do a circ.

Needless to say, a circumcision should not have been done.  On the bright side, DS's circumcision is barely detectable.  So, we have the foreskin necessary to do repairs. (As an aside, if there was no foreskin, the surgeon would take skin from elsewhere.)  However, I consider us to be lucky in that (1) there is foreskin left, (2) DH asked our pediatrician about the circ at the 4 month appt. and (3) the pediatrician referred us to a pediatric urologist.

My confidence in doctors has been shaken by all of this.  I'd hate for another mom to go through the same thing and, worse than us, find out that skin needs to be taken from somewhere else to make surgical repairs. 

Again, I want to make other moms aware of this issue and, hopefully, your partners will also be aware of this issue so if either of you hear "hypospadias," you should put circumcision on hold.

I wish I had this information before my son was born.  Thanks for reading and best wishes to all of you!