Rosa: As a mom and as a human and as a woman, I made the right decision

After seeing Glen Callender's show at the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project's Foreskin Awareness Booth, Rosa discusses her knowledge and feelings about circumcision and genital integrity.

As a young mother decades ago, she did her research before giving birth, and decided it was better to protect her 4 sons' human rights by leaving them intact, rather than to give into the inappropriate coercion of the authority figures around her.

Transcript
(slightly modified)

I think this is a very serious topic that needs to be talked about quite openly, actually—most definitely! My boys are in their late 30s, just so you know what time and era [in which my story takes place]. I did a lot of research before I gave birth, and oddly enough, I was swaying definitely to the “No” [instead of] the “Yes”, but what kind of made sure—for me—that it was a definite “No way! No how!” was the [pressure] I got from the doctors. The pressure from the doctors came a couple of days after [I] gave birth (in that time frame):

• “Why aren't you doing it?”
• “Everyone [in] in the hospital is doing it!”

It just kind of shoved me over; it was like a procedure—no respect for humans at all (male or female; that's irrelevant). The other issue that came to be while I was in the hospital was it weighed very heavy on me: Why should a woman make a decision for a man that has no voice? I just couldn't live with myself [had I made that decision for my son]. So, I said:

“No way! No how! I am not mutilating my child!”

That's what came to be for me. So, All 4 of my boys are just as God made them.

I've talked to [my sons about it since] before they were even 5 [years old], and showed them how to properly clean themselves. Now that they're all up there as adults with mates (I'm a grandma), I asked them: “What do you think? Have you talked about it with your friends? What do you think?” They said:

“You know what, Mom? You made the right decision.”

because they have friends who [were] circumcised; so, you know, as guys are, they do speak (as women [do])—we all speak about these things. They have thanked me later in life—I am very blessed that way. So, as a mom and as a human and as a woman, I made the right decision.

The only thing I could add to [what I've said] is [that] if there [are] any women out there expecting male children, please be careful with your decisions, because I think these are the rights we don't have as parents; we're going over too far on the other side—we don't have that [many] human rights [to be able to make such a decision for other people]; just as much as we have human rights, so does the little one [to which] you just gave birth—he just has no voice.

That's it!