I am a 32-year-old woman from Finland, which has a neonatal circumcision rate of zero. [1] I have been following Your Whole Baby for several months now and would like to tell you why. Last summer something happened for the first time in my life:

I saw a circumcised penis.

I met a non-European guy and I really liked him. The feeling was mutual and he was hoping I could be his girlfriend.

The first time we had sex, though, I was shocked when I saw his penis. I actually asked him what was wrong with it. I know it was not the nicest thing to say, but the words just came out of my mouth. Of course, I then immediately realized that he was circumcised.

(Circumcision is mentioned to us at school only when we are being educated about different religions, like Judaism. That is pretty much all we know regarding circumcision, since we don't practice it here.)

I was very sad to see he didn't have his foreskin, which is absolutely the best part! I had no idea how I could please him. It was too difficult without the foreskin, and I kept thinking his penis felt incomplete.

I had sex with him, but it was really awkward and very uncomfortable, at least for me. He was so rough that it almost hurt. I guess the roughness was due to the fact that he had lost so much sensitivity. Each time we had sex this happened. With intact partners, I have never experienced pain during sex.

I did not want to have sex with him anymore, and eventually I did not want to see him anymore. I knew I couldn't be in a relationship like this. I couldn't keep having sex that was painful every time. I knew that sex could feel really amazing and I was not willing to give that up.

His circumcision became a deal breaker.

After that, I started searching the internet for information about circumcision. I had to know why this happened because it did not make any sense to me. Of course, it still does not make sense. However, I was delighted to find there are people fighting against routine infant circumcision. Educating people is the key.

I still can't believe how many lies Americans are told — even by medical professionals — about circumcision.

I wanted to share this story in order to remind you all that an intact penis is the normal and natural penis. Almost all of the men in Europe are intact.

Best wishes from intact Finland!

Reference List

1. Denniston, G.C. (1996). Circumcision and the code of ethics. Humane Health Care International, 12(2), 78-80. Retrieved from http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/denniston/