Strollerderby : STD

Parents Forego Circumcision to Save Money

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Foreskin may be making a comeback. In these dire economic times, more and more parents are choosing to opt out of the costly and medically unnecessary procedure.

According to a UCLA report, circumcisions are down by 24 percent in the 16 states where foreskin removal is not covered by Medicaid. The average cost of circumcision is 300 bucks, more than enough money to dissuade parents who are having trouble scraping up the rent.

Although studies have linked circumcision to a lower risk of contracting certain STDs, no medical professional would argue that foreskin absolutely must go. According to Dr. Andrew Freedman, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, “The $300 is a luxury.”

For some, like those who recently marched on Washington in honor of Genital Integrity Awareness Week, that $300 is less of a luxury and more of an abomination. Perhaps anti-circumcision activists will not have to yell quite so loudly so long as the economy continues to plummet.

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Kate Tuttle — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:02:00 GMT

A new study seems to confirm earlier findings that circumcision may offer men protection against some sexually transmitted diseases. The research is far from clear, though, and will likely not clear up any of the confusion facing parents deciding whether or not to circumcize their newborn sons (once performed at rates approaching 90% in the United States, routine infant circumsicion is hitting all-time lows, with something like half of all boys born in the Western US avoiding the procedure).

The study, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, did not look at infant circumcision in the United States. Doctors followed a group of 3,000 uncircumcized Ugandan men, none of whom were infected with herpes (specifically HSV2, the strain that causes genital lesions). Half were immediately circumsized, while men in the other group underwent the procedure two years later. At the end of the survey, according to the New York Times, "the researchers estimated that circumcised men had a 25 percent reduced risk of infection." A smaller subgroup was also evaluated for HPV, the human papilloma virus that causes genital warts and is a leading cause of cervical cancer in women. In that group, the risk for circumsized men was calculated to be 35% lower.

Critics will doubtless point out that studies of adult men in Africa may not signify equivalent results when looking at children born and raised in the United States. And the trend for the past decade or so has seen a rise in advocacy groups who argue that the procedure is an unnecessary surgery that may be harmful to a baby boy's future sexual life. Partly as a result of this movement, fewer doctors push for the procedure, and now Medicaid does not cover it in 16 states. If studies like this do turn out to apply across the board, then perhaps that pendulum will swing the other way. For parents expecting a baby boy, the decision will always be a tough one; here's hoping that some scientific consensus will emerge to help guide the way.

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Mom Buys High School Musical Star's Condoms: Would You?

JeanneSager — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:16:00 GMT

If your first reaction to news that High School Musical star Zac Efron's mom buys his condoms is a grimace, don't worry. I don't like thinking of my three-year-old one day having sex either.

But Efron is twenty, and his mom wants him to be safe. Wouldn't you?

When photos of Efron and girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens surfaced, showing them at what appeared to be a sex shop, Efron says his mom confronted him. But she admitted she knew already that he was sexually active - and she showed it by stocking his Christmas stocking with an economy-sized box of condoms.

I don't know that I'd be quite that showy. A box slipped under the pillow or left on the bedroom desk, maybe. Shoved in the Christmas stocking? Er, reserve that for socks and underwear Ma!

But it's nice to see a mother who understands you need to set the squeamishness aside if you want to protect your kids. Remember - I'm not talking about a three-year-old, but if a teen is having sex, and you know it, ignoring it is not going to make it go away. Neither is screaming, yelling or riding them about it. Once it's happened, you have to get cracking.

The problem? A 2000 survey by the Kaiser Foundation showed thirty percent of sexually active teens are too embarrassed to actually condoms (although eighty-seven percent said they believed they were somewhat or very effective at preventing pregnancy, followed by eighty-four who believe they can protect against HIV/AIDS and seventy-two percent against STDs). That's nearly a third of all sexually active kids.

Would you really want to run the risk that your kid is one of the three in ten who won't buy them? Is it worth saving yourself the embarrassment to have to have someone call you Grandma?

So would you follow Mrs. Efron's lead? If you already knew your child was sexually active, would you buy them birth control?

Image: LA Times

New to Birth Certificate: Does Mom Have Chlamydia?

JeanneSager — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:35:00 GMT

So you thought picking the new baby's name was hard? If you plan on giving birth in Utah, you might want to brush up on your sexual and medical histories too.

The state is updating its birth certificate process after more than two decades - and they're adding a series of health-related questions - including whether Mom used artificial insemination, whether she asked for an elective C-section, even if she has an STD.

Shocked? Don't be - Utah is actually late to adopt this new survey, which was created by the National Center for Health Statistics back in 2005 (which is when I gave birth - so I never had to answer - nah nah nuh nah nah).

The state says the bulk of the questions will not actually go on the birth certificate. So you won't be registering Junior for kindergarten with a piece of paper that says "she had chlamydia." There's not even a legal obligation to answer.

Which kind of makes you wonder - can't they think of a better time to ask? Public health officials need good data, and answers are only as good as the questions asked. But an OB/GYN running down a medical history with his patient is going to get the same info - and he'll get it BEFORE a woman is exhausted from thirteen hours of labor or still doped up on painkillers from a C-section.

Making me even more skeptical: designers of the questionnaire admit they don't believe women accurately report their alcohol use during pregnancy. And they're going to be that much more eager to cough up the details with their baby out of the womb - and prime for grabbing by child welfare workers? Or that much happier to report they had an elective C-section so their insurance company can come running in to refuse to pay for it?

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Five-Year-Old Catches STD From Dad's Towel?

JeanneSager — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:58:00 GMT

Reasons you shouldn't sleep with a prostitute. A. Your wife will hate you. B. Your name will be all over town for getting caught with a hooker. C. You might catch something and pass it on to your kid.

For one Australia Dad, the answer is all of the above. His then 5-year-old daughter was removed from the family home in 2006 when she was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. He admitted to consorting with a prostitute in Bali, but said he never touched his daughter inappropriately. The dad claims she contracted the disease by using the same towel.

As improbable as it sounds (and it did to the first court who heard the case), a judge has sent the little girl back to her parents - including a mom who is a "less than enthusiastic supporter" of her husband (see above - answer A). Judge Jonathan Williams says there isn't enough evidence the girl was actually abused. He believes the father.

That a judge would put a child back in the home of a suspected molester without being 100 percent certain is creepy enough. But so is the fact that a number of STDs could easily be passed to a child - even, according to reputable health sources, by a shared towel.

~~Public~~ Pubic lice (that's the real name for crabs, folks), can be transferred by sharing a bed with someone (and who hasn't slept with their child in the bed at one point or another) or that shared towel. The same goes for scabies. And oral herpes, it turns out, can be transmitted, well, orally. So next time you have a cold sore, you might want to refrain from showing off how good those pureed pears are by licking their spoon.

Image: Superior Water

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