Correspondent:

CANADIAN PAEDIATRIC SOCIETY

I have written to you for three reasons. First, I have a copy of your publication: Circumcision in the Newborn Period: A Statement by the Canadian Paediatric Society, which I obtained through the Internet. Overall, I am pleased with the thoroughness of the publication, and would like to get a copy of the statement as published by your organization. I was hoping that you could send me one.

Secondly, I am concerned about paragraph nine of your statement, which reads:

There is no foundation to the belief that, in adult life, circumcision adds or reduces tactile sensation in the adult penis during intercourse.

I am uncertain as to how your committee came to such a definitive conclusion given the paucity of research on the prepuce. It seems obvious that the removal of skin from an organ as sensitive as the penis must be presupposed to detract from its sensitivity, unless it can be shown otherwise. Perhaps you can better inform me as to the reasoning behind your decision.

In any case, new research has been conducted since the publication of your statement. I enclose a copy of The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision, published recently in the British Journal of Urology by Taylor, Taylor and Lockwood. I apologize for the quality of the copy, but I am sure that you can easily find it in the original.

So, finally, would it not be only prudent, given this new evidence on the erotogenic qualities of the prepuce, for the Canadian Paediatric Society in general, and the Foetus and Newborn Committee in particular, to revise its statement?

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
 
[signed]
 
Lawrence Barichello