There are definitely strong opinions on the topic of circumcision, as evidenced by the comments on my last post! Thanks for your opinions, and sorry it's taken me a while to get back online - technological difficulties.

Anyway, here's the thing: Adam is already 'medically' circumcised, but from what I understand he would need, um, a little bit more work done to be considered 'Jewishly' circumcised. So it's not like he needs to have the entire procedure, and he'll be under general anesthesia so he won't remember any of it anyway.

And even if he wasn't already circumcised at all, we would still go ahead with the circumcision and not a Brit shalom - which is a ceremony similar to the Brit Milah (circumcision) without any actual cutting.

Did you ever watch the movie Fiddler on the Roof? Tevye has five daughters, and three get married during the movie. The first chooses a man without her parents' involvement, the second chooses a man without her parents' permission, and the third marries a non-Jew without the acceptance of her parents. There are some things that connect all Jews, and there are some things that divide us - and always will. While I personally consider myself a very open-minded Jew, respectful of each and everyone's choices in practicing their religion, there are some things that I will not change, that I feel just cannot change.

This isn't an adoption issue - it's a religious issue. And I know that those who are against later circumcision are also against early circumcision. I personally don't believe that circumcision leads to any medical issues, and I've seen just as many medical studies that says it prevents certain cancers or what not.

I believe that circumcision is like coffee. Some people always drink it, some wouldn't touch the stuff. Some studies show it's bad for you, some say it's good for you, and some say that the other studies show nothing at all.