Baby Boy Circumcised On Visit To Grandparents Without His Mum’s Consent

Three people have been arrested after a baby boy was circumcised without his mother’s consent. The discovery was made by his mum when the three-month-old baby was having his nappy changed after he came home from a visit with his grandparents.

The woman, from Nottingham in the UK, said she opened her son’s nappy to find him covered in blood and was so upset that she had to leave the room.

Three people have now been arrested, including a 61-year-old man thought to be a doctor, as well as the boy’s grandparents. They were held on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent.

“I opened the nappy and I ended up having to leave the room because I felt hysterical,” said the mother, who did not want to be identified.

“It was just awful really, it wasn’t very nice, there was all blood there and stuff.”

She has battled for four years for authorities to take action, as the police wouldn’t take her case seriously.

The boy was circumcised in 2013 when he was staying with his paternal grandparents, who are Muslim. His mother originally contacted social services, then contacted Nottinghamshire Police twelve months later. There was an investigation but the police deemed it not to be a criminal matter, referring the case to the General Medical Council.

“A couple of police officers have made remarks like ‘Oh my husband is circumcised, I think it’s better’. Or ‘Oh they are tougher than they look, it will toughen him up’. It’s just heartbreaking.” she said.

The mother later got help from the anti-circumcision group Men Do Complain and leading human rights lawyer Saimo Chahal QC, who wrote to Nottinghamshire Police. The case was re-opened and the arrests were made.

The little boy has complained of soreness ever since he was able to talk, and has had inflammation and recurring infections at the circumcision site regularly. His mum describes the procedure as botched. An experienced urologist has made contact with the woman and has offered to assess the boy and see what can be done to help him.

The mother believes it amounts to male genital mutilation and should be viewed in the same way as female genital mutilation.

“It’s even illegal to dock dogs’ tails. I’ve come home crying my eyes out thinking a dog has got more rights than my child. There’s something seriously not right with it all. You can protect a dog, you can protect a girl, but not a boy.”

How awful that this happened without the mum’s knowledge or consent! Surely there are policies in place to ensure that any elective procedure performed on a child has been signed off by both of his parents (or if estranged like in this case, his custodial parent), especially something so personal a choice as circumcision!

It certainly puts those stories of mothers getting upset that their child received a surprise haircut into perspective.

This poor mum will feel like she has failed her son, it’s no wonder she is taking this fight as far as she can. I can only imagine how she must have felt when she saw her baby son after he had returned from the visit with his grandparents.

The mother said she is relieved that action is finally being taken, and hopes the case will raise awareness.

“I just can’t believe that we’ve actually got to this point now and it’s taken four years,” said the mother.

“Nobody was listening when I spoke about it and now it’s being acknowledged worldwide.”