Let's be honest. Even more than choosing a name, after the birth of a baby boy deciding whether to get the kid circumcised is usually the biggest decision parents have to make. Hey, that baby can go by a nickname or change it legally when he grows up, but once that foreskin is gone there's no getting it back. At least the decision is usually in the hands of the parents.
Turns out an eight-day-old boy was circumcised against his wishes last month at South Miami Hospital, and now his parents are set to file a lawsuit against the facility.
Mario Viera was born a healthy baby boy to mother Vera Delgado. But eight days after he arrived, South Miami Hospital decided to go through with a circumcision without even notifying his mother, let alone getting her approval.
"I was crying. I spent that day and the next day crying," Delgado tells CBS4. "Oh that's not a big deal. But what would happen if you don't want that for your son, and they do it anyway?"
CBS4 then awkwardly notifies us on the circumcision status of the entire Deglado-Viera family -- they're all uncircumcised. Then Delgado's attorney characterizes the event as, "not malpractice," but "battery."
"The procedure itself was performed following appropriate surgical guidelines, and the baby didn't have any complications. Nevertheless, we're all deeply sorry that this happened," says a statement from the Hospital, adding that officials have to taking steps to ensure this never happens again.
While circumcisions performed in hospitals are quite common and safe procedures, more and more parents are deciding to opt out.
According to The New York Times, the circumcision rate in America has tumbled to just 32.5 percent of new-born babies in 2009 from 56 percent in 2006.
But for Mario Viera, there's not going back -- unless he wants to take some cues from that episode of Friends and fashion a makeshift foreskin out of silly putty or various luncheon meats.
[CBS4: Lawsuit To Be Filed Over Unauthorized Circumcision]
