Frequently asked questions

All our circumcisions are performed with local anaesthetic. The baby will briefly feel the injection of the anaesthetic but will not feel the procedure itself.

Circumcision should never be done without local anaesthetic. Sugar coated pacifiers or other distraction techniques are not a replacement for a full local anaesthetic block.

You can expect your baby to cry especially at the beginning of the procedure, as the experience can be distressing for them. Our doctors are proficient and can perform the procedure quite quickly which helps minimise any distress.

Circumcision is a personal choice made by the parents on behalf of their newborn child. There are often strong religious, cultural, or family reasons for choosing circumcision. The medical opinion, led by the Royal Australian College of Paediatrics, is that the decision to circumcise should be up to the parents and not be medically influenced. This means that there are no significant medical benefits for choosing baby circumcision and the decision should not be made on medical grounds.

If circumcision is chosen and requested, it is essential that it’s performed by a suitably trained and practiced medical professional.

There is some evidence that circumcision can reduce transmission of HIV and the incidence of penile cancer. However, neither of these are reasons to circumcise a newborn.

There is no conclusive evidence that sexual function is affected by circumcision in either a positive or negative way.

Our page on aftercare covers everything you need to know about how to look after your baby following their circumcision. See our aftercare page here.

You do not need to routinely bring your baby in for a check-up after the circumcision.

However, should you have any concerns, please contact us. We are available to speak to for any post-operative care you need. You will be given our afterhours number so you can get in touch with us at any time. If you do need to see us in person, there is no charge for the follow-up appointment. Complications are very rare, so it is very unlikely this will be needed.

We circumcise using the plastibell® method.

The cost is $795 and is fully inclusive of the pre-operation advice, procedure and any required follow up. The full amount is required on the day, we accept Eftpos, Visa, Mastercard and Afterpay. Please note there is a 2% surcharge on credit card and paywave transactions.

We prefer to perform circumcision on a newborn as they are unaware of the procedure. The equipment we use is also specially developed for babies and will not support anyone over the age of six weeks. This equipment allows us to be more surgically accurate and means no one is required to hold the baby still.

We acknowledge that all babies grow differently and therefore six weeks is not a firm policy but a guideline. We find most babies older than six weeks are too big to fit into the special bed we use. While we cannot guarantee anything, if your baby is older than six weeks but was premature, or is small/light for its age, please contact us to discuss whether we can circumcise your baby.

Absolutely. We do not support circumcising without local anaesthetic. While the baby will not remember the procedure, we feel that causing unnecessary pain is unacceptable.

Prior to starting the circumcision, an injection will be put around the base of the penis which will make the whole penis numb for the next 2 hours.

There are widely diverse opinions on whether circumcision of baby boys is acceptable or not. Professional medical bodies agree that the decision to circumcise is one for the parents to make. Parents are best placed to decide on the most appropriate care for their children as they can consider the wider social and cultural aspects of the child’s environment. We agree that parents are best placed to choose to circumcise or not. Making sure the procedure is done by a qualified medical practitioner using local anaesthesia, is the essential part in our view.

We have clinics available throughout New Zealand. Check out our locations here.