Saving Our Sons

INTACT PUMPKIN PATCH

Have a carved or decorated pumpkin this fall that you're using to spread the message of genital autonomy? We'd love to add your #i2 pumpkin to the patch! Send a picture to SavingSons@gmail.com or message the Saving Our Sons on Facebook. All submissions that include a name/address for mailing will receive a set of Holiday Info stickers (or pick your favorites here) for seed-planting throughout the coming season.

Sampling of photos from past years' Intact Pumpkin Patches

Carving by Andrea in New Hampshire, 2018

via Intact Iowa

via Intact Indiana

via Intact Kentucky

carving by Kate

shared by Chris

Stash bowl for trick-or-treaters - complete with #i2 stickers that will be loved and WANTED, those that will open doors to information. Included in this Halloween stash are Pokemon, Wonder Woman, and Carve Pumpkins stickers. Found on Etsy here.

During Halloween 2015, Jonathon Conte, of the Bay Area Intactivists, submitted a photo of the goodie bags he put together to hand out. He wrote, "Not a pumpkin, but it's Halloween advocacy," and added, "Although I don't think anything contained in our Halloween treat bags is inappropriate for children, I just wanted to make it clear that children are not the primary audience for these. The vast majority of people participating in [our local event] are adults." If you are handing out goodies this Halloween, and have an adult audience coming by your house, party, or other event, consider including cards or stickers with your stash. You'll plant seeds of information with a whole new audience.

Circumcision is a trick... Instead, have a treat! Carve pumpkins, not babies.
Intact Houston's Halloween set-up 2016, with Pokemon #i2 stickers on each treat.

Halloween and other themed info cards available at Etsy

By Anthony at Intact Massachusetts

By Brian at Intact Connecticut

By Brittany at Intact Utah

"It's a dick - not a Jack O'Lantern. You don't have to chop parts off of it to make it look better."

- Joe Rogan on genital cutting (circumcision)

Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Research circumcision - it's scarier than Halloween!

via Intact Alabama

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Channeling Righteous Anger for Effective Baby Saving

It takes a lot of deep breaths, and stepping away after seeds are planted, but in the end we will save FAR more babies if we can rein in the blood-curdling passion so that it is channeled in an effective, rational, calm manner.

If the end goal is "SAVE ALL THE BABIES!!!!!" it must be done in a fashion that is very cautious, planned, purposeful, and professional and/or gentle (audience dependent, and audience aware).

Inside I am deeply outraged with every fiber of my being that newborn babies every day are sexually assaulted with a blade. I can viscerally feel their pain, knowing what it is like to be a survivor of similar horrors. It is one of the very reasons I began this work over 24 years ago. But if I spill this anger over onto everyone I meet, and come across as an intense, crazy person, then people tune out, turn away, shut down, and nothing beneficial comes of it all. This is how babies are lost.

The key is figuring out how to do the most good, for the most people, to save the most babies, and process our internal (righteous) anger and passion along the way. Humans do not respond well to negative aggression, but they do (more often than not) respond to positive empowerment.

-Danelle Day

Learn More: Should I Circumcise? The Pros and Cons

Above sticker available at Etsy for seed-planting in your area.

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Should I Circumcise? The Pros and Cons of Infant Circumcision

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Breastfeeding and Circumcision Resources

Keep calm. Latch on. And keep him INTACT.

August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week and is the perfect opportunity for outreach with mothers who wish to nurse their babies to be born this year. Being honest, and fully disclosing the hazards that genital cutting often poses for a breastfeeding relationship is key to parents making informed decisions for the sake of their son. Here we highlight a variety of resources that relate to the intersecting topics, as well as showcase some images that have been used during past years for awareness-raising.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! And thank you for saving our sons. ❤

• Breastfeeding and Circumcision: http://www.DrMomma.org/2009/11/breastfeeding-circumcision.html

• La Leche League: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding on Circumcision: http://www.DrMomma.org/2012/06/womanly-art-of-breastfeeding.html

• The Effects of Circumcision on Breastfeeding: http://ww.DrMomma.org/2009/12/effects-of-circumcision-on.html

• Natural Mother Magazine publication: Circumcision Harms Breastfeeding (p. 103-107): https://issuu.com/naturalmothermagazine/docs/march_april_2015_issue

• Circumcision Increases Breastfeeding Complications: http://www.DrMomma.org/2009/11/circumcision-leads-to-breastfeeding.html

• Breastfeeding / Circumcision Info Cards to share: https://www.etsy.com/listing/496041345/breastfeeding-circumcision-info-cards?ref=shop_home_active_4

• Circumcision and Breastfeeding [Circumstitions] Circumstitions.com/Nursing.html

• Circumcision, Breastfeeding and Bonding [CIRP] Cirp.org/library/birth

• Circumcision / Breastfeeding advocacy shirts: http://madebymomma.spreadshirt.com/breastfeeding-C46979/p2

• Breastfeeding Group (with pro-intact foundation): FB.com/groups/Breastfed

Informational cards available (above/below) for sharing with expecting and nursing mothers here at Etsy.

Informational stickers available here at Etsy.

There's nothing quite so yummy as warm milk from my mummy.

A successful breastfeeding relationship best begins when a newborn feels secure, comforted, and close to his mother.

circumcision harms breastfeeding

Breastfeeding awareness and advocacy t-shirts and onesies without mark-up at Made By Momma: MadeByMomma.spreadshirt.com/breastfeeding-C46979

Breastfeeding delivers the protection against urinary tract infection (UTI) that has been touted as a faulty 'benefit' of circumcision. Breastfeeding prevents UTIs - circumcision does not!

In my womb, I carried you.

With my breast, I fed you.

And with every fiber of my being,

I will protect you.

Breastfeeding is the biological norm.

So is intact foreskin!

Success at the breast starts with a peaceful beginning.

Keep him safe and intact.

A baby belongs on a breast, and in a bed, NOT on a board.

Practice peaceful parenting - say NO to circumcision.

Breastfeeding provides him with everything he needs - nutrients, closeness, and protection against diseases and infections, including UTIs. The stress of circumcision can jeopardize your breastfeeding relationship and rob him of all these things. Reconsider, and learn more: IntactBaby.org/research

The trauma of circumcision can negatively impact his ability to breastfeed. Are you willing to sacrifice your breastfeeding relationship for an unnecessary (and harmful) surgery?

A newborn baby only has three needs: warmth, milk, comfort. Breastfeeding supplies all three. Circumcision can hinder each.

Skin to skin. Heart to heart. Only gentleness, from the start.

Breastfeeding is universally recommended by all medical and health organizations.

Routine infant circumcision is not recommended by any national health organization in the world.

"An innocent human being was solely dependent on me!" - Tichina Arnold

Breastfeeding and genital autonomy go hand-in-hand.

Breastfeeding for all. Circumcision for none.

"What I have been told is it's important to have that bonding latch right away." -Alicia Silverstone who is also pro-intact in her stance on the gentle care and raising of babies.

"While breastfeeding may not seem to be the right choice for every parent, it is the best choice for every baby." -Amy Sprangler Being kept intact is also best for EVERY baby!