About the Project & Methodology

This project is built around a central guiding question born from the "Accidental Intactivist's" lifelong observations: "Why isn’t the routine, non-consensual surgical alteration of healthy infant genitals a central controversy of our age?"

From this question, we derive our core working hypothesis:

"The routine practice of infant circumcision, perpetuated by cultural inertia and systemic failures in informed consent, results in a statistically significant and widespread negative impact on the lifelong physical, sexual, and psychological well-being of the individuals subjected to it."

This survey is designed to rigorously test this hypothesis by gathering firsthand, comparative data on lived experiences.

The survey is designed to capture a rich tapestry of experiences and perceptions, focusing on several key areas:

• Lived Experiences: Detailed accounts from intact, circumcised, and restoring individuals regarding physical sensation, sexual function (including orgasm quality/duration, lubrication needs), body image, and psychological well-being.

• Parental Decision-Making: Factors influencing parents' choices regarding circumcision (medical advice, cultural/religious norms, perceived benefits/risks, societal pressures).

• Cultural Narratives & Misconceptions: Common societal beliefs, stereotypes, and assumptions about intactness versus circumcision (hygiene, health, aesthetics, pleasure).

• Anatomical Awareness: Understanding of specific genital structures (e.g., foreskin, frenulum) and the physical outcomes of circumcision (scarring, skin mobility).

• Bodily Autonomy & Ethics: Reflections on consent, children's rights, and the ethical implications of non-therapeutic infant surgery.

• Impact on Allies & Observers: Perspectives from partners, parents, healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates.

To achieve our goal of gathering nuanced, high-quality data, the survey was designed with several unique structural features:

• Global & Regional Focus: Comprehensive demographic data including country of birth/residence, race/ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status, and religious background allow for robust correlational analysis across different cultures.

• Cultural Context Gateway: A key branching question directs participants down pathways relevant to their upbringing (i.e., in a culture where circumcision is the norm vs. where intactness is the norm), ensuring questions are framed appropriately for their lived reality.

• Specific Religious/Cultural Context Sections: Optional sections for Christian, Jewish, and Islamic perspectives allow for a deeper exploration of how faith traditions inform views on this topic.

• Pre-Status Experiential Baseline: A unique section where all participants reflect on sensation, orgasm, and body image before delving into their specific anatomical status pathway, allowing for less biased comparative data.

• Qualitative & Quantitative Data: A mix of open-ended questions for rich narrative insights and multiple-choice/scale questions for measurable data.

• Anonymity Assured: No personally identifiable information is collected with responses.

We believe that all research is conducted from a perspective. This project is transparently grounded in a secular humanist and egalitarian framework that values bodily autonomy as a fundamental, universal human right. Our primary inquiry stems from the ethical question of whether non-consensual, medically unnecessary surgery should be performed on children.

While this forms our ethical starting point, we are committed to methodological rigor to mitigate confirmation bias. Our survey is not designed to be propaganda; it is an instrument of inquiry designed to discover whether the data supports or refutes this hypothesis.

Key features to ensure a balanced dataset include:

• Gathering All Experiences: We actively solicit and have dedicated pathways for individuals who are satisfied with their circumcision.

• Experience Before Status: The survey is structured to ask about lived sexual experiences before asking about anatomical status, a design intended to capture more candid comparative data.

• Acknowledging Limitations: We recognize that our initial sample is self-selected. Our goal in Phase 1 is to document the "ground truth" from the most affected communities. Phase 2 of our outreach is focused on broadening this sample to include more neutral and diverse populations.

We understand that sharing your personal story requires a profound level of trust. We are committed to honoring that trust with the highest standards of data security and ethical conduct. Your privacy and confidentiality are paramount.

Our system is designed with a "privacy-by-design" philosophy:

• Absolute Anonymity in the Dataset: The survey is configured to be 100% anonymous by default. Your answers are not linked to any personal identifiers.

• Secure Separation for Follow-Up: For participants who voluntarily and explicitly provide contact information for potential follow-up, that information is immediately and automatically stripped from the survey data. It is stored in a separate, encrypted, and highly access-restricted file.

• State-of-the-Art Pseudonymization: We use a secure, salted hashing system to link these two separate files. This means that even on the backend, your data is represented by a non-identifiable code. It is not possible to reverse-engineer your identity from the survey responses.

Our promise is simple: your story is safe with us. It will be used to build a collective voice for change, and your individual identity will be protected every step of the way.

This survey is more than a collection of data; it is an act of intervention in a profound and protected cultural silence. For decades, the conversation around infant circumcision has been dominated by shifting medical justifications and quiet social pressure, while the voices of those with direct, lifelong experience have been largely ignored. This project is designed to change that.

Our potential impact is multi-layered:

IT FILLS A CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE GAP
We are creating one of the most comprehensive public datasets on the real-world physical, sexual, and psychological outcomes of circumcision, moving beyond simplistic binaries to capture the full spectrum of human experience.

IT CHALLENGES MISINFORMATION WITH LIVED TRUTH
By documenting firsthand testimonials, we provide a powerful, human-centered counter-narrative to the outdated myths and flimsy rationales that have propped up this practice for generations.

IT EMPOWERS INDIVIDUAL VOICES
This is a platform for truth-telling. We offer a structured, anonymous, and respectful space for individuals from all perspectives to contribute their story to a vital conversation, ensuring their experiences are no longer invisible.

IT INFORMS THE FUTURE OF ADVOCACY  & EDUCATION
The findings from this research will be a vital resource, providing compelling data and clear messaging to support parents in making truly informed choices, and to fuel the legal and political advocacy that will protect the bodily autonomy of the next generation.