Last updated on August 9, 2020
Question:
I am circumcised, and I was wondering is there is any way I can get my foreskin back. Is there anything wrong with being uncircumcised? If there is a way to get foreskin, is it ok to do so?
Answer:
It is very common to wonder if things might be different or better if circumstances hadn’t led us to the point where we are at right now. Paul stated, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13). What matters is not what could have been, but what we do with the gifts that we have been given right now.
Your question is one that early Christians struggled with during the first century. Many Christians came out of Judaism in which boys were circumcised when they were eight days old. The apostles and prophets taught that the Old Law had ended and with its end, circumcision no longer was needed. Some wanted to continue the tradition, to which Paul said, “As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:12-13). Others, understanding that circumcision was no longer needed, wondered if they needed to become as the Gentile Christians; to which Paul said, “Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters” (I Corinthians 7:18-19).
For all the arguments for and against circumcision, the point remains that it makes no difference in your personal life. Should a boy be circumcised? I would argue “no” because it is an operation that creates no benefits and still carries risks. But if you are already circumcised, the opposite also remains true.
There are people who claim to be able to restore the foreskin. There are two methods that claim success. One involves stretching the skin on the penis either by tape or by weights to encourage the body to produce more skin. I’m dubious about how well it works and I have been told by a man who has tried it that it definitely does not work. I wonder if the skin stretches all that much or if the body learns to keep the penis in a more flaccid state so that it is not so long when it is not erect. But the major point is that these techniques claim to take years to produce results. The other method is to take skin from you inside thigh and reconstruct a foreskin surgically. It is a method similar to what is used to restore skin that was severely damaged by burns. It is a expensive technique that requires multiple surgeries and time to heal.
But however the foreskin is restored, you must realize that you truly won’t have your original foreskin. All the nerve endings that were severed, present in the foreskin, will remain severed. You will have extra skin protecting your glans, but you won’t have extra sensitivity from your foreskin. As Paul stated, it is not worth trying to reverse what has already happened.
Having or not having a foreskin will not impact your ability to have sex one day with your wife, nor will it impact your pleasure or her pleasure in having sex. Are the sensations different? Most likely, but for each individual it doesn’t matter. It is still pleasurable.