Born premature and not circumcised.
Unlike all the other boys born when I was in my part of the US, I was not circumcised at birth. I was born a bit premature and my parents didn't have it done. I had seen my dad in the bath or shower a few times when I was a preschooler and noticed that we were different, but I didn't know why. I also didn't have any brothers. Whenever I would go somewhere and have to change in a locker room or changing room, when I did see others changing, I noticed that I was the odd one out. Nobody said anything to me but some probably did notice. Around the age of 10, I got a book from my parents that explained about sex and puberty, and I finally knew how I was different.
About that time, I started to have urinary tract infections every two or three months. I remember telling my mom the first two or three times, and she'd just tell me to drink cranberry juice. Despite pulling my foreskin back when I showered, I would still get infections on a fairly regular basis. This continued for years. I went to college and then joined the military. The first few field training exercises were only a few days with no shower, so it was bearable. After training was done and I went to my first unit, though, the exercises were longer. At that point I knew that if I didn't want to keep having problems for the next few years and possibly worse than I was having, my best option would be to get circumcised. While on leave, I managed to get an appointment and get it done a week before I had to report back. I didn't tell anyone in my unit and was healing well enough that the process didn't result in any issues. Since then, I've never had another infection and everything has worked out great.MC
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