Reiss said his group focuses on highlighting the risks of circumcision. While some of the most common complications include bleeding and infection, other problems include inflammation of the urinary opening and a narrowing of the urethra.
"Circumcision is surgery, and any time there is surgery there can be complications," he said. "Just because it is the most common surgical procedure done in the U.S. does not mean it should be done."
For that reason, he and others ask: If there is little medical basis for the surgery, why bother?
Reiss thinks most parents choose circumcision for tradition's sake.
Reiss, who is Jewish, said he counsels Jewish couples who are seeking an alternative to the Jewish bris and offers a Web site with names of rabbis who preside over the sacred ceremony minus the cutting.
"It is no longer a taboo subject," he said. "I think people are talking about it more and more and people are questioning it."
Overton, whose son Sam is now 5, offers a brief discussion on circumcision to the parents in her birthing classes. But she stays away from the polarized debate on the topic. Instead, she says she offers her opinion only if asked and tries to foster polite discussion.
During one class, a group of future fathers discussed the issue for a full hour.
"Sometimes moms get on these message boards, and it can be heated, and it doesn't need to be," Overton said. "But these men were able to share their thoughts in a safe place without being judged and I thought, 'What a wonderful thing.' "
