Despite mother's protest, father has boy circumcised

By STEVE ROCK
The Kansas City Star

The father of an almost 3-year-old boy had his son circumcised last week, registering moot at least a portion of a petition before the Missouri Supreme Court.

The boy's mother, Camille Azar of Lee's Summit, filed a petition for a writ of prohibition in mid-July and effectively asked the state's highest court to reverse a decision previously made in Jackson County Circuit Court. She was hoping to stop Ray Jagoda, the child's father, from having their son circumcised.

The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the case.

Earlier this year, Jackson County Circuit Judge Christine Sill-Rogers granted full custody to Jagoda. Included in her order was a stipulation: “When there is disagreement regarding medical treatment, dental treatment and any health-care issue, father shall be the final, sole decision-maker.”

Azar didn't want Jagoda to have their son circumcised, she wrote in her petition, because the procedure was “unneeded and irreparable.” On Monday, she said her son “had something precious taken away from him forever.”

Jagoda, who is Jewish, initially wanted the circumcision for religious reasons. But he said a recent examination revealed that his son “would have had a lot of problems” had he not been circumcised.

Though he declined to discuss details, he said the procedure went well and that his son was under general anesthesia when the circumcision was performed.