In West Palm Beach, Florida, a mother has been arrested for not having her child circumcised. Heather Hironimus has been fighting over her son Chase’s foreskin in court for more than a year. When she split up with Chase’s dad, Dennis Nebus, in 2012, she signed a parenting agreement saying he could schedule a circumcision, but later changed her mind.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday, when a Florida appeals court granted Hironimus, who has changed her mind about circumcision and received an emergency order to stop the removal of her son’s foreskin. A lower court had ordered the circumcision could go ahead after hearing testimony from a pediatric urologist. Jeffrey Gillen last week ruled that enforcing the parenting agreement would be in the best interest of Chase, now 3, although the urologist testified he wouldn’t recommend it at Chase’s age.

This case has implicated many issues:

• First, can a minor child’s circumcision be something that a married couple can negotiate when getting a divorce?
• If so then what is the cut-off age? Could the cut-off age be 3, 5 or even 10.

Common sense would suggest the older the child is the more painful the procedure could be. Nevertheless, this is not a procedure that is needed to save the boy’s life or prevent some type of future harm. The attorneys at the Ledezma Law Firm would make sure that this is something our client wants to agree on because a court order is a document that compels compliance. As such, if the court order is not complied with, then the Judge has the power to arrest the person.
Another issue is why the court is utilizing valuable law enforcement resources for a mother not circumcising a child where the benefits of circumcision have not been totally agreed upon by experts.

At the Ledezma Law firm, our attorneys will properly advise their clients throughout every step of the way with the care and attention that their case needs.