You have a long section about female genital mutilation, but what are your views on male genital mutilation? Why make a distinction?

I'm a man and I'm engaged in a lot of sports and outdoor activities, but lately some of my friends said that biking could result in male infertility. Is this true? How? What are the other activities that could lead to male infertility? How can I stay healthy in terms of fertility?

I'm a 19-year-old uncircumcised male. There was a group discussion about sex in my dorm, and people were describing how erect, an uncircumcised and circumcised penis should look alike, that the foreskin should pull back all the way. I had never thought anything of this before, but looking it up on the internet found that I have what I believe to be a frenulum breve, in that my foreskin retracts (unlike phimosis) but not all they way. Unfortunately, all of the information about this (as well as surgery info) is from the UK. I have searched the web for hours and couldn't find any information about this condition in the US. I was just hoping you might shed some light on my condition, as well as on a procedure called frenuloplasty.

Dear Alice,

I recently had a routine HIV screening done for prenatal labs. It was positive. Thank GOD, western blot came out to be negative. My OB is reassuring me not to worry, that false positives sometimes come out in pregnancy, and as long as the western blot is negative — I'm negative. Could you explain a little more in detail as to why and if you agree with my doctor? I'm at very little risk otherwise and had a negative HIV test about five years ago and am with the same person (my husband).

1) I am a male in his twenties, and I am considering circumcision. Is it safe to be circumcised at my age? And how many days do I need to recover?

2) I'm a guy who's considering being circumcised. What sort of health benefits are there to the procedure? Are there any drawbacks? Also, how much of the foreskin is removed? A little bit? Most of it? All of it, right down to the base of the head? Or what?