“At a cost of $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 a year, 58% (1990) of baby boys born in the United States – over a million every year – are currently being circumcised, down from about 90% as recently as the 1960’s.”
Circumcision, What It Does, by Billy Ray Boyd 1990
Foreskins for Sale
These companies clearly have a vested interest in supporting infant circumcision. As Organogenesis says, “Our inability to obtain cells of adequate purity [from infant foreskins], or cells that are pathogen-free, would limit our ability to manufacture sufficient quantities of our products. ”
Organogenesis Inc Annual Report:
http://www.secinfo.com/dS997.41yp.htm
http://sec.edgar-online.com/2001/04/02/0000927016-01-001622/Section2.asp
“WE MUST BE ABLE TO OBTAIN ADEQUATE SOURCES OF SUPPLY [of infant foreskins]
We manufacture Apligraf for commercial sale, as well as for use in clinical trials, at our Canton, Massachusetts facility. Among the fundamental raw materials needed to manufacture Apligraf are keratinocyte and fibroblast cells. Because these cells are derived from donated infant foreskin, they may contain human-borne pathogens. We perform extensive testing of the cells for pathogens, including the HIV or “AIDS” virus. Our inability to obtain cells of adequate purity, or cells that are pathogen-free, would limit our ability to manufacture sufficient quantities of our products. ”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684073/
ATCC® Primary Cell Solutions™
ATCC® Number: PCS-110-010 Price: $559.00
Name: Primary Dermal Microvascular Endothelial Cells; Normal, Human, Neonatal
Biosafety Level: 1
Shipped: frozen
Organism: Homo sapiens (human)
Source: Neonatal foreskin
Growth Properties: Adherent
Age: Neonatal
Morphology: Cobblestone appearance
Number of Viable Cells per Vial: ≥ 500,000 in cryopreservation medium
Volume per Vial: 1 ml
Permits/Forms: In addition to the MTA mentioned above, other ATCC and/or regulatory permits may be required for the transfer of this ATCC material. Anyone purchasing ATCC material is ultimately responsible for obtaining the permits. Please click here for information regarding the specific requirements for shipment to your location.
Vavelta is a clear liquid in which tiny skin cells, called fibroblasts, are suspended. These are derived from baby foreskins donated by mothers at a hospital in the U.S. after routine circumcision.
The mothers and babies are screened before the foreskins, which would otherwise be discarded, are used.
Once in Britain, they are divided into pieces less than a centimetre square and treated with enzymes to release the fibroblasts.