The Urologist's Child

One of the things that has always recommended urology as a subspecialty is the number of children of urologists who end up following in their parents' footsteps. I've known four children of urologists, and all of them have gone into or seriously considered going into urology, a testament to the fact that 1) they actually consider their parents positive rather than negative role models and 2) the urologist's lifestyle doesn't scare them off. Both good things.

Urologists definitely tend to be pretty nice people with a good sense of humor. Case in point: the American Urological Association's catalog, which sells shorts with a "Stream Team" logo, and T-shirts of a terrified looking child on a sled hurtling crotch-first into a tree trunk. The caption says: "Don't worry, my father's a urologist."

But I definitely wonder: how do children deal with the knowledge that their parent works on wee wees? Will my children grow up embarassed of my profession, or liberated by it?

One of my friends has a great story about an acquaintance of hers whose father was a urologist. She'd introduce herself to others, and eventually the conversation would get around to the fact that her father was a doctor. One day a male friend noted excitedly, "Oh, your father's Dr. Rosenstein? He fixed my...uh..." And then less excitedly, "...knee."

I imagine that that friendship didn't quite blossom.

One wonders, at what age do you tell your child what you do? Do you wait for others to bring up the topic or do you try to nip it in the bud? How much explanation should you really give? Too little knowledge and you open them up to misinformation from others. Too much information, and you worry about putting smut into the mouths of babes (remember that scene in Kindergarten Cop where the little girl says, "My dad's a gynecologist. He looks at vaginas all day long?").

I wonder if the kids suddenly get popular during adolescence when they can bring their friends over to look at their parent's urology textbooks. Or if they get a complex when it's time to have a boy or girlfriend. Gotta say, it's a pretty good deterrent for a boy to be nice to a girl when he knows that her mom or dad actually knows how to cut off their balls properly.

In my ideal world, I want my children to grow up free of the taboo associated with genitalia; I want them to be able to demistify all of that. Adolescence is hard enough without being concerned about one's body image. When I think of all of the hang-ups I had growing up, it makes me wonder that I ever did anything productive. After all, isn't it considered "childish" to giggle about subjects? Perhaps the son or daughter of a urologist will be able to look upon such things with gravity and seriousness, mature beyond their years.

Or maybe they'll just be really screwed up. Sigh.