Just to follow up since this seems to be such a heated/and emotive topic and of course, to defend myself a bit against this pretty harsh criticism that has gone up here.
Yes, in the US, this is pretty much the norm across the country. The reasoning behind why people circumcise their sons is easily googled. We personally are not religious, at the end of the day our decision was our own, but it had a great deal to do with the health benefits and ultimately clanship of my son matching his father and majority of his community (at the time).
I can only attest to our experience where our hospital physician used a local anesthetic, and my son actually slept through the procedure.
Also, here's a quick summary on the pretty extreme distinction between female and male circumcision. Comparing the two is pretty off-base.
http://bit.ly/wYYV0W
The only thing I would like to add here is that it is unfortunate that some have lashed out so harshly on this thread...which in the end scared off a good many other mums on here (mostly British!) who have messaged me privately with clinic recommendations instead of sharing their experience and referrals on this site. At the end of the day, this will apparently be a topic that won't be discussed, and no mother will feel comfortable asking for first-hand help or recommendations about the matter. I'm guessing many are happy about that, but seeing as the procedure is currently 'not' unlawful and will be carried out, I had believed this would be a safe forum to share and discuss. Perhaps one day.