Tongue Tie (Ankyloglossia) Considerations and Medical Ethics

Ankyloglossia, or "tongue tie" is a congenital condition in which the tongue is anchored by connective tissue to the floor of the mouth in such a way that restricts its movement and makes speech and swallowing difficult. A "tongue tie release" is a surgical procedure done to sever this band and allow the tongue to move more freely. In this clip, a commenter suggests that allowing a child to invert their penis is equivalent to allowing their child to choose to have a tongue tie surgery. I explain why this is NOT the child's decision no matter what the circumstances are and no matter how bright the child is.

The structure of my response argument is a fortiori, Latin for "to the strength," also known as Qal va Homer (Hebrew for light and heavy). The suggestion was that the tongue tie surgery is such a light thing, that I should agree that a child has the right to make such a clear decision in their best interests. I argue that a tongue tie surgery is in no way appropriate for a child to choose independently nor within their capacity to understand the implications of. What is true for the light surgery of tongue tie release is therefore true for the heavy surgery of penile inversion.