Over the past two years, some Somali and other refugees have asked physicians at Harborview Medical Center about performing the rite, which some call female circumcision, but opponents condemn as female genital mutilation. The question came up when doctors routinely asked expectant refugee mothers if they wanted their baby circumcised if it was a boy. Some mothers responded, "Yes, and also if it is a girl."
This summer the hospital, which has a long history of sensitivity to diverse cultures and customs, convened a committee of doctors to discuss what to do about the requests.
"You cannot take away the rights of families and women," Mohamed said. "As leaders and elders of the community we cannot force a mother to accept the general idea of the community. She can say, `I want my girl to have letting of blood.' "
Some 150,000 females of African origin in the United States have been cut, or face the possibility of being cut, according to an estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Somali men and women told The Seattle Times their daughters would be shamed, dishonored and unmarriageable if they were not cut, an act they believe shows their purity.
They also said that if they could not get it done in the U.S. they would pay the $1,500 fare to fly their daughters to their homeland, where they face the extreme version of the cutting ritual.
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