Marilyn Fayre Milos

Born in San Mateo, California, and professionally trained as a Registered Nurse at the College of Marin’s School of Nursing, Marilyn Fayre Milos began campaigning against elective non-therapeutic circumcision of male infants when, as a nursing student in 1979, she witnessed the circumcision of a newborn baby boy. Once she researched the issue and realized that most of the world’s males are not circumcised, the important protective, immunological, and sexual functions of the foreskin, and the harmful consequences of inflicting pain and trauma on a newborn baby, she began giving parents accurate information about circumcision. Due to her commitment to informed consent, she was forced to resign from her position as a post-partum nurse at Marin General Hospital in 1985. Milos co-founded NOCIRC (National Organization of Circumcision Information Resources Center that same year. As executive director of NOCIRC, Milos coordinated 15 International Symposia on Genital Autonomy, emphasizing circumcision of infants and children as a human rights issue. NOCIRC’s name was changed to Genital Autonomy-America in 2016 to reflect its mission to protect he bodily integrity of every child—female, male, and intersex. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Intact America. 

After leaving the world of hands-on nursing in 1985, Milos was given the California Nurses’ Association Award for Clinical Excellence in Perinatal Nursing in April 1988 for her dedication and unwavering commitment to righting a wrong. NurseWeek Magazine honored Milos with its Nursing Excellence Award for Patient Advocacy in May 2001 and Mothering Magazine recognized Milos as “A Living Treasure” in its March 2008 issue. She received Intact America’s Award for Humanitarian Service in 2009 and the Trustbirth Initiative Lifetime Achievement for Protecting Newborns in March 2010. In May 2015, Milos was honored as a “Living Legend” at the BirthKeeper Summit in Berkeley,California, for her work to end male, female, and intersex genital mutilation. Marilyn raised four children and has three grandchildren, and lives in Forest Knolls, Marin County, California.