Unfortunately, the medical community at-large does not acknowledge that there is a strong demand for foreskin regeneration.  It is often viewed as unnecessary and frivolous, or worse, as a social taboo.  Many, including health professionals, do not understand the needs and desires of the men who want to regenerate their foreskin, nor the physiological and psychological factors at play.  This lack of enthusiasm and understanding that we have received from the medical community has been very frustrating.  Throughout the past three years, we have obtained numerous research proposals from reputable research organizations.  However, each has been deemed unsatisfactory in that it lacks the vision to accomplish the desired end result: a complete anatomically correct and fully functional foreskin.

Since foreskin regeneration is something that is extremely important to so many people, we can’t let the apathy of the medical establishment deter us.  A significant percentage of circumcised men around the world have a desire to regenerate their foreskin, many of whom are not being heard by the medical community today.  Therefore, Foregen has decided to take the lead in conducting the pioneering research – with or without the help of the medical community.

This new role that Foregen will play offers many advantages including much greater freedom in choosing the direction of and making decisions regarding the research.  As a result, we can finally move the project forward and conduct the research in a way that our scientists deem satisfactory to achieve our goal of foreskin regeneration.  While this is a good thing in view of our ultimate objective, it unavoidably creates a delay in the short-term.  The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) requires registration for many different materials, chemicals, and reagents that are necessary for conducting the needed laboratory work.  In the past, we could rely on outside labs or organizations to provide the necessary permits and registrations for us.  However, now that Foregen will itself conduct the research, we must obtain our own DEA permits and any state licenses for the restricted items that we need.  This temporary delay in undertaking the research was deemed necessary for the completion of the project.  It is very clear that after three years of unsatisfactory proposals that we must take the lead and do everything ourselves if we ever want to see the project reach completion.  Despite the short-term delay, our goal will be reached sooner because we will be acting independently with full control over the project.  We will no longer have to consider partnering with any organizations who may not share the passion and dedication we have for achieving this goal.

This decision necessitates a fundamental transition for Foregen. When Foregen was founded, we were a non-profit which served to raise funds and organize collaboration between researchers to facilitate making foreskin regeneration a reality.  We were dependent upon others to actually carry out all of the research.  Now, Foregen has decided to cast off this dependency.  This transition is very clearly a necessary step for all of us to achieve our goal of foreskin regeneration, but it will inevitably change the structure and the organization as we currently know it.

In December 2012, we announced our preliminary plans to create a for-profit company to support the work of Foregen.  Our goal of finding the quickest and most effective way to fully regenerate the foreskin has not and will not change.  By necessity, this means raising a lot more capital much more quickly than we have to date.  Furthermore, given the ambivalence of the medical community, we need to lead the project in all aspects ourselves.  A for-profit company is the best way to achieve these things, and thus the idea of creating a for-profit Foregen is still in place.  We are currently meeting with corporate lawyers to determine the best way to establish a for-profit entity.  Two options are under investigation:

1) Create an entirely new for-profit entity, leaving Foregen as a non-profit entity but with a new president.  In this scenario, the non-profit Foregen will be re-defined with regard to its mission-statement so as to legally eliminate any conflicts of interest with the for-profit entity.  As such, it would likely be solely responsible for public awareness.  It is important to note that it would be acting independently from the for-profit, and that the new president and new officers of Foregen the non-profit would decide its course.  The for-profit entity would then take on the mantle of funding and conducting the research required for foreskin regeneration.

2) Transition the current non-profit Foregen into a benefit limited liability corporation (LLC).  In simple terms, a benefit corporation is a special kind of for-profit organization which is obligated by law to demonstrate that it is working to provide a general benefit to society and not solely profit maximization for its shareholders.  This represents a means by which we can obtain funding more rapidly, while still remaining true to the ideals and goals set forth for the original non-profit.  A benefit corporation may be an especially good fit for Foregen, as we have always envisioned this project as one with a larger mission for society as a whole.  As we have explained in the past, we believe that a for-profit organization will attract investment capital in ways that the non-profit organization could not.  We worked hard to achieve our non-profit status (as our long-time supporters know), and our intention is not to cast aside our efforts of the past three years but rather to find the quickest and most effective possible route to affordable foreskin regeneration.

Whatever path we follow, it will take into consideration the advice of our legal counsel along with the many supporters who have donated to Foregen thus far.  We want this to be a fully transparent transition with our intentions visible for all to see.  Naturally, there will be questions regarding the donations already received by the non-profit organization.  We are currently investigating the best way to protect the interests of those who have already financially supported us from legal, ethical, and substantive stand-points.

Once the plans for a for-profit are finalized and a new corporation is officially established, our progress will be much more rapid.  We will seek investments, set up our own laboratory, and our scientists will move forward with the independence and freedom that has been lacking so far.  We look forward to sharing more updates with you when our transition has been finalized.  Thank you for supporting us and our project over the past three years and your continued support as we make this transition.

The post Foregen and the Future: A New Direction appeared first on .

We are pleased to announce that since the fundraiser earlier this year, much progress has been made behind the scenes.  We have acquired access to a suitable laboratory with all the facilities we will need to conduct our work.  We have also managed to obtain cooperation and expertise from some of the most talented and forward thinking doctors in the field of regenerative medicine, who understand and respect the unique and very specific goals we have for this project.  The second step in this groundbreaking project was to prepare a scientific protocol, which would serve as a blueprint for the experiments that our scientific staff would follow.  With the support and expertise of leading biochemistry scientists in both the United States and Italy, this was completed, and experimentation commenced on September 23, 2012.

The experimentation is part of a strategy that will bring foregen to a clinical trial.  Our scientists have chosen to work with various promising technologies that are recognized by the regenerative medicine community at large; among them are ways of working with stem cells and the extracellular matrix.   After considering the best way to establish scientific credibility and viability for our project, our scientists have decided that it is necessary to take an intermediate step with animal tissue to preserve the safety of future human participants.  This is what we are pursuing now.

The first experiment has huge importance for all people concerned with human dignity and bodily integrity, because for the first time in history, a committed and passionate organization has decided to solve a senseless problem facing millions of men in the world.  We intend to regenerate the foreskin as nature created it.  The technology is available, but to achieve our goals more quickly we will need even more supporters.  So far, each donor has given his money for a cause in which he believes and for the chance at becoming whole.  We have raised awareness, but nevertheless the pace of fundraising has been too slow.

In order to increase our reach to other potential supporters in the world, foregen will continue to exist as a  non-profit organization, but next year external investors will establish a for-profit enterprise which will support the immense work of foregen.  In this new company, supporters will contribute to something they are passionate about; but unlike the non-profit, this time their money will buy shares of the new company.  This level of  personal investment should raise money much faster.  Although both organizations will share the same overall vision, the for-profit will be managed independently to facilitate investment, while the non-profit will continue to raise funds in accordance with our charter.  To be able to achieve its goals Foregen needs very special investors, people who want to invest their money to resolve their personal problem and the problem of countless circumcised men in the world.  In this way each  investor will take his own responsibility to fund this marvelous project which intends to regenerate man to his original integrated state.

The first phase of the experiment is progressing as planned, and we will continue to provide more details as promised.  Once the experiment on animal tissues has been concluded, fundraising for the first human application trials will then commence.  The scientists involved in this project work with us on a confidential basis, and we hope you can understand that this unconventional and pioneering work is best carried out without them having to deal with a constant stream of inquiries, speculation from the press, and interference from pro-circumcision activists.

In the meantime we would like to thank everyone for their continued support, interest, and kind generosity.  Your support really does matter to us.  2012 has been an exciting year for foregen, but in many ways it is only the beginning.  Please look forward to 2013 and the many exciting developments we are planning to share with you!

The post Latest Update – Foregen’s Scientific Progress appeared first on .

The post Blair,Foregen Supporter appeared first on .

It is quite a unique opportunity to have the chance to turn a dream into reality.  Many have told us that the technology was too immature, or that we would never be able to find the funding for such a project.  However, now that we see even more clearly the determination of our supporters, we are more confident than ever in the future of foregen.

However, we still have greater plans.  This milestone was important, but it won’t be the last time that we will need to ask for your support.  The work this summer is only preliminary – it is important to continue helping foregen however you can.  Please look forward to more news about our scientific progress in the coming months, and know that we are already planning for the next goal!

The post OVER $35,000 RAISED! We have achieved our first goal! appeared first on .

The post Alex,foregen supporter appeared first on .

Foregen has been a non profit (onlus) in Italy since April 2010. We are extremely happy to report that in addition to the Italian non-profit status, Foregen is now officially a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States.  This status was achieved on April 11, 2012.You can see the approval letter by clicking here.

Not only does this status allow Foregen to be legally recognized as a public charity, it also provides us (and our supporters) with many other benefits which are listed below:

• Public recognition of our non profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
• We can assure our donors that their United States donations are tax deductible.
• We are eligible to receive federal, state and local grants.
• We will be exempt from federal taxes.
• We will be exempt from state income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes.
• Non profit mailing privileges and cheaper classified rates.

We will be updating our website shortly with the following information:

• Confirmation that we have relocated to Los Angeles and registered as a non profit there.
• A copy of our 501(c)(3) non profit status registration documents.
• Confirmation on the donation page that donations from the United States are now tax deductible.
• A link to the Internal Revenue Service charities page confirming our 501(c)(3) status as soon as our entry is added to the relevant IRS database.

We decided to found a Foregen in the USA because non-religious circumcision in the US is the most widespread out of all the countries in the world.  Now that we have achieved our goal of obtaining official non profit recognition in the US, we have not excluded the possibility of founding the same type of non profit in even more countries where circumcision is widespread.
If you have any questions or comments about this article, you can contact us through the comments section below, the forum, our twitter page, our facebook page, or by sending an email to info@foregen.org.

Thank you for your support.

The post 501(c)(3) Non Profit Status Achieved appeared first on .

The post Russell, Foregen Supporter appeared first on .

Like many other sites you may visit, Foregen uses online forums to allow our visitors and members to post questions and discuss issues which relate to Foregen.

What you may not know is that Foregen uses two different forums, having both a “guest” forum, and a “supporters forum”.  The guest forum is open to anybody who visits the site, but the supporters forum is only available to individuals who have signed up via the Become a Supporter page.

There are a number of reason for having a separate supporters forum, some of which are listed below:

• The $50 supporter fee goes towards the clinical trial donation fund.
• To provide a positive place in which to discuss our progression plans.
• To provide exclusive content to supporting members.
• Posts are not moderated, so they are visible immediately.

Although people who sign up as supporters have access to both forums, most supporters generally only access the supporters forum as there is a higher level of discussion and interaction there. To demonstrate this, a screenshot has been provided below to show the difference in activity on the two forums as it stood on March 29, 2012:

A source of frustration for guest members is that the guest forum does not allow them to create topics or post comments which are immediately visible.  The reason behind these restrictions is to prevent forum spam.  Prior to imposing these restrictions, the guest forum, like public forums found on many websites, was targeted on a daily basis by spammers providing links to a number of illegal and dangerous products such as fake medications and virus infected software.  Since the introduction of these restrictions, forum spam has been eliminated.

We hope this article explains the reasons behind having two separate forums, but if you have any questions or comments, you can contact us through the comments section below, the forum, our twitter page, our facebook page, or by sending an email to info@foregen.org.

If you wish to sign up as a supporter to gain access to the supporters forum and the benefits this brings, you can do so now by visiting the Become a Supporter page.

Thank you for your support.

The post Foregen Forums appeared first on .

The post Karl,Foregen Supporter appeared first on .

The post Andrew , Foregen supporter appeared first on .