In modern times the expression "every male among you" is taken to mean every Jewish male among you. Circumcision does not make a male child Jewish; he is Jewish if his birth parent is Jewish or had converted by the time of his birth. If a baby is not Jewish, he may have a brit as the first step of conversion.

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In this case, if the child is to be raised as a Jew, the ceremony is called brit l'shem gerut and parallels the brit milah so closely that most attendees will not notice the difference.  Brit l'shem gerut customarily is performed on the eighth day of the boy's life, but a later date is acceptable under halacha (Jewish religious law). Brit l'shem gerut frequently is used for adoptees and when the birth results from surrogacy.  While no witnesses are required for brit milah, brit l'shem gerut requires the presence of two adult Jewish witnesses who are not related to the baby.

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Every Jewish parent is obligated to circumcise his own son, just as Abraham circumcised his own son, Isaac. However, because most parents are not versed in the Jewish laws concerning brit milah, nor are they trained to circumcise, a mohel is normally asked to serve as the parent's stand-in. A mohel (or mohelet) is a righteous Jew who has received intensive instruction in the halakah (laws), minhagim (customs), brit (entry of a child into the covenant), and milah (surgical technique of circumcision). Any observant Jew who has mastered these skills may become a mohel; one need not be a physician, nor a rabbi. Historically, a mohel is considered so vital to a Jewish community that a scholar is forbidden to live in a community that does not have a mohel.