575. Hatafas Dam Bris

Milah 3:5

One who circumcises a slave (at a time when there was indentured servitude) recites the bracha that God “has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to circumcise servants and to draw ‘blood of the covenant’ from them, because if it were not for the blood of the covenant, heaven and earth could not endure....” If one circumcises another person’s slave, he recites a bracha that God commanded us “regarding the circumcision of servants.” When circumcising an adult, his genitals must be covered until after the bracha is recited; after that, it is uncovered and the bris is performed.

Milah 3:6

When the “blood of the covenant” is drawn from a convert who had been previously circumcised, or from a baby who was born without a foreskin, there is no need to recite a bracha. Similarly, a bracha is not recited when circumcising a hermaphrodite as he is not definitely male.