David Reimer (August 22, 1965 – May 4, 2004) was a Canadian man who was born as a healthy boy, but was sexually reassigned and raised as female after his penis was inadvertently destroyed during circumcision. Psychologist John Money oversaw the case and reported the reassignment as successful, as evidence that gender identity is primarily learned. Milton Diamond later reported that Reimer never identified as female, and that he began living as male at age 14. Reimer later went public with his story to discourage similar medical practices. He committed suicide at the age of 38. Image File history File links Dreimer. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Winnipeg (disambiguation). ... Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) BC AB SK MB ON QC NB PE NS NL YT NT NU Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard - Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation... is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sex assignment refers to the assigning of sex at the birth of a baby. ... The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external male sexual organ. ... This article is about male circumcision. ... John William Money, Ph. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Milton Diamond (born 6 March 1934 in New York, New York) is a professor of anatomy and reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii. ...

Overview

David Reimer was born as a male identical twin in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His birth name was Bruce; his twin brother was named Brian. At the age of 6 months, after concern was raised about how Bruce and Brian urinated, both boys were diagnosed with phimosis. They were referred for circumcision at the age of 8 months. On April 27, 1966, the surgeon, Jean-Marie Huot, and the anaesthesiologist Max Cham performed the circumcision with the aid of a Bovie cautery machine, which is not intended for use on the extremities or genitals. Bruce's penis was destroyed after the machine malfunctioned. After this, Brian's circumcision was canceled, and he made a full recovery from his condition without further treatment.^[1] Motto: Template:Unhide = Unum Cum Virtute Multorum (One With the Strength of Many) Location City Information Established: 1738 (Fort Rouge), 1873 (City of Winnipeg) Area: 465. ... Phimosis is a medical condition in which the foreskin of the penis of a male cannot be fully retracted. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Cauterization is a medical term describing the burning of the body to remove or close a part of it. ...

Bruce's parents, concerned about his prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore to see John Money, a psychologist who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and gender identity, based on his work with intersex patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the theory that gender identity was relatively plastic in infancy and developed primarily as a result of social learning from early childhood; some academics in the late 1960s believed that all psychological and behavioral differences between males and females were learned. He, and other physicians working with young children born with abnormal genitalia, believed that a penis could not be replaced but that a functional vagina could be constructed surgically, and that Bruce would be more likely to achieve successful, functional sexual maturation as a girl than as a boy. The Johns Hopkins Hospital is a teaching hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. ... John William Money, Ph. ... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ... The vagina, (from Latin, literally sheath or scabbard ) is the tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. ...

They persuaded his parents that sex reassignment would be in Bruce's best interest, and, at the age of 17 months, surgery was performed to remove his testes. He was reassigned to be raised as a female and given the name 'Brenda'. Psychological support for the reassignment and surgery was provided by John Money, who continued to see Brenda for years, both for treatment and to assess the outcome. This reassignment was considered an especially valid test case of the social learning concept of gender identity for two reasons. First, Bruce/Brenda had a twin brother, Brian, who made an ideal control since the two not only shared genes and family environments, but they had shared the intrauterine environment as well. Second, this was reputed to be the first reassignment and reconstruction performed on a male infant who had no abnormality of prenatal or early postnatal sexual differentiation. Human male anatomy The testicles, known medically as testes (singular testis), are the male generative glands in animals. ... Sex assignment refers to the assigning of sex at the birth of a baby. ... Gender of rearing is the gender in which parents rear a child. ... Sexual differentiation is the process of development of the differences between males and females from an undifferentiated zygote (fertilized egg). ...

For several years, Money reported on Brenda's progress as the "John/Joan case", describing apparently successful female gender development, and using this case to support the feasibility of sex reassignment and surgical reconstruction even in non-intersex cases. Money wrote: "The child's behaviour is so clearly that of an active little girl and so different from the boyish ways of her twin brother." Estrogen was given to Brenda when she reached adolescence to induce breast development. However, Brenda had experienced the visits to Baltimore as traumatic rather than therapeutic and when Dr. Money started pressuring the family to bring their "her" in for surgery, in which a vagina would be created, the family discontinued the follow-up visits. John Money published nothing further about the case to suggest that the reassignment had not been successful. Estriol. ...

Reimer's later account, written two decades later with John Colapinto, described how, contrary to Money's reports, Brenda did not identify as a girl. She was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses nor female hormones made her feel female. By the age of 13, Brenda was experiencing suicidal depression, and told her parents she would commit suicide if they made her see John Money again and that she possibly wanted to bite his arm, too. In 1980, Brenda's parents told her the truth about her gender reassignment, following advice from Brenda's endocrinologist and psychiatrist. Now 15, Brenda decided to assume a male gender identity, calling himself David. After learning of the new relationship with his ex-sister, Brian began to experience a pattern of mental disturbance and later developed schizophrenia. By 1997, David had undergone treatment to reverse the reassignment, including testosterone injections, a double mastectomy, and two phalloplasty operations. He also married a woman and became a stepfather to her 3 children. Endocrinology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the endocrine system and its specific secretions called hormones. ... For other uses, see Psychiatrist (disambiguation). ... In medicine, mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. ... Phalloplasty refers to the (re-)construction of a penis or, sometimes, to artificial modification of the penis by surgery, often for cosmetic purposes. ...

His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to Milton Diamond, an academic sexologist who persuaded David to allow him to report the outcome in order to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly. Soon after, David went public with his story and John Colapinto published a widely disseminated and influential account in Rolling Stone magazine in December 1997.^[2] They went on to elaborate the story in a book, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl.^[3] Milton Diamond (born 6 March 1934 in New York, New York) is a professor of anatomy and reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii. ... Sexology is the systematic study of human sexuality. ... This article is about the magazine. ...

Although the book gave David Reimer more financial security, he had many other problems in his life, including a separation from his wife, severe problems with his parents, and the death of his twin brother Brian in 2002, from a toxic combination of alcohol and antidepressants. Reimer committed suicide with a sawed-off shotgun in 2004. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Social impact of David Reimer's story

The report and subsequent book about Reimer influenced several medical practices and reputations, and even current understanding of the biology of gender. The case accelerated the decline of sex reassignment and surgery for unambiguous XY male infants with micropenis, various other rare congenital malformations, and penile loss in infancy (described in more detail in intersex.) Human Brain The biology of gender is the physical basis for behavioural differences between men and women. ... An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ... XY may refer to: coordinates, see cartesian coordinate system XY sex-determination system XY Magazine, a gay youth-oriented magazine published in the U.S. X&Y, an album by Coldplay XY Website, a personals website hosted by XY Magazine, intended for young gay, bi, and lesbian youth aged 13... Micropenis is a medical term that describes an unusually small penis in a human male. ... An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ...

It supported the arguments of those who feel that prenatal and early-infantile hormones have a strong influence on brain differentiation, gender identity and perhaps other sex-dimorphic behavior. The applicability of this case to appropriate sex assignment in cases of intersex conditions involving severe deficiency of testosterone or insensitivity to its effects is more uncertain. For some people, the inability to predict gender identity or preference in this case confirmed skepticism about doctors' abilities to do so in general, or about the wisdom of using genital reconstructive surgery to commit an infant with an intersex condition or genital defect to a specific gender role before the child is old enough to claim a gender identity. Norepinephrine A hormone (from Greek όρμή - to set in motion) is a chemical messenger from one cell (or group of cells) to another. ... Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size, between the sexes Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. ... Sex assignment refers to the assigning of sex at the birth of a baby. ... Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. ... Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS, or Androgen resistance syndrome) is a set of disorders of sexual differentiation that results from mutations of the gene encoding the androgen receptor. ... Genital reconstructive surgery refers to surgery performed on the genitalia of infants, children, or adults for the purpose of correcting birth defects or other anatomic abnormalities, or for the purpose of transforming normal genitalia of one sex into genitalia resembling the other sex. ... A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Intactivists, who oppose circumcision and involuntary sex-reassignment, treat the story of David Peter Reimer as a cautionary tale about why one should not needlessly modify the genitals of unconsenting minors.^{[citation needed]} Ribbon For Genital Integrity: The pink and blue ribbon symbol of the Genital Integrity movement (). Genital integrity is a term that describes the principle that all human beings, males and females, should not involuntarily be subjected to medically unnecessary genital modification and mutilation, including male or female circumcision, or sexual...

Among the repercussions was damage to John Money's reputation. Not only had his theory of gender plasticity been dealt a severe blow, but Colapinto's book described bizarrely unpleasant childhood therapy sessions, and implied that Money had ignored or concealed the developing evidence that Brenda's reassignment was not going well. Money's defenders have suggested that some of the allegations about the therapy sessions may have been the result of false memory syndrome.^[4] For the novel, see False Memory (novel) It has been suggested that Synthetic memory be merged into this article or section. ...

The reputation of Johns Hopkins Medical Center as an institution at the forefront of progressive care for people with intersex and transgender conditions was hurt as well. Finally, theories of the malleability and cultural construction of gender identity (see also gender mainstreaming), already falling out of academic fashion in the 1990s, became harder to defend, as the case was used by many to argue that "nature" trumped "nurture". A transgender person in New York Citys Gay Pride Parade Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at... Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. ...

In popular culture

The "Boys will Be Girls" episode of Chicago Hope that aired on February 3, 2000 was based on Reimer's life ^{[citation needed]}. Additionally, the "Identity" episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that aired on January 18, 2005 featured a male twin who had undergone sex reassignment therapy after an accident similar to David Reimer's and subsequent therapy by a psychiatrist reminiscent of Dr. Money (however, that episode ended with the murder of the doctor by one or both of the twins, who successfully tricked the police into being unable to tell which twin had committed the crime—effectively insulating both from prosecution). On the The Weakerthans album Reunion Tour a song entitled "Hymn of the Medical Oddity" was inspired by the story of David Reimer. "Born a Boy, Raised a Girl" is also another television special based on his life as well. Chicago Hope was a popular CBS drama series created by David E. Kelley that ran from September 18, 1994 to May 4, 2000. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Season 5 DVD Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU) is the first of three spin-offs of Law & Order (the other two being Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Trial by Jury; all series are presented on the NBC... is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Weakerthans are a four-piece (and sometimes six-piece[1]) Canadian indie rock band that blends punk-inflected folk rock with award-winning,[2] literate, introspective lyrics. ... Reunion Tour is the tentative title of the fourth studio album by The Weakerthans, scheduled for release in the fall of 2007. ...

See also

• Penectomy
• History of intersex surgery

Penectomy is the surgical removal of the penis for medical reasons. ... Intersex surgery is one of several terms referring to surgery performed to correct birth defects due to intersex conditions or other causes, as well as early injuries of the genitalia. ...

References

1. ^ "David Reimer: The boy who lived as a girl", CBC News, May 10, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-01-20. 
2. ^ Colapinto, John; "The True Story of John/Joan."; Rolling Stone, December 11, 1997: 54–97.
3. ^ Colapinto, John; As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl; Harper Perennial; 2001; ISBN 0-06-092959-6
4. ^ "Being Brenda", Guardian Unlimited, May 12, 2004.  Retrieved December 19, 2005.

• "Sex: Unknown (transcript)", NOVA (TV series), October 30, 2001. 

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External links

• Chalmers, Katie (May 10, 2004). "Sad end to boy/girl life", Winnipeg Sun
• Colapinto, John (June 3, 2004). "Gender gap: What were the real reasons behind David Reimer's suicide?" Slate
• BBC documentary: "Dr Money and the Boy with No Penis"
• David Reimer at the Internet Movie Database