There are other articles on the life and death of David Reimer as well
as TV programs and many books. I bet few people have heard of him and
what Dr Money did to him.
He needed a circumcision as a child and the hospital chose to use an
unusual technique where the skin was burned off. Unfortunately for him
the operation burned off his penis entirely leaving just his testicles.
Not knowing what to do his parents eventually contacted a leading doctor
at the time, Dr Money. He decided that they should raise their child as
a girl. According to his theory, one used for children born as
hermaphrodites, it was best to raise him as a girl.
His testicles were removed, he had a vagina cut in and was given hormone
treatment. The boy was turned into a girl and Dr Money thought the
experiment was a success: nurture could beat nature.
It wasn't. The child went through torment. He wasn't aware of what had
been done to him until his early teens. I can not even begin to imagine
how he felt when he found out he'd been born as a man.
As a child he suffered a lot of bullying because he didn't seem to be a
girl. He wasn't allowed to use the male or female toilets by other
children so had to urinate in a back alley near the school.
Eventually he had reconstructive surgery to return him to being a man.
From what little I've read about him he had an amazing attitude to life
but eventually it all became too much and he killed himself.
I was close to tears when I came across this story again. I'd seen a
documentary about it a while back. This is a horrible tragedy which
should never be forgotten. What happened to a person's life because of a
doctor's curiosity and beliefs shouldn't be forced on anyone else again.
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