Case study: David Reimer – The boy who was raised to be a girl

On 22 August 1965 Janet Reimer gave birth to twins. The two boys, Brian and Bruce, were healthy babies, but they would lead tragic lives, blighted by one scientist's radical theory.

Janet Reimer with the twins

David Reimer was born as Bruce Reimer in 1965. Aged 8 months, Janet noticed that the Bruce and his twin Brian were having problems urinating, and after taking them to their local doctor, he suggested that they undergo a circumcision. Unfortunately, the doctor in charge of the procedure was using electrical equipment, which malfunctioned several times. On the last trial, Bruce's entire penis was burnt off. The family were distraught. Brian was not operated on and his condition later cleared up without any treatment.


 

John Money (1965) was a well-known psychologist and a sexologist at the time. Money (1965) suggested that Bruce should have a sex change, as plastic surgery was not advanced enough (and is till not recommended for young infants). However, Money had an ulterior motive (Diamond and Sigmundson, 1997).

Money had been working on a theory – that a child could be raised as either a boy or a girl, regardless of their biological sex (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972). Citing the Nature versus Nurture debate, Money believed that Nurture was more important than Nature when it came to gender roles. The Reimer twins provided Money with a perfect sample, two twin boys (one being raised to believe they were and had always been a girl) raised by the same people in the same way. This allowed Money to experiment on Bruce while using Brian as a control.

Dr Money

Bruce’s parents accented to Money’s suggestion: Bruce underwent surgery and was raised as Brenda, a girl. Brenda behaved exactly as a little girl is taught to behave; playing with dolls, baking cookies, wearing dresses and all the rest. Money published his works, concluding that he had evidence to back up his theory. However, around the age of 7, Brenda began to act in a masculine way. In an attempt to stop this, Money tried – through so-called “check-ups” therapies and hormone injections - to force Brenda to realise that she was female. It is alleged that in some cases he encouraged the children to practice “sex play” with each other as a way to reinforce their gender identity – or at least the identity he was trying to mold for them.

Brain (left), Brenda (right)

When she was around 13 years old, Brenda began to look and act incredibly masculine, rejecting the femininity that had been forced upon her. Eventually, Brenda’s parents told her the truth when she was 14. Immediately Brenda decided that she wanted to be a boy again. She stopped taking her hormones and changed her name to David. David later had surgery to reconstruct a penis, and went on to have a wife and children. However, aged 38 he committed suicide. This was two years after his twin also killed himself. 

The Reimer family

It is believed that they both committed suicide because of the methodology used by Money and his impact on their life (Kipnis & Diamond, 1998). Whether or not that is true, Money’s unethical attempt to gain some fame must definitely have had some level of impact on the remainder of the twin’s life. Money’s reputation was ruined after he reported successes on a flawed experiment.

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