Born on August 22, 1965, in Canada, to Janet and Ron Reimer, David Reimer had an unsuccessful circumcision operation at a young age, and his life changed completely from that point on.
Of course, we should raise children with whatever sexual orientation they feel close to. In other words, forcing a man who was born in a male body but who defines himself as a woman to be a man is just as abuse as forcing a man who doesn’t feel like a woman to be a woman.
Reimer’s penis was severely damaged, and his circumcision was unsuccessful.
At six months old, both David and his identical twin, Brian, were diagnosed with ‘phimosis’, a condition in which the foreskin of the penis causes problems and interferes with regular urination.
On April 27, 1966, David was circumcised, but the circumcision was unsuccessful due to his doctor’s technique. While the exact extent of Reimer’s penile damage is unclear, the majority of biographers and journalists argue that he was either completely ruptured or otherwise damaged.
His parents changed the boy’s gender and name.
In the mid-1960s, psychologist John Money said that Reimer, who was born biologically male but suffered irreparable damage to his penis as a baby, needed to be gender reassigned.
After Money’s idea, Reimer’s parents decided to raise her as a girl and had her undergo sex reassignment surgery. After her surgery, Reimer was given the name “Brenda” and took the hormone estrogen.
Doctors also made a small hole in Reimer’s abdomen to urinate. At that time, such interventions were often given to babies born with abnormal or intersex genitalia.
He was unaware that he was a biological male.
Throughout his childhood, Reimer was never told that he was biologically male and regularly visited Money. Throughout his childhood, he was not informed about male biology and remained under the doctor’s control.
Despite her upbringing, Reimer rejected the identity of a young woman and began living as a man. Throughout his life, he suffered from severe depression which resulted in his suicide at the age of 38.
When Reimer was 15, he learned all the facts from his father.
In 1980, when Reimer was 15, his father told him the whole truth about his birth and subsequent procedures. Thus, David’s life began to change again.
In his 20s, he took steps to become a man again and later got married.
After this revelation, Reimer took the name David and assumed a male identity. At the age of 21, she underwent testosterone therapy and underwent various surgeries to get rid of her breasts and reconstruct a penis.
He married Jane Fontaine, a mother of three, on September 22, 1990. Her public statements about Reimer and the trauma of her transition drew attention to gender identity and always emphasized that gender reassignment surgeries for infants/children should be done consciously.
Reimer in popular culture:
The BBC series “Horizon” featured Reimer’s story in two episodes, “The Boy Who Turned into a Girl” and “The Doctor with Money and the Boy Without a Penis”. Canadian rock band The Weakerthans also wrote the song “Hymn of the Medical Oddity” about Reimer, and the Ensemble Studio Theater production “Boy” was about his life.
Sources: The Embryo Project Encyclopedia, Simply Psychology
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