The Reimer Case

In 1967, a Canadian couple turned to John Money. One of their twin sons, born in 1965, had lost his penis during a circumcision at the age of eight months. Money advised the parents to raise the child as a girl. The case became the most famous evidence for his theory, and later the most famous evidence against it.

Money’s Advice

According to Money, gender roles were shaped by upbringing during the first years of life. At the age of 22 months, the boy’s testicles were removed. He was given the name Brenda, and his parents raised him as a girl. Since his twin brother was raised as a boy, the case seemed to provide an ideal comparison.

The Reported Success

In 1972, Money described the case in the book Man & Woman, Boy & Girl, which he wrote with Anke Ehrhardt. He reported that the child was developing as an ordinary girl. The case found its way into textbooks and was cited as evidence that gender is learned.

What Really Happened

In 1997, biologist Milton Diamond and psychiatrist Keith Sigmundson published a follow-up study. It showed that the child had rejected the female role from an early age. When he learned the truth at fourteen, he began living as a boy and called himself David. In 2000, journalist John Colapinto published the book As Nature Made Him about his life. David Reimer died by suicide in 2004, at the age of 38.

Why It Took So Long

For years, the family travelled to Baltimore every year for check-ups with Money. Both children dreaded these visits, and by the late 1970s they refused to go any longer. Money did not publish anything more about the case, but neither did he retract his earlier conclusions. As a result, the story remained in the professional literature as a successful sex reassignment. Milton Diamond, who had challenged Money’s theory since 1965, spent years searching for the doctors who had treated the child in Canada. Through psychiatrist Keith Sigmundson, he eventually came into contact with David himself.

David Reimer’s Later Life

After learning the truth, David had the breast development caused by hormones surgically removed and underwent reconstructive procedures. In 1990, he married a woman with three children. He decided to make his story public to prevent the same thing from happening to other children. His twin brother Brian died in 2002 from a drug overdose. David struggled with depression, lost his job and became separated from his wife. In May 2004, he took his own life.

Consequences for the Care of Intersex Children

The case involved a boy without an intersex condition, but the policy based on it mainly affected children born with ambiguous sex characteristics. After 1997, doubts grew about early surgeries on these children. In 2006, an international consensus statement by paediatricians and endocrinologists recommended taking a more cautious approach to interventions at a young age and fully informing parents and children. Since then, intersex advocacy organisations have called for non-essential surgeries to be postponed until the child can participate in the decision.

Significance

The case undermined the idea that gender identity is determined entirely by upbringing, and led to a revision of policy concerning intersex children. An extensive reconstruction can be found on gendergekte.nl in the article about John Money and David Reimer. In debates about gender care, both sides cite it: as evidence that gender identity is deeply rooted, and as a warning against intervening in children on the basis of a theory. More information is available on the page about John Money.