The Story of David Reimer: Is Gender a Social Construct?

Of the many cases discussed in this book, this is one of the most tragic. Brian and David Reimer were twins born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. At six months of age, the boys were circumcised using the unconventional electrocautery method. Tragically, David’s penis was irreparably damaged during the procedure; Brian did not undergo circumcision. Their concerned parents took David to see John Money, a leading gender researcher and sexologist, at Johns Hopkins in early 1967.

Money suggested gender reassignment surgery, and Reimer’s parents decided to raise Reimer as a girl. Physicians at the Johns Hopkins Hospital removed Reimer’s testes and damaged penis and performed gender reassignment surgery, constructing rudimentary female genitals. Reimer was given the first name Brenda after surgery and raised as a girl. He received estrogen during adolescence to promote the development of female sex characteristics. He was never told he was biologically male.

As part of Money’s research, Reimer and his twin brother were directed to inspect one another’s genitals and engage in behavior resembling sexual intercourse. Reimer later claimed much of Money’s treatment involved the forced reenactment of sexual positions and motions with his brother. In some exercises, the brothers rehearsed missionary positions with thrusting motions, which Money justified as the rehearsal of healthy childhood sexual exploration.

In a Rolling Stone interview, Reimer recalled that Money photographed those exercises at least once. He stated that Money observed those exercises both alone and with as many as six colleagues. Reimer recounted anger and verbal abuse from Money if he or his brother resisted orders, in contrast to the calm and scientific demeanor Money presented to their parents.

Ultimately, Money described Reimer’s transition as successful and claimed Reimer’s girlish behavior stood in stark contrast to his brother’s “boyishness.” Money referred to Reimer’s case as the John/Joan case, leaving out Reimer’s real name. For over a decade, Reimer and his brother unknowingly provided data that, according to biographers and the Intersex Society of North America, was used to reinforce Money’s theories on gender fluidity and the hypothesis that gender is a social construct. Money’s theories and this case justified thousands of sex reassignment surgeries for children with abnormal genitals.

The results of the procedures, treatments, and interventions were tragic. Reimer recalls having severe gender dysphoria. At one point, he told his parents he no longer wanted to visit Money and threatened to commit suicide if they took him back. Reimer claimed that despite receiving female hormones, wearing dresses, and having his interests directed toward typically female norms, he always felt that he was a boy.

In 1980, when Reimer was 15, his father told him the truth about his birth and the subsequent procedures. Reimer assumed a male identity following that revelation, taking the first name David. By age 21, Reimer had received testosterone therapy and surgeries to remove his breasts and reconstruct a penis. He subsequently married a single mother of three in September 1990.

Throughout his adulthood, Reimer suffered psychological trauma due to Money’s experiments, which Money had used to justify sexual reassignment surgery for children with intersex or damaged genitals since the 1970s. In the mid-1990s, Reimer met Milton Diamond, a psychologist at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and an academic rival of Money. Reimer participated in a follow-up study conducted by Diamond, in which Diamond cataloged the failures of Reimer’s transition.

In 1997, Reimer began speaking publicly about his experiences, beginning with his participation in Diamond’s study. Reimer’s first interview appeared in the December 1997 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. In interviews and a later book about his experience, Reimer described his interactions with Money as torturous and abusive. Accordingly, Reimer claimed he developed a lifelong distrust of hospitals and medical professionals.

In his early 20s, Reimer attempted to commit suicide twice. Reimer said marital problems and employment difficulties strained his adult family life. Reimer’s brother, who suffered from depression and schizophrenia, died from an antidepressant drug overdose in July 2002. On May 2, 2004, Reimer’s wife told him that she wanted a divorce. Two days later, at age 38, Reimer committed suicide by firearm.(1,2)

Gender identity, gender expression, gender roles, and gender role expectations are an amalgam of biological, genetic, anatomical, personal, social, and cultural norms and influences. John Money’s narrow perspective on how gender identity is formed and expressed not only led to this tragedy but thousands of others who suffered needlessly. Recent scholars and researchers have since criticized his research. Privately, Money was mortified by the case of David Reimer, colleagues said, and Money did not discuss it. He died in Maryland in 2006.(3)

Regardless of whether or not there are surgical or other medical interventions, people who are intersexed live with their differences, and they pay a social price, too, as they are subject to as much discrimination as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Excerpted from Sexual Misconduct, Harassment, and Discrimination in Healthcare: History, Analysis, and Solutions with Case Studies by Matthew J. Mazurek, MD, MBA, MHA, CPE, FAAPL, FACHE, FASA.

References

1. Gaetano P. David Reimer and John Money Gender Reassignment Controversy: The John/Joan Case. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Arizona State University. November 15, 2017.

2. Colapinto J. As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl. New York: Harper Collins Publishers; 2000.

3. Carey B. “John William Money, 84, Sexual Identity Researcher, Dies.” The New York Times. July 11, 2006.