A man attempts suicide multiple times after a botched circumcision →
this video does very little to tell his story, but really interesting to see him talk about it after reading his biography.
david reimer was born bruce reimer, with a twin brother named brian. at 8months old, after numerous infections, doctors convinced his young parents to circumsize both boys. the assigned doctor was not able to be there for the procedure and a different doctor was substituted who used an experimental method of cauterizing, and accidentally burned the first boy (this man) so badly that his penis was destroyed and only a dead black string remained. the second twin was not circumsized.
his parents spoke to many doctors, who told them that he would never have a normal sex life, and probably never marry. (this was before sex surgeries used for constructing a penis were prevalent or thought to be feasible.) it was decided when he was two years old that he would become “brenda,” and he and his brother would never be told about the accident.
as young as 4 yrs old, brenda was telling her family and psychiatrists that she was not a girl, but “a boy with long hair”, was “a boy in a dress”. their distressed parents’ concerns were dismissed and they were told that if they turned back now, it would do further damage and that it was in brenda’s best interest to keep up the charade and to reward feminine behaviors she exhibited. brenda continued to struggle with her assigned gender, refusing multiple attempts by doctors to “fix” her genitals. they deceptively told the 8 yr old that she would not be able to have children unless they could “open” the hole that was “blocked” (when she obviously would never bear children either way). brenda said she did not care to have children and also resisted hormonal supplements as a pre-teenager that simulated puberty and started the development of breasts.
finally at the age of 14, a therapist convinced their parents that brenda should be told about the accident. by 15, he had chosen a new masculine name (david) and was allowed to begin life as a male. however, all the treatments of female hormones he received in early adolescence took a toll on his appearance, and despite his best efforts to restore his genitals and original gender identity, he would always look different- younger and more feminine- than his twin brother.
that combined with the emotional betrayal he felt from his family, and the experimental psychiatric care he received facilitated by Dr. John Money (who was so concerned about his reputation and theory-that gender identity is learned- being at stake that he lied in his public reports about the case rather than admit he was wrong for the benefit of his patients. his own recordings of therapy sessions have since been found contradicting his claims.), led him to suffer from extreme depression. before his final suicide attempt, he gave us his story.
his case was so fascinating because it was the first situation that doctors could observe with a perfect control- his twin brother who shared both genetics and environment- in the study of nature vs nurture in gender identity.
you can read about him in the book
AS NATURE MADE HIM, THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED AS A GIRL
So depressing…. :(
(via fuzzyfroot)
