preview

David Peter Reimer Research Paper

Decent Essays

David Peter Reimer was a Canadian boy born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 22, 1965. David's parents noticed he had an unusual way of urinating. He was diagnosed with Phimosis at approximately six months of age. David was taken to the hospital at eight months for the standard procedure of circumcision. During the procedure, the physician accidentally burned David's penis far beyond surgical repair. The cause was due to an electrocautery needle that was used instead of the usual scalpel. After the unfortunate procedure, a psychologist named John Money, who oversaw the case, suggested David have a sex change performed to “fix” the problem of the burnt-off penis. David's parents were distressed and were uncertain whether or not to go along with the sex change. They eventually decided to agree with the procedure after constant persuasion from John Money and other medical staff. David ended up having the sex change while John Money selfishly oversaw the case and used David Reimer as a private study. His belief was that …show more content…

After the sex change, Dr. Money forced Brenda and her brother to rehearse sexual acts stating that the sexual play was crucial for “healthy adult gender identity” (Top 10).
. Dr. Money occasionally made the siblings remove their clothes and perform “genital inspections”. He concluded that the experiment was a success, but failed to report that Brenda behaved more like a stereotypical boy and was constantly confused about many things. Brenda's parents continued to raise him as a girl and did not tell him about the procedure or anything that happened when he was an infant. This had traumatic results on Brenda and his family. Brenda's brother was diagnosed with depression. Her mother was also diagnosed with depression and was often suicidal. Over time, Brenda's father increased his drinking and turned became an

Get Access