"The Boy Who Was Turned into a Girl" aired in 2000 and "Dr Money and the Boy with No Penis" in 2004. The truth about Reimer’s life was not revealed until much later and created a medical and psychological controversy. David Reimer was a boy born in Winnipeg, Canada, along side his twin brother Brian, on August 22, 1965. He was born Bruce Reimer on Aug. 22, 1965, the identical twin of Brian Reimer, born to "farm kids barely out of their teens," writes John Colapinto, a journalist who would later write a detailed and horrific account of Reimer's life in Rolling Stone magazine. Two studies conducted by William Reiner, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and urologist, have confirmed that the amount of exposure to male hormones and androgens in utero almost exclusively decides whether the child identifies as masculine or feminine. The problems may have not occured if the physican had used a standard scalpel instead of an electrocautery.Harper Perennial; 2 edition (August 8, 2006) – As nature made him: the boy who was raised a girl Author John Colapinto, He advised the parents to change the sex of their child since penis reconstruction wasn’t a viable option back then. At the age of 8 months while undergoing a circumcision operation, Bruce’s penis was burned beyond surgical repair. He thought that a baby’s gender is neutral in the first 2 years of life. Commonly known as the nature versus nurture debate, it is scholarly known as “biological versus social determinism” (Fausto-Sterling 7). For the purpose of this comparison of the nature vs. nurture pros and cons, here are the definitions used. John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and biology of gender and his controversial conduct towards vulnerable patients. This case explores the question of whether gender identity is determined strictly by genetics (nature) or social variables (nurture). David Reimer and John Money Gender Reassignment Controversy: The John/Joan Case In the mid-1960s, psychologist John Money encouraged the gender reassignment of David Reimer, who was born a biological male but suffered irreparable damage to his penis as an infant. She undergone surgery to remove her breasts and also had penis reconstruction. They saw him in an interview and contacted him for help regarding the problem of … The story of David Reimer, also known as the David/Brenda case study or the John/Joan case study, is an important one for theories of nature vs. nurture. So who was David Reimer? At the age of 8 months while undergoing a circumcision operation, Bruce’s penis was … The Reimer twins provided Money with a perfect sample, two twin boys (one believing they were a girl) raised by the same people in the same way. Really though, back then with the limited knowledge of surgery they had, it was a question of either he lived his life as a boy without a penis or as a girl. the fact that money is a a monster, reflects in both brothers commiting suicide.Money drove them to that extreme... cultivated from small.. Research at the Johns Hopkins Children Center has shown that gender identity is almost entirely based on nature and is almost exclusively predetermined before the birth of the baby. The doctor botched the circumcision on David, using an inappropriate method and accidentally burning off virtually all of David’s penis. The case of David Reimer and subsequent research by John Money and Milton Diamond, contributed a large information base for the ongoing nature versus nurture debate in current psychology. Twins Bruce and Brian Reimer were born in Canada as two perfectly normal boys. The following videos show how David was told he was a girl for a portion of his life. David was born male and as an infant his penis was destroyed in a botched circumcision. Money had been working on a theory – that any boy could be raised as a girl (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972). This was indeed unethical but before we blame anyone, we should remember that it was a time when little was known about sexuality and gender. Nurture Experiment. Medical technologies continue to change the way people look at their sex and reassignment surgeries are being done by many people who believe they are one sex trapped in the other’s body. The Chicago Hope episode "Boys Will Be Girls" (2000) was based on Reimer's life. Perhaps he wanted to help the boy have a normal life or maybe he just wanted to have a guinea pig that would confirm his theory. This law was specifically designed to meet the needs of children who were born in circumstances similar to those in the studies you mention. His birth name was Bruce and his twin brother was named Brian. I’ve never learned about a specific case like the first one you mentioned. This was a really interesting blog, Good Job! This new outlook has called for the reevaluation of sex reassignment surgeries on infants and parents who are considering one for their child are urged with extreme caution to consider letting their child decide on their own at a later age. In the U.S there is still a definite lack of understanding when it comes to gender, with many thinking that a personal definition of it relates only to sexual orientation, which is not the case. ... David … Brenda suffered terribly, no hormones were able to make her feel like a girl, for some time she urinated through a hole surgeons had placed in the abdomen. The nature versus nurture debate revolves around the contributions of genetic factors and environmental factors to human development. Born in Nature/Nurture Debate On Gender With Reference To David Reimer Case and other kinds of academic papers in our essays database at Many Essays. If you LOOK like a girl you should ACT like a girl and if you LOOK like a boy you should ACT like a boy. These children demonstrate that normal male gender identity can develop not only in the absence of the penis, but even after the removal of testicles or castration at birth, and unequivocal rearing as female. Since then, 8 of the 12 have reassigned themselves back to a male identity. This begs the question, is gender identity nature and innate or is it, as Dr. Money would have led us to believe, entirely based on cultural and nurturing factors? The 2 children who did not undergo sex reassignment surgeries as infants developed far more normally and more similarly to their normal male peers and were much more psychologically well adjusted that the sex-reassigned children. It's about whether or not you can take a child born girl or boy and raise them as the opposite of their biological make-up. The boy’s parents, counseled by Dr. Money, were encouraged and assured that if they surgically made their son appear feminine, with the help of administering hormones and their nurturing, they could raise the child successfully as a girl. The BBC science series Horizon based two episodes on his life. The idea that humans are determined by these two influences dates back to the ancient Greek philosopher Protagorus who in the fifth century BC compared physics (nature) and nomos (tradition). I don’t think parents should make these life-altering decisions for their children, the genitalia of a child shouldn’t be stressed as much as it is in this child.