The boy who was forced to grow up as a Girl for an evil science experiment, 1965

 

The boy who was forced to grow up as a Girl for an evil science experiment, 1965

Bruce and Brian Reimer were twin brothers born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1965. Both boys were healthy but suffered from phimosis, which is when the foreskin on the penis is too tight, which leads to difficulty urinating. To solve this, both boys would have a circumcision. Bruce had the operation first, but it went wrong when the doctor used a burning method instead of a blade. Bruce lost his penis during the operation. Bruce's parents were devastated and looked for a solution, and met John Money, a famed psychologist who studied gender and sex. Money claimed that gender was a societal concept and that babies are born gender-neutral, and that gender was taught and was not biological. Money suggested that Bruce should be raised as a girl and never told about his operation. Bruce's parents agreed. Bruce then became Brenda, she took supplements for breast growth and had prosthetic vagina surgery too. She was then to be raised strictly as a girl, however, this backfired when Money's theory on gender was completely wrong. Brenda displayed masculine behavior, showing that behavior is a biological factor. She disliked dresses and girls' things and had this to say in his own words: “I never quite fit in, “Building forts and getting into the odd fistfight, climbing trees — that’s the kind of stuff that I liked, but it was unacceptable as a girl.” - David Brenda then discovered the truth as she became more distressed. One evening her parents told her the truth. Brian never handled the news that his sister was a boy. Money was exposed as a fraud and his theories were debunked. Brenda then became David and transitioned back into a man. Brian died of a drug overdose as he struggled with his issues. David met a woman called Jane and married her and fathered her 3 children. But after Jane asked for a separation, and being plagued by unemployment and his dark past, David committed suicide in 2004 by shooting himself with a shotgun. He was 38. Photographers: Reimer family Source: allthingsinteresting.com