David Reimer
His life became a tragic, involuntary case study that fundamentally challenged medical dogma on gender and the separation of nature from nurture.
1965–2004 (age 39)·Canadian man raised as a girl·Birthday: August 22·Generation X
Biography
David Reimer's story is one of profound medical tragedy and ultimate, hard-won resilience. Born Bruce in Winnipeg, a catastrophic infant circumcision led psychologists John Money to propose a radical experiment: raise the child as a girl. Reimer became the celebrated 'John/Joan case,' presented for decades as proof that gender was primarily a product of socialization. The truth, as Reimer later revealed, was a childhood of deep distress, feeling alien in a female identity imposed through hormones, surgery, and therapy. In his teens, upon learning the truth, he transitioned back to living as male, marrying and becoming a stepfather. His decision to go public with his story in the late 1990s dismantled a foundational myth in sexology, providing irrefutable evidence for the biological underpinnings of gender identity. His later life was marked by personal struggles, ending in suicide, but his legacy forced a permanent, humane shift in how medicine treats intersex and gender-nonconforming children.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
David was born in 1965, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When David Was Born
The biggest hits of 1965
#1 Movie
The Sound of Music
Best Picture
The Sound of Music
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
David's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1965Born
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1970Started school
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1978Became a teenager
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1981Could drive
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1983Could vote
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1986Turned 21
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1995Turned 30
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2004Died at 39
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
Key Achievements
- His life story, made public in 1997, directly disproved the influential 'John/Joan case' that had argued gender identity was solely learned.
- His experience led to significant reforms in medical protocols for treating infants with ambiguous genitalia or genital trauma.
- Co-authored the book 'As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl' with journalist John Colapinto, bringing his case to a global audience.
Did You Know?
He was an identical twin; his brother, Brian, was raised as a boy and served as a control in the failed experiment.
The psychologist behind the experiment, John Money, continued to present the case as a success for years after Reimer had transitioned back to male.
He worked in a slaughterhouse and as a janitor in Winnipeg.
His story was featured in a BBC Horizon documentary titled 'The Boy Who Was Turned Into a Girl.'
“I was a normal boy, and they tried to make me a girl.”
