...of suicide. this is really sad, i was hopeful that he would make it, but he's gone through so much, and his twin recently died, and his wife left him...
i'm not really trying to start another argument about gender, but i think this guy should be remembered as an immensely strong individual who tried hard at a normal life. Unfortunately his scientific value precludes the value of his character, to many.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/international/americas/12REIM.html
David Reimer, 38, Subject of the John/Joan Case, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 12, 2004
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 11 David Reimer, a man who was born a boy but raised as a girl in a famous medical experiment, only to reassert his male identity in the last 20 years of his life, died on May 4. He was 38. His family says he committed suicide.
Mr. Reimer shared his story about his life in the pages of a book and on Oprah Winfrey's television show.
His mother, Janet Reimer, said she believed that her son would still be alive had it not been for the devastating experiment, which led to much emotional hardship.
"He managed to have so much courage," she said Sunday. "I think he felt he had no options. It just kept building up and building up."
After a botched circumcision operation when he was a toddler, David Reimer became the subject of a study that became known as the John/Joan case in the 60's and 70's. His mother said she was still angry with the Baltimore doctor who persuaded her and her husband, Ron, to give female hormones to their son and raise him as a daughter.
As he grew up as Brenda in Winnipeg, he faced cruelty from the other children. "They wouldn't let him use the boys' washroom or the girls'," Ms. Reimer recalled. "He had to go in the back alley."
His sexual reassignment was then widely reported as a success and proof that children are not by nature feminine or masculine but through nurture are socialized to become girls or boys. David's identical twin brother, Brian, offered researchers a matched control subject.
But when, as a teenager, he discovered the truth about his past , he resumed his male identity, eventually marrying and becoming a stepfather to three children.
In 2000, John Colapinto wrote "As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl," providing David an opportunity to tell his story. He wanted to save other children from a similar fate, his mother said.
While he had spoken anonymously in the past, he entered the public eye after the book was published, beginning with an appearance on "Oprah" in February 2000.
His mother said he had recently become depressed after losing his job and separating from his wife. He was also still grieving over the death of his twin brother two years earlier, she said.
i'm not really trying to start another argument about gender, but i think this guy should be remembered as an immensely strong individual who tried hard at a normal life. Unfortunately his scientific value precludes the value of his character, to many.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/international/americas/12REIM.html
David Reimer, 38, Subject of the John/Joan Case, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 12, 2004
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 11 David Reimer, a man who was born a boy but raised as a girl in a famous medical experiment, only to reassert his male identity in the last 20 years of his life, died on May 4. He was 38. His family says he committed suicide.
Mr. Reimer shared his story about his life in the pages of a book and on Oprah Winfrey's television show.
His mother, Janet Reimer, said she believed that her son would still be alive had it not been for the devastating experiment, which led to much emotional hardship.
"He managed to have so much courage," she said Sunday. "I think he felt he had no options. It just kept building up and building up."
After a botched circumcision operation when he was a toddler, David Reimer became the subject of a study that became known as the John/Joan case in the 60's and 70's. His mother said she was still angry with the Baltimore doctor who persuaded her and her husband, Ron, to give female hormones to their son and raise him as a daughter.
As he grew up as Brenda in Winnipeg, he faced cruelty from the other children. "They wouldn't let him use the boys' washroom or the girls'," Ms. Reimer recalled. "He had to go in the back alley."
His sexual reassignment was then widely reported as a success and proof that children are not by nature feminine or masculine but through nurture are socialized to become girls or boys. David's identical twin brother, Brian, offered researchers a matched control subject.
But when, as a teenager, he discovered the truth about his past , he resumed his male identity, eventually marrying and becoming a stepfather to three children.
In 2000, John Colapinto wrote "As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl," providing David an opportunity to tell his story. He wanted to save other children from a similar fate, his mother said.
While he had spoken anonymously in the past, he entered the public eye after the book was published, beginning with an appearance on "Oprah" in February 2000.
His mother said he had recently become depressed after losing his job and separating from his wife. He was also still grieving over the death of his twin brother two years earlier, she said.
