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Bruce Reimer is eight months old when he’s placed on an operating table in Winnipeg in 1966. His identical twin brother, Brian, is scheduled next. Both boys have phimosis, a minor condition. Circumcision is routine. But the doctor, Dr. Jean-Marie Huot, uses electrocauterization instead of a scalpel. Something goes catastrophically wrong. The heat destroys Bruce’s penis beyond repair. Brian’s procedure is canceled; his condition heals naturally. Bruce is left with nothing. His parents, Janet and Ron Reimer, are devastated. What kind of life can their son possibly have? In 1967, desperate for answers, they see psychologist Dr. John Money on television. Money claims gender identity is learned, not innate—that up to age two, a child’s gender can be reshaped entirely through upbringing. He presents himself as a pioneer, confident and authoritative. The Reimers contact him. Money sees opportunity: identical twin boys, one injured, one intact. A perfect experiment. He tells the parents what they want to hear—that Bruce will live a happier life raised as a girl. With surgery, hormones, and strict upbringing, he promises normalcy. Trusting the expert, they agree. At 22 months old, Bruce undergoes surgery at Johns Hopkins. His testes are removed. Damaged tissue is excised. Rudimentary female genitalia are constructed. Bruce becomes “Brenda.” His parents are instructed never to tell him the truth. Money calls it the John/Joan case. He publishes papers describing it as a success. He builds his reputation on it. But the truth is very different. Each year, the family travels from Winnipeg to Baltimore for evaluations. Behind closed doors, Money subjects the twins to sexual abuse disguised as therapy. He shows them pornography. Forces them to inspect each other’s genitals. Orders them to simulate sex acts. He photographs sessions. When they resist, he shouts and intimidates them. The parents are never told. At home, Brenda rejects femininity. She tears off dresses, prefers boys’ toys, rough play, and insists she feels like a boy. At school, she’s bullied relentlessly. Estrogen given during puberty only deepens her distress. By thirteen, Brenda is suicidal. She tells her parents she will kill herself if forced to see John Money again. In 1980, her father finally tells the truth. You were born a boy. Your name was Bruce. There was an accident. We were told to raise you as a girl. The revelation is devastating—and clarifying. Brenda immediately chooses to live as male and takes the name David. David undergoes testosterone therapy, a double mastectomy, and multiple surgeries to construct a penis. The procedures are painful and imperfect, but for the first time his body aligns with his identity. In 1990, David marries and becomes a stepfather. He tries to build a normal life. But the trauma never leaves. He attempts suicide twice. He distrusts doctors. He struggles with work and relationships. Meanwhile, John Money continues publishing. He continues teaching. He continues presenting the case as proof that gender identity is malleable. In 1997, David meets researcher Dr. Milton Diamond and agrees to expose the truth. Journalist John Colapinto publishes the real story in Rolling Stone. The medical community is stunned. The “successful” case was a catastrophic failure. The fallout helps end routine infant sex-reassignment surgeries. Ethical standards shift. But the damage is already done. In 2002, Brian dies from an intentional overdose. He, too, had been destroyed by the abuse. David visits his twin’s grave daily. In 2004, after losing his job, his savings, and his marriage, David Reimer drives to a grocery store parking lot in Winnipeg with a shotgun. He is thirty-eight years old when he takes his own life. John Money never publicly apologized. The Reimer case is now taught as one of the gravest ethical violations in modern medicine—a reminder of what happens when authority replaces consent, theory replaces humanity, and children become experiments. David Reimer went public to protect others. But he paid with his life. #MedicalEthics #InformedConsent #Bioethics #MedicalAbuse ~Weird but True