As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl [Paperback]

John Colapinto (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 20, 2001

In  1967, after a twin baby boy suffered a botched circumcision, his family agreed to a radical treatment that would alter his gender.  The case would become one of the most famous in modern medicine -- and a total failure.  As Nature Made Him tells the extraordinary story of David Reimer, who, when finally informed of his medical history, made the decision to live as a male.  A macabre tale of medical arrogance, it is first and foremost a human drama of one man's -- and one family's -- amazing survival in the face of terrible odds.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Once you begin reading As Nature Made Him, a mesmerizing story of a medical tragedy and its traumatic results, you absolutely won't want to put it down. Following a botched circumcision, a family is convinced to raise their infant son, Bruce, as a girl. They rename the child Brenda and spend the next 14 years trying to transform him into a her. Brenda's childhood reads as one filled with anxiety and loneliness, and her fear and confusion are present on nearly every page concerning her early childhood. Much of her pain is caused by Dr. Money, who is presented as a villainous medical man attempting to coerce an unwilling child to submit to numerous unpleasant treatments.

Reading over interviews and reports of decisions made by this doctor, it's difficult to contain anger at the widespread results of his insistence that natural-born gender can be altered with little more than willpower and hormone treatments. The attempts of his parents, twin brother, and extended family to assist Brenda to be happily female are touching--the sense is overwhelmingly of a family wanting to do "right" while being terribly mislead as to what "right" is for her. As Brenda makes the decision to live life as a male (at age 14), she takes the name David and begins the process of reversing the effects of estrogen treatments. David's ultimately successful life--a solid marriage, honest and close family relationships, and his bravery in making his childhood public--bring an uplifting end to his story. Equally fascinating is the latest segment of the longtime nature/nurture controversy, and the interviews of various psychological researchers and practitioners form a larger framework around David's struggle to live as the gender he was meant to be. --Jill Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Forget sugar, spice, snails and puppy dog tails: discussions of how little boys and little girls are made have become quite complicated over the past three decades, as scientists, feminists and social theorists debate the relative impact of "nature" and "nurture" on gender and sexual identity. Focusing on the real-life story behind sexologist Dr. John Money's famous sexual reassignment case of 1965, Colapinto, an award-winning journalist, has penned a gripping medical melodrama. After Bruce Thiessen, one of two identical male twins, lost his penis during a botched circumcision, he underwent surgery that made him anatomically female, later received estrogen injections and was raised as a girl under Money's supervision at the Psychohormonal Research Unit at Johns Hopkins. All of Money's reports of the case--which quickly appeared in textbooks as a prime example of environment trumping biology--portrayed Bruce (now Brenda) as a well-adjusted girl, although the reality was quite different. Angry, sullen and having always insisted that "she" was a boy, Brenda finally decided at age 15--after "she" finally learned of the surgery-to revert to her original sex and take the name David. Drawing on extensive interviews with the Thiessen family, "Brenda"'s therapists and friends, Colapinto has written a wrenching personal narrative and a scathing indictment of Money's methods and theories, including instances of what Colapinto and David Thiessen see as extraordinarily invasive behavior and sexual abuse in his examinations of "Brenda" and her twin brother. Although Colapinto runs into trouble when he tries to generalize about nature vs. nurture from this single case, his book is illuminating, frightening and moving. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060929596
• ISBN-13: 978-0060929596
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > Transgender

More About the Author

John Colapinto was born and raised in Toronto, and has a Master's in English literature from the University of Toronto. After freelancing for Canadian magazines for four years, he moved to New York in 1989 and wrote for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, the New York Times magazine and New York. In 1995 he became a contributing editor at Rolling Stone where he won a National Magazine Award for a story about a medical scandal and expanded the story into a book, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which became a New York Times bestseller. In 2001, he published a novel, About the Author. Since 2006 he has been a staff writer at The New Yorker where he has written about subjects as diverse as medicinal leeches, shoplifting prevention, Karl Lagerfeld and Michelin food inspectors.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book! February 6, 2000

By A devoted reader

Format:Hardcover

Wow. This book may change the way you see the world. It is captivating on several levels at once. First and most important, it is an engrossing real-life exploration of a basic question about our human natures, a question that has to be of fundamental interest to almost anyone: In our essential personalities and drives, are we the product of nature or nurture or some combination of them? The book goes a long way toward a definitive answer to that question in one central aspect of our beings (our sexual identity). Second, it is the utterly absorbing, painful, ultimately triumphant true story of a remarkable individual forced to grow up in a harrowing situation we can all barely imagine but have to wonder about. Third, it is a riveting suspense story, with genuine good guys and bad guys some of whom have had frightening power over people's lives. The book is fast-paced and beautifully written, with the kind of all-to-rare clarity and straightforwardness that can make the most complex matters seem simple by getting right to the heart of them with no nonsense. I read it in one sitting--something I never ever do. I'm going to read it again, there's so much in it.

106 of 115 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read! February 15, 2000

By Lori Myers-Musser

Format:Hardcover

A must read for everyone!

John Colapinto has done such a marvelous job in sharing David Reamer's compelling, courageous, and heartbreaking story. The facts are presented without condemnation, (even where they were fairly deserved), for the medical/psychological community involved in this boys life. They are equally presented with the upmost respect to the very hard choice these parents had to make and then live with.

As the reader, you are taken through the very difficult, unimaginable, journey of David's life. In painstaking detail, you are brought to understanding the decisions that were made, due to very misguided medical/psychological advice. The unthinkable...to take an obviously male child, injured in a freak accident, and raise him as a girl. I walked away with such compassion for David's parents and such respects for David Reamer himself. He has shown so much courage, to come forward now, sharing the details of his childhood. His perseverance has made him a champion of the human spirit! I wish I could meet this man, give him a loving hug, and tell him I wish I could have been his friend, when he needed one the most!

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars IT'S NATURE...NOT NURTURE... October 10, 2006

By Lawyeraau HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This is a wonderfully written book and a fascinating look into the debate of nature versus nurture in the area of gender assignment. Intelligent and insightful, the author draws a compassionate portrait of a family who, faced with a decision in the wake of a tragedy, relies upon the advice of a well-respected doctor, which reliance turned out to be misplaced. The book details the aftermath of the family's fateful decision and the impact it was to have on them all.

In August 1965, Canadians Janet and Ron Reimer gave birth to identical twin boys, whom they named Brian and Bruce. When they were about eight months old, they arranged to have them circumcised due to a medical condition that caused them pain during urination. Circumcision was to remedy the problem. Little did they know that the circumcision for Bruce would be botched, resulting in the loss of his penis.

A plastic surgeon with whom the Reimers had consulted in connection with the catastrophe that had struck Bruce had spoken to a sex researcher who had recommended that they raise Bruce as a girl. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic had suggested that they ought to get a second opinion with regards to that suggestion. The parents then consulted with a doctor affiliated with John Hopkins Hospital, Dr. John Money, a renowned doctor in the area of gender transformation, who had been the driving force behind the then controversial surgical gender re-assignment procedure for which the hospital was becoming known.

In 1967, the distraught parents met with Dr. Money and shortly after, Bruce became Brenda and clinical castration followed. Thus, their child, who genetically and anatomically had been born a boy, was for all extent and purposes now deemed to be a girl.... Brian was now on the other side of the gender divide of his identical twin brother, the twin formerly known as Bruce.

Moreover, Dr. Money now had a dream scientific experiment, because he had a set of twins for which the unafflicted twin could act as a control by which to measure the afflicted one. In 1972, Dr. Money disclosed his "twins case" to the medical world, giving a slanted version of the experiment that made it appear to be an unqualified success. Unfortunately, his analysis of the situation did not disclose the difficulties that Brenda was having and her seeming inability to adjust to being a girl.

Apparently, though Brenda had no idea as she was growing up that she had originally been born a boy, she never felt that she was a girl. Years of follow-up visits with Dr. Money for both twins proved to be unsettling for them, as Dr. Money employed somewhat bizarre methods and procedures. Moreover, as Brenda grew older, she would resist additional surgeries and initially resisted the hormone therapy that was introduced on the eve of puberty. Even when confronted with a totally rebellious Brenda, Dr. Money, however, remained in denial about the failure of his experiment. He would continue to tout his treatment of Brenda as an unqualified success.

It was not until March of 1980 that Brenda was finally informed by her father about what had happened to her years ago and what had been decided in light of the circumstances. It was a revelation that was to dramatically change Brenda's life. What followed was a repudiation of Dr. Money's assertions with respect to his treatment. The book details the changes that Brenda was to make in her life, changes that would find her living the life she was originally meant to lead. Brenda would now become David and live the life of a male. Unfortunately, happiness would continue to elude him.

This is a simply wonderful, intimate look at a family that survived a hideous tragedy. It also sympathetically and sensitively details the personal journey of one family through the labyrinthine differences in opinion surrounding the age old debate over nature versus nature. I would certainly assert that nature, and not nurture, controls. This is a very well thought out book on the issue, grounded in the tragic experience of one family. Bravo! Read more ›

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly fascinating July 27, 2000

By Sara

Format:Hardcover

I first heard of this case three years ago, in an undergraduate sociology class. At this point in time, the case of the "John/Joan" baby raised as a girl was reported to be a total success. What a shock to learn the real truth behind this sordid story; the bewildered, trusting parents, the arrogance of the medical world, and the misery of the unfortunate victim of the incident, David. For me, the most fascinating part of the book was hearing in David's own words what the experience was like for him. However, for those interested in the nature/nurture issue, or gender research, this book also gives intriguing, detailed information about these topics.

I read this book mainly out of a morbid curiosity, but found myself touched by David's unique story. His confusion and attempts to fit into the female world were truly heartbreaking. I also felt empathy for his well-meaning parents. Whatever your reason for reading this book, you will not be dissapointed. Those interested in the scientific information also gain an understanding of the painful confusion that a sexually ambiguous individual feels. The readers who are mainly interested in the personal aspects of the story will also find themselves learning a great deal about the fascinating, age-old nature/nurture argument. I highly recommend this book!