Product Details

• Actors: Will Lyman
• Directors: Andrew Cohen, Stephen Sweigart
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: WGBH
• VHS Release Date: January 15, 2002
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B00064S4PS
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,702 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Many babies are born intersex with genitals that did not fully develop in the womb. In such situations, most doctors declare a state of medical emergency, and quickly move to operate in an effort to "fix" the child and give it the appearance of either a male or female. But this intervention is not always welcome: Many intersex adults that were surgically changed in infancy now insist they should have been given a choice in the matter. In many cases the gender they were assigned at birth does not match the gender they grew to believe they were. This begs a larger question: How much of our gender identity is formed by nature and how much by nurture? "Sex: Unknown" delves into the complex world of gender identity. It explores one story in particular, Bruce Reimer, whose genitals were destroyed in an accident, and whose parents were convinced by researched John Money to raise him/ surgically transform him into a girl. (Companion book also available-- As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, by John Colapinto)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, Tastefully Handled, and..., February 10, 2009

By	Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

...ultimately infuriating.

Nature wins this one. In a series of circumstances unlikely and macabre, one of two twin boys loses most of his genitalia in a surgical accident. (How on earth did THAT happen...I guess I'm happy this documentary doesn't go into details.) The well-meaning mother, who is interviewed in this little film, explains how an expert on such matters counseled that the boy be raised as a girl. This doesn't work out. Not at all. I became incredibly angry at the doctor whose advise set this horrible plan into motion.

Because this is Nova, the sensational aspects of this case are diminished while the viewer is asked to explore questions of gender identity from a psychological and sociological perspective. Which I appreciated.

I suppose that this sad and notorious story has had a positive effect, shoving the medical community away from making such poor decisions. There are some parts of our internal wiring that can't be re-routed.

(P.S. The grown Brenda/Bruce Reimer, a family man, makes a brief appearance at the end of the film.)