The Case of John/Joan
From The Rolling Stone, 1997:
In 1967, an anonymous baby boy was turned into a girl by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital. For 25 years, the case of John/Joan was called a medical triumph — proof that a child’s gender identity could be changed — and thousands of “sex reassignments” were performed based on this example. But the case was a failure, the truth never reported. Now the man who grew up as a girl tells the story of his life, and a medical controversy erupts.
It is rather long, so here’s the summary: in August 1965, a boy, in the article referred to as John/Joan, later revealed to be David Reimer, was born. After an accident during circumcision, his penis was destroyed. His parents eventually, on the urging of Dr. John Money, for many years a leading authority on gender identity, had him sexually reassigned to a girl and castrated, on the justification that this would lead to a happier life. Money believed that the attitudes associated with gender were entirely learned in early childhood. He may also have been motivated by a challenge a year earlier by another scientist, Mickey Diamond, to produce proof for his theory, and the fact that the boy was a perfect experiment, since there was a built-in control child, in the form of a twin brother.
David Reimer was, anonymously, touted as proof for Dr. Money’s theories for 25 years, said to prove that boys born with normal neurology and normal genitalia could be sexually reassigned to healthy, heterosexual women. In reality, David didn’t feel at all like a girl, led a miserable, suicidal and socially isolated childhood, and had his sex changed back before he turned 16, after twelve years of efforts to convince him he was a girl failed.
David later married and raised the three children his wife had from previous relationships. He’s now dead, having committed suicide at the age of 38, after his wife informed him of her wish to file a divorce.
As I said, it’s long, but if you have the time and inclination, it’s worth it. (link via)
