Talk about hard luck: "Canadian raised as girl kills himself"

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Talk about hard luck: "Canadian raised as girl kills himself"

Posted: 5/13/2004 2:16:24 AM EDT

From the St Pete Times

By Associated Press
Published May 13, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Reimer, a Canadian who was born as a boy but raised as a girl after a botched circumcision, committed suicide after failed investments drove him into poverty.

Reimer, 38, shot himself in the head while sitting in a car in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May 4, said Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, Manitoba's chief medical examiner.

Friends said an anguished Reimer told them he lost at least $47,500 last year in a shady pro golf shop investment.

Reimer gained fame in 2000 when he went public with his ordeal. It was published in the book As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised a Girl by John Colapinto.

The boy's experiences prompted medical experts in recent years to rethink once-accepted wisdom on treating sexual identity cases.

When an 8-month-old Reimer was being circumcised at a Winnipeg hospital in 1966, a general practitioner filling in for the regular surgeon accidentally burned the boy's penis beyond recovery.

Reimer's parents sought advice from Dr. John Money, a sex researcher at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore.

Money, attempting to prove that gender depends on how a child is raised rather than genetics, advocated removing the rest of boy's male genitalia and prescribing female hormones.

Reimer was raised as "Brenda" and his progress was compared with that of his identical twin, Brian. But their differences diminished as they entered puberty.

David Reimer was 15 when he learned about the mishap and his true identity from his father. He then rejected further treatment as a girl. He underwent surgery to remove his breasts and to construct a penis.

Changing his name to David, he eventually married and led a quiet life working at low-paying jobs in Winnipeg. He could not father children but helped raise three stepchildren.

He also threatened the doctor who botched the circumcision, and he attempted suicide three times.

Reimer was awarded $73,000 in a lawsuit against the Winnipeg hospital and Colapinto's book also brought in money, but acquaintances said David Reimer always struggled to make ends meet. Members of the Transcona Golf Club where he once worked collected money so he could feed his family, and staff members gave him leftovers from the restaurant.

Then, two years ago, Brian Reimer committed suicide. The twins' mother, Janet, said David was still mourning the loss and recently became more depressed after losing his job and separating from his wife, Jane.

I've heard of Justifiable Homicide - is this like Justifiable Suicide? Dang.

Posted: 5/13/2004 2:25:10 AM EDT

[#1]

What a horrible life. Sad.

May he rest in peace.

Posted: 5/13/2004 2:30:23 AM EDT

[#2]

The doctor who came up with this stupid scheme of altering him to be a girl is still alive and has still maintained that he did nothing wrong, I guess his excuses vary "The parnts did not follow through with the plan" "The boy's psychologists undermined the plan" etc etc The poor guy didn't even know he was a man for many years, he thought he was nuts.

The author who had shared the profit from the book with him said that after he had some money coming in from the book (and I assume the lawsuit) he quit his job at a meat packing plant because he had enough money to get by for awhile and having time to sit around and think was just the last thing he should have had.

Posted: 5/13/2004 3:06:18 AM EDT

[#3]

The guy that should have killed himself was the Doctor that burned his penis off.

Posted: 5/13/2004 3:44:45 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
The guy that should have killed himself was the Doctor that burned his penis off.

Since there are no legitimate medical reasons for circumcision, the procedure should not have been done in the first place. What was he trying to circumcise him with, a blowtorch?

Posted: 5/13/2004 3:49:53 AM EDT

[#5]

Ba-Bye dumbass

Posted: 5/13/2004 3:51:59 AM EDT

[#6]

That is one sad story. Is the doctor still able to practice medicine?

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:07:19 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Ba-Bye dumbass

Huh?

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:19:32 AM EDT

[#8]

$73,000 for my pee-pee! Fuc# that! I would not have settled for anything less than $100,000,00 paid in cash once a year for the rest of my life!
Samuel

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:27:07 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
$73,000 for my pee-pee! Fuc# that! I would not have settled for anything less than $100,000,00 paid in cash once a year for the rest of my life!
Samuel

damn thats 33,000 dollars an inch

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:30:48 AM EDT

[#10]

Canadians.

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:38:42 AM EDT

[#11]

Didn't The Who write a song about this guy?

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:40:28 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Didn't The Who write a song about this guy?

Who?

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:44:17 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Ba-Bye dumbass
Huh?

Duh! posted in the wrong thread.

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:49:39 AM EDT

[#14]

Discovery or TLC had a show on about this type of thing, late last year I think. They actually focused on children born as hermaphrodites. Doctors get really weird about this sort of thing. There was one case where they took the child as soon as it was born. The put it in intensive care, even though it was healthy, but this kept the parents away. The hospital kept the kid for days, without a medical reason, and without consent from the parents. Yes, they're suing.

Posted: 5/13/2004 4:50:38 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
$73,000 for my pee-pee! Fuc# that! I would not have settled for anything less than $100,000,00 paid in cash once a year for the rest of my life!
Samuel

I'll certianly agree with that! He got the short end of the stick on that deal.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Talk about hard luck: "Canadian raised as girl kills himself"

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