david reimer

• born in 1965 with a monozygotic twin brother, when he was 8 months old his penis was accidentally cut off during a surgical procedure
• Reimer's parents contacted John Money, a psychologist developing a theory of gender neutrality, he claimed a child would take the identity that he or she was raised with rather than the identity corresponding to their biological sex
• David's parents raised him as a girl and Money wrote extensively about this case claiming that it supported his theory. However, Brenda, as he was named was suffering sever psychological and emotional difficulties and in her teens, when she had found out what happened, caused her to revert back to being a boy
• this case study supports the influence of testosterone on gender development as it shows that David's brain development was influenced by the presence of this hormone and its effects on gender identity was stronger than the influence of social factors.