This was an interesting book. It was well written by the author who did a good job researching the subject and trying to be objective about the various physicians, procedures and even the person the book was written about. It amazes me that physicians could get away with so much with their "god complexes" and it makes me understand why there is such a strong swing of the pendulum towards informed consent etc. It always makes me wonder how many other treatments and theories we practice today that we will look back on and wonder who could of that it was a good idea.

A great read for anyone interested in the psychology of gender and/or the politics of mental health treatment. Also thought-provoking if you are a parent or contemplating being one. An excellent read, written by a journalist who investigated a case where psychologists convinced parents to raise their boy (an identical twin) as a girl, after a botched circumcision.

This book is a page turner. It is hard to believe that this actually happened and treatment was being performed at a prominet hospital in the US. It is so sad what emotional turmoil that this family and this young man had endured. It's amazing what parents will do thinking it's the best thing for their child. Highly recommend this book.

I picked this book up on a whim at a local used bookstore. I'd never heard about the case of David Reimer before, but thought it sounded interesting. I've always been interested in psychology, but I think anyone would find this book to be a quick easy read. The book is really well written, and even though you are reading medical transcripts through out, the book flows like a story opposed to a factual account of something that happened (which sometimes can be tedious). The book is around 300 pages and can easily be read in 1-2 days at a leisurely pace. I was interested in finding out more about the Reimer case after reading this book and found a TLC special that came out a few years ago (on youtube) about what happened. I highly recommend reading the book opposed to just watching the documentary. Although well made, I found the documentary to seem disjointed because the book went into so much more detail. Overall, this is a great story and a well written book. Two thumbs up!

I found this book absolutely fascinating and very hard to put down. New ideas about gender are swirling around in my head.

I saw a documentary on this, so was very interested to read the book. Very well-written, especially considering that there is almost no embellishment to the narrative to make it more readable. The book concerns the case of David Reimer, who lost his penis during infancy due to a botched circumcision, after which he was raised as a girl. Even more interesting is the fact that he had an identical twin brother. It was an experiment that failed miserably and caused David to have a horrible life. Though it ends on a somewhat optimistic note, the fact is that David committed suicide after the publication of this book.

David Reimer started life as a boy but due to a medical accident at the age of eight months (one very good reason NOT to circumsize boys!)he was surgically refashioned into a girl. He grew up feeling like there was something wrong with him since he felt like a boy trapped in a girl's body. In raising David female his parents followed the advice of a famous sex researcher, Dr. Money, who believed that gender was acquired through nurture, not nature. The child was finally told of his true sex when he reached 14 years of age and immediately abandoned any pretense of femaleness, from long hair to dresses to hormone replacement therapy. The story also details how destructive this tissue of lies became over the years to the parents, David's brother Brian, the other relatives, and even his school teachers and therapists. This story, unfortunately, is not an isolated incident. A certain number of babies are born each year with ambiguous genitalia and are subjected to this "sex reasignment" program. The author details how many researchers are coming to another view, that of letting the child determine its sex (leaving the child intact) until old enough to decide if any surgeries are necessary. Though the subject of homosexuality was not addressed in this book, it does leave one to question the long held belief that sexual orientation is a choice.

My book review of Davids story, AS NATURE MADE HIM, by John Colapinto :

The medical arrogance is at its peak in this true story. A doctor bauches a circumcision, followed by a psychologist who tries to make David into a girl emotionally, psycologically, and physically with disasterous results. I could not put this book down. Usually I mark important information or particular lines that moved me, except for pages 79-90 when I was completly shocked that this kind of treatment of children could even happen let alone be sanctioned by John Hopkins University. The whole book moved me and all I can say is read it for yourself. Consider the fact that even worse things happen every day on school campuses in this country by so professionals.
I wish I had met David and shared my story with him and encouraged him to keep going and keep speaking out its the only way to stop them. I have found that right after you tell your story you fall apart emotionally, psychologically, physcially and the only way to get your momentum and structure back is to keep telling your story, that has been my personal experience anyway. I think David needed more support and needed to keep telling his story until he found the peace of justice.
The first time I told my story I felt such shame and guilt as though I had somehow caused my attackers to come up with their cruel concoction against me. What they did destroyed my life in everyway, and left with a broken spirit, a defiled heart and mind. It gets easier everytime I tell it and I get stronger everytime I refuse to be ashamed of what I am not responsible for and now peaceful that I am doing all I can to stop them too David.
I wish I could have told David these things and maybe he would not have felt so ashamed,after all, it wasnt his fault anymore than it was my fault in what happened to me and my family. God is our justice David and Justice has come! And that justice being David that our stories are being read and heard and being reviewed for ethics and more and more of us who have suffered under the intentions of professionals, who in my opinion have to look up to even see the shadow of some common street thugs, are triumphing in mass numbers to numerous to discount. All because of the bravery of men like David who tell their stories inorder to prevent this perversion upon others.
I felt for David and his entire family what a horrific ordeal. I could not put this book down, I cried, I got angry, and I am more resovled to keep speaking out about what happened to me.
How come Dr. Money did not go to prison for what he did to children but got away with it and even flaunted it for years? I wish David could see that his opening up and telling what happened by Dr. Money that he has protected other kids from this madness and exposed this man for his twisted methods.
Just to think that if Dr. Diamond and others had not persued what happened to David none of us would have found out about it. Information is truely power and there is a change a happening, not just in the medical field, but in our country that says we will no longer stand by and be silent about atrosities that allow our children to be hyjacked by activists in public schools or in our supreme courts and yes even in doctors offices across this country.
I would like to see those in professional positions that abuse that power given to Dr. Kavorkian and taken the brink of death and revived over and over again. Well at least loose their licenses and respectability.
Thank you David,you helped me be braver in telling my story, I am praying for you and I hope to see you in heaven.

OH MY..this story left me shaking and very angry at the medical profession.What this poor child and family had to endure all because of medical botching. a very good but disturbing read. i heard just recently that the person the story is about died. what a sad life.

This book was really intriguing. It is a look into a part of science and medicine and psychology that few people see. It is at once sad, touching and infuriating. The child's struggle against his own identity, the love and confusion of the parents, and the selfish, blind force of the therapist all combine to make this book a memorable read.

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This is a paperback although the ISBN says it's a hardcover. Is a quality paperback, not mass market.

Really LOVED this and highly recommend it.

couldn't really get into this story. The documentary on TV was interesting though.

"Some studies affirm that the sexual behavior and orientation as male or female does not have an innate, instictive basis." This books tells a different story. A macabre tale of medical arrogance. "This is the drama on one man´s amazing survival in the face of terrible odds."

A heart-wrenching tale of what happens when someone decides to play God.

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