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==Infancy==
Reimer was born in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]],{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} on 22 August 1965, the eldest of identical twin boys.{{sfn|Rolls|2015|p=133}} He was originally named Bruce and his identical twin was named Brian.{{citation neededsfn|dateRolls|2015|p=May 2018133}} Their parents were Janet and Ron Reimer, a couple of [[Mennonite]] descent who had married the previous December.{{sfn|Rolls|2015|p=133}} At the age of six months, after concern was raised about how both of them urinated, the boys were diagnosed with [[phimosis]].{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|p=10}}<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news |last=Woo |first=Elaine |date=13 May 2004 |title=David Reimer, 38; After Botched Surgery, He Was Raised as a Girl in Gender Experiment |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/13/local/me-reimer13 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=B12 |access-date=25 June 2016}}</ref> They were referred for [[circumcision]] at the age of seven months. On 27 April 1966 a [[urologist]] performed the operation using the unconventional method of [[electrocauterization]],{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|pp=11–13}}<ref name=BBCHealthCheck>{{cite news |date=23 November 2010 |title=Health Check: The Boy Who Was Raised a Girl |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11814300 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=19 December 2014}}</ref> but the procedure did not go as doctors had planned, and Bruce's penis was burned beyond surgical repair. The doctors chose not to operate on Brian, whose phimosis soon cleared without surgical intervention.<ref name=CBCnews>{{cite news |date=10 May 2004 |title=David Reimer: The Boy Who Lived as a Girl |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reimer/ |dead-url=yes |publisher=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807123535/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reimer/ |archive-date=7 August 2012 |access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref>
The parents, concerned about their son's prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]] in [[Baltimore]] in early 1967 to see [[John Money]],{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|p=49}} a [[psychology|psychologist]] who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and [[gender identity]], based on his work with [[intersexuality|intersex]] patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the "theory of Gender Neutrality"—that gender identity developed primarily as a result of [[observational learning|social learning]] from early childhood and that it could be changed with the appropriate behavioural interventions.{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|pp=33–34}} The Reimers had seen Money being interviewed in February 1967{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|p=39}} on the Canadian news program ''[[This Hour Has Seven Days]]'', during which he discussed his theories about gender.{{sfn|Colapinto|2001a|pp=18–22}}
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