An experiment in surgical psychology gone tragically wrong

As reported here, an experiment in surgical psychology gone tragically wrong.

"Only years afterward was the sad truth revealed, the Culture and Family Institute spokesman explains. ‘All along, this little boy was yearning to be a boy, did not want to wear dresses, rejected his female identity,’ he says. ‘And this came out later in Rolling Stone magazine, and then in a book called As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto -- how Dr. John Money falsified the findings in order to prove that gender is just a construct in your head.’"

According to Jim Brown and Jenni Parker of AgapePress, psychologist and sexologist Dr. John Money did not follow proper procedures and did not reach realistic, but instead contrived, conclusions in his studies. Money, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, popularized the "gender identity movement."

"Money is particularly notorious for his role in the case of David Reimer, a baby boy whose parents were convinced, after a seriously bungled circumcision, to turn their son into a daughter. At the sexologist's urging, the parents agreed to have their son surgically rendered anatomically female.

"Later, the child received estrogen injections and was raised as a girl under Money's supervision at the Psychohormonal Research Unit at Johns Hopkins. This so-called ‘gender reassignment,’ which was a tragedy for the child, was touted as a triumph by the doctor, Knight points out. ‘John Money,’ he notes, ‘for 14 years reported in scientific journals that it had been a complete success, proving that biology has nothing to do with your sexual identity.’"

Why is it that some mortals determine to change the given when the given is apparently normal. We live in an imperfect sphere; that is for certain. But there are times when persons take on academic titles and acclaim which yield a kind of deity-persona by which they then endeavor to experiment with the apparently normal. When doing so, years pass while they amass applause records shooting off the charts only to have their premises and conclusions later proven faulty. Such is the case with Money.

"Critics like Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute claim both Kinsey and Money relied on faulty research and had a ‘no limits’ view of human sexuality. And both, the pro-family spokesman notes, have left an unfortunate legacy of medical misinformation and misguided psychological theories, all based on falsehoods with tragic consequences for modern society."

What begins as an experiment grows into an ego builder for the person carrying out the experiment. As cheerleaders gather to egg on the experiment, it develops into a given as approved by logic and society. All the while those who criticize the experiment and its founder are demeaned as not on the team.

It’s sad when this play out relates to such a one as the boy who was "transformed" into a girl only to spend his life longing to be the boy he was in the first place.

We can agree the sex and related issues can be some of the most confusing things that people deal with, and that a proper understanding of them can vastly improve the lives of people. But this does not justify the actions alledged of Dr. John Money.