“Brenda” Never Adapted to Her Identity

Raising Bruce Reimer as “Brenda” was never an easy task, considering that he had been raised the same way Brian was for the first few months of their lives. The Reimer parents could not help but notice the frustration and discomfort “Brenda” felt.

Their mother, Janet, recalled how David tore off a dress the first time he wore it. “There were doubts along the way, but I couldn’t contemplate them because I couldn’t afford to be wrong,” Janet confessed later. Despite changing her dress code and hair and sending him to counseling, “Brenda” still maintained that she was a boy.