Ethics Blog 5

Ethical Case

I was watching a show on Discovery Health the other night about two identical twin boys, Bruce and Brian Reimer, born in Canada. The twins both suffered from phimosis, so their pediatrician offered the simple solution of circumcision to correct the problem. What was supposed be a routine produce went drastically wrong; Bruce’s entire penis was accidentally burned off. After this, bizarre things started to occur as the Reimers’ pediatrician recommended them to specialist at John Hopkins. The specialist, Dr. Money, told the parents Bruce would “be unable to have normal sexual relations or get married” and “have to recognize that he is incomplete, physically defective, and that he must live apart” without his penis. The only solution he offered was to raise Bruce as a girl. After brainwashing the parents to agree, Bruce received a bilateral orchidectomy and was transformed into a “girl” named Brenda. The twins grew up attending therapy sessions, which were actually gender reassignment experiments. Brenda/Bruce often resisted annual trips to John Hopkins to receive hormone treatments. Despite this twin never taking to re-sex identification, Dr. Money continued to make positive reports back to the parents so they would stay with the program.

I found this case to be disturbing. Although the parents were trying to practice beneficence by doing what they thought was best for their child, they unfortunately were heavily swayed by Dr. Money’s not-so-good advice. Dr Money violated his ethical code of doing no harm, not only to his patient, but to Brenda/Bruce’s family as well. He also did not exemplify nonmaleficence, as he saw the children struggling, yet continued to inflict pain on the twins. Later, documentation was released which provided evidence to support the fact that Dr. Money was purposely conducting a “modern day mad scientist experiment,” in which he was studying plasticity of gender.

In this case, one bad decision was continually followed by another, for not only were the principles of justice, paternalism, and autonomy violated to the children, but also the moral codes such as compassion, conscientiousness, discernment, and kindness. However, the two most important morals I found to be broken in this case were Dr. Money’s trustworthiness and respect toward the Reimer family. Not only did the doctor lie about his true intentions, experimentations, and the results, but he also forced the children to do and say things against their will which resulted in sexually abusing Brenda/Bruce, and ultimately affecting both the twins emotionally and psychologically. Respect was violated throughout this case, seen clearly in the doctor’s dissaproval of Brenda/Bruce no longer wanting to participate in the treatment and disregard of Brenda/Bruce’s feelings.

In the end, the truth destroyed the Reimer family. This case was absolutely horrible, and I doubt that it would happen in modern times because of high regulations and protective laws. I could never imagine a person doing such a terrible thing, let alone Mr. Money, a doctor, continuing this for personal enjoyment and satisfaction. Brian (the twin always known as a boy) suffered severe depression for years after finding out the truth about his brother and eventually committed suicide. Soon after, Bruce (earlier known as Brenda) died of a drug overdose, with suicide as the suspected cause. Both their children’s deaths left the Reimer parents heartbroken with pain and regret, in which they claimed to be a victim until their own deaths.