ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

David Reimer

David Reimer was a little baby boy who was born with a problem that made his private parts not work right. Doctors decided to give him a surgery to make him look like a girl instead. They gave him female hormones and made him wear girl clothes. This was supposed to help him feel better and be more like other girls.

As David grew up, he started to feel like he was a boy and not a girl. He didn't like dressing like a girl and he didn't like taking the medicines that made him act like one. David's mom and dad found out what happened to him and they were very upset. They took him to a special doctor who helped him become a boy again.

Even though David had medicine and surgery to help him look like a girl, it didn't change the fact that he was a boy. This made him feel very confused and sad. The story of David Reimer shows that it's important to be true to who we are and not try to change ourselves to fit someone else's idea of who we should be.