As Nature Made Him
2000 biography of David Reimer by John Colapinto
As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl is a biography of David Reimer, written by John Colapinto and published February 20, 2000, by Harper Perennial. Reimer was a Canadian man born male but raised as a girl after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy and John Money advised his parents to follow the optimum gender rearing model. Money published his research regarding Reimer as the "Joan/John case", comparing him to his twin brother. Reimer's identity became public with the publication of his biography. Half of the author's earnings from the book were forwarded to Reimer.
Reception
In 2001, As Nature Made Him was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature. The book was also a New York Times best seller.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “As Nature Made Him” as 2000 biography of David Reimer by John Colapinto. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 2000 biography of David Reimer by John Colapinto. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q105226180. The first chronological checks are 2000 and 2001.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “As Nature Made Him”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow As Nature Made Him primary sources, As Nature Made Him archive and Nature research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “As Nature Made Him”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “As Nature Made Him” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.