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The lived experience of premature ovarian failure
S A Orshan1, K K Furniss, C Forst
1National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. aviva@erols.com
Objective:
To describe the lived experience of women who have been diagnosed with idiopathic premature ovarian failure (POF).
Design:
Phenomenology was used to achieve the purpose. Women were asked to share their experiences in living with premature ovarian failure during an approximately 1-hour interview. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emergent themes.
Setting:
Interviews were conducted in the participants' homes and in a conference room in a hospital.
Participants:
The six participants were drawn from a multicultural sample of women with idiopathic POF.
Results:
The women in this study expressed anger at their health care providers for their perceived lack of quality care they had experienced and at the insurance industry for its lack of reimbursement for fertility interventions; they expressed depression and sadness at the prospective outcome of the diagnosis, mixed emotions regarding their significant others, and sadness and resignation about their menopausal symptoms.
Conclusions:
Health care providers who create an environment in which women and their significant others will feel supported in asking questions, be assured that their concerns are taken seriously, and be provided with the physical and emotional resources they need can help these women to continue to build and live their lives.