Impact of AUFI on life
In our study, we found that the diagnosis AUFI negatively impacted
participants from a young age, in their personal lives and their
relationships, that AUFI was isolating and that it fractured the female
identity. Our findings are similar to prior studies of women with
AUFI.6, 7 For example, Richards and colleagues found
that AUFI presented challenges at the time of diagnosis as well as
throughout different life stages, and with different
relationships.6 Their participants conceptualised AUFI
as a life-framing experience that affected how participants viewed
themselves.6 Our findings provide a richer description
of how AUFI affected self-identity of participants by making them feel
as though something was missing from their female identity.