This thesis focuses on young women’s experiences of health-related psychosocial difficulties. Fertility-related difficulties are a common and distressing issue for young women following cancer. Chapter one describes a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature that explores how young women experience their fertility following cancer treatment. Two meta-themes are described, which illustrate the multiple losses women experience related to their threatened or lost fertility, and the complex grieving process they engage in to come to terms with these losses. Clinical implications are highlighted.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common chronic endocrine condition associated with physical, psychological and sexual difficulties. Chapter two describes the experience of being in intimate partner relationship as a young woman with PCOS. Seven young women were interviewed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology. Two superordinate themes emerged. The study identifies how the women’s threatened feminine identities undermined their relationship security and sometimes created a power imbalance between them and their partners. The battles to repair their feminine identities, and how these are experienced in the context of their intimate partner relationships, are then discussed. Difficulties with sexual intimacy are also described. A number of clinical implications are identified.

Chapter three presents a reflective account of the research process, both regarding how the researcher may have influenced the research, and how the research influenced them. A number of areas of reflection are outlined, including the challenge of being a clinician and a researcher and managing being an ‘outsider’. The chapter ends by reflecting on the role research can play in reinforcing or challenging social norms.