Abstract
Today most patients with CF reach adulthood and consequently marry and have children. Health care systems are lacking in knowledge of how these adults cope with the strain of having children.
Eight patients were interviewed about their experiences of having children. The study was a qualitative descriptive study and the patients were interviewed with open questions regarding their experiences of parenthood. The analysis showed that most of them found it natural to become a parent. Despite their chronic disease they had, on the whole, a healthy self-concept. Many of them experienced a strengthening of their relationship with their partner notwithstanding the strain many of them experience when becoming pregnant and then adapting to life with a new baby and its needs. Partners took greater responsibility upon themselves in caring for the children.
Most of the CF parents and partners expressed the need for organised daily structuring and planning in order to cope with parenthood and the routines of living with CF and its treatment. In spite of everything the parents felt that the children gave a special meaning to life and that this was something worth fighting and living for.