Women With Amenorrhea and Men With Menstruation: The Qualitative Experiences of People With Disorders of Sex Development in Nigeria

Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) affect the quality of life of people who live with this condition. In developing countries, diagnoses of DSD are associated with a delay in presentation until the patients developed ambiguous physical traits and features. Purpose: This study explores the menstrual experiences of people with DSD and sex reassignment in Nigeria. Methods: A qualitative approach with a phenomenological study design was employed in this study to explore and describe the experiences of people with DSD at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, Nigeria. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. Results: The findings show that the participants experienced menstrual problems: men with menstruation and women with amenorrhea. The female participants generally described amenorrhea as a disappointment and linked menstruation with womanhood. Amenorrhea evinced both emotional and psychological effects. Ho