Women with haemophilia: more than just carriers

It is said that men have haemophilia and women are carriers, affected or unaffected. The terminology used is significant. Why it is that men are described as ‘having’ haemophilia and women with haemophilia are described as affected carriers? After all the men ‘carry’ the gene just as the women do and pass it on to their daughters. Likewise many women have Factor IX or Factor VIII levels that, if they were a man, would be categorised as mild or even in some cases moderate or severe haemophilia. Yet haemophilia is widely viewed as a condition affecting men with women as the passive vehicle for its transmission from generation to generation. There are many issues for women that are affected by this choice of terminology. Among them are their ability to access healthcare and their acknowledgement within healthcare systems throughout the world. Are women with the same factor level as men viewed in the same manner by healthcare professionals and do they acknowledge their own bleeding disorder as being the same as their male counterparts? How many women are unaware of their own bleeding disorder because they have only been viewed as ‘carriers’? Research into these issues is limited. This paper explores the aspects that affect women with haemophilia, from the definition in its historical context, obtaining a diagnosis, psychosocial elements, access to treatment, changing attitudes and acknowledgements within both the medical community and the wider community.