Anxiety as a cause of attachment avoidance in women with Turner Syndrome

Working models of attachment are internal depictions of self relative to others and have been described in terms of two dimensions: (1) attachment avoidance and (2) attachment anxiety. An exploratory qualitative study was carried out to build understandings about women with Turner Syndrome (TS) and the psychosocial impact their infertility has upon salient relationships. In one-to-one semi-structured interviews, five women with TS were asked: How do you perceive your womanhood and infertility status has affected your relationships with: (1) the opposite sex, (2) siblings and (3) peers? In opposite-sex relationships, infertility status was found to arouse fear of ending up alone and anxiety over engaging in romantic relationships. In sibling relationships, jealousy was expressed in relation to disparity with sister(s) more natural maturation to womanhood, and, within peer relationships, consequences from divulging infertility status created attachment avoidance with friends. Further investigation in this area is merited