Hi My name is Fiona McDonnell I am a 51 year old mother of an 18 year old boy with Severe Haemophilia Classic A. I am also a carrier of the mutated gene. (as is my mother) Until the birth of my son I never had any real understanding of what Haemophilia was or how it impacted the lives of those affected. My son’s story now he is 18 is totally up to him to share. So I will focus on my health implications. My mother suffered very heavy periods (menorrhagia) and so when my periods where very heavy I just saw it as hereditary. As a business woman I often chaired meetings with my peers most of whom are male and spent very anxious times hoping I had not bled through during meetings despite multiple pads, super tampons and other precautions. Rinsing clothing out in Hotel bathrooms and Petrol Station washrooms was an embarrassing and distasteful operation, but functioning at work was a priority for me I simply had to do my best to not embarrass myself or others. A breakthrough came in the form of a casual conversation with a friend at Haemophilia Victoria’s annual Family (Community) Camp. It was the first year my husband had not attended and gave me the chance for some “private girl talk” I had never realised my menorrhagia could be related to the factor deficiency – sounds crazy, but my generation were told we couldn’t have “real symptoms” This wonderful Mother and her teenage daughter told me of using Tranexamic acid to alleviate this problem and that longer term an IUD could be a solution. My next visit to my GP had us discuss my options and what had been a really terrible time of the month became normalised and managed very easily. What I hope sharing my story does is help someone else to see themselves in my story and get the help they need to be more able to participate in life.