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AnSWeR  > ConditionsKlinefelter's Syndrome > Cases > Tony > Interview page1

Interview with Tony 01

Age at interview: 36
Sex: Male
Background:
Tony is 36 and was diagnosed with Klinefelter's syndrome during investigations into infertility at the age of 25. He is married and works as a purchasing manager for a health and fitness company. He is also secretary of the Klinefelter Organisation.

The following is a transcript of the entire interview with Tony.

image of Tony admiring his painting

 
Who do you live with and what do you do for a living?
 

I live with my wife, Teresa. We've been married for three years but have been together for 12 years. I work for a fitness company. I give advice on health and fitness, but I'm also the Purchasing Manager for the company, so it's quite a responsible job and I enjoy it. I've worked for the company for six years.

 
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So when did you find out you had Klinefelter's?
 

I found out I had Klinefelter's in 1992 when I was twenty-four / twenty-five. It was through an infertility test , that was the spark that caused the diagnosis if you like. In my previous marriage my wife already had two children so when we were trying for children and not getting anywhere I was the one that was tested and it was at that point I was told that I wasn't producing sperm. It then took a further eighteen months of investigation to find out what the actual reason for that was. It was then I was told I had the mosaic variation of Klinefelter's Syndrome.

 
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Going back to when you were a child then, was there any indication? What were you like physically?
 

Physically I was always very small, poor bone structure, very weak, I didn't have any muscles, I didn't take part in sport... particularly team sports, I wasn't good at that and I avoided those situations because I knew I just wasn't physically strong enough to compete. Really up until puberty that was the only way it manifested itself. It was knowing that I couldn't take part in the rough and tumble stuff that boys tend to do.

 
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Were you often at the doctors?
 

Not for physical complaints as such. I suppose I was to some extent a sickly child, but how much of it was psychosomatic and school sickness I can't answer that. But I don't remember being taken to the doctor on a regular basis.

 
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So looking back were there any other problems you could say that you associated with it?
 

Not physically, no.

 
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What about reading and shyness?
 

Yes. I was very, very shy. I wouldn't go anywhere on my own. I found it very difficult to make friends. I didn't have any real friends. I didn't hang around with large groups of lads, so I would just make one close friend and stay near him. As for reading, I was about eight or nine before I could read and write. It should have been, in my opinion, picked up as a child, but I slipped through the net.

 
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Last update: 15 September, 2005 10:53 AM


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