Aims and objectives To explore and describe how young adults between 18-25 years of age experienced growing up with a parent with multiple sclerosis and how these experiences continue to influence their daily lives. Background Chronic parental illness is occurring in about 10% of families worldwide, but little is known about how the children experience growing up with a parent with multiple sclerosis during their childhood and into young adulthood. Design We chose a qualitative design using a phenomenological approach based on Giorgi.