I Have HIV. Can I Have Children and Keep My Partner Safer?

Hi, I’m [PRESENTER NAME], a [PRESENTER ROLE]. Welcome to “If I’m HIV Positive, Can I Have Children Who are Born Without HIV and Keep My Partner Safer?” This video will explain how HIV positive people can have children, reduce or eliminate the risk that their partner will contract HIV, and minimize the risk that the child will contract HIV.

Reasons for HIV Positive People to Avoid Unprotected Sex

If an HIV positive person has unprotected sex, it is possible that an HIV negative partner will contract HIV as a result. Even if both partners are already HIV positive, having unprotected sex could place each one at risk of contracting the other person’s strain of HIV. When a person who already has HIV is reinfected with a new strain of HIV, this problem is called superinfection. Alhough it is rare, it does happen. In superinfection, a person may contract a strain of HIV that is resistant to their medications, putting them at risk of needing to change medications and of progressing to clinical AIDS.

Because of these risks, an HIV positive person should avoid having unprotected sex regardless of whether their partner is HIV negative or HIV positive. People sometimes think this means that an HIV positive person can’t have children without putting their partner and the infant at risk. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, this is no longer true. It’s now possible for an HIV positive person to have a child without putting their partner at risk of contracting HIV and to minimize the risk that the child will contract HIV during pregnancy, childbirth, and infancy.

If You’re an HIV Positive Man

How can an HIV positive man have a child while minimizing the risk to their partner? The man provides a semen sample to his doctor. A technique called sperm washing is used to ensure that any HIV in the fluid around the sperm is removed. An egg is removed from the woman, fertilized by the washed sperm outside the body, and the fertilized egg is placed into her body. The process may not succeed on the first try, so it is important to work closely with your doctor. 

If You’re an HIV Positive Woman

If a woman is HIV positive, her partner can provide a sperm sample which is then placed into her body. This makes it possible for the man to make the woman pregnant without having unprotected sex that might expose him to the risk of contracting HIV.

The woman can minimize the risk that the infant will contract HIV from her by working with her doctor to follow the latest instructions for minimizing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Watch our video “Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV” for more details about how to protect the infant. Techniques include giving AIDS medications to the mother during pregnancy, labor, and breastfeeding, giving AIDS medications to the infant after birth, and feeding the infant using formula instead of breastfeeding in some situations.

No matter who you are, you are a valuable individual. If you are HIV positive, work with your doctor to keep yourself healthy. If you follow your doctor’s instructions, you may be able to have a full, healthy life, including having children who are HIV negative. This is [PRESENTER NAME].

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Script by Becky Kuhn, M.D. of Global Lifeworks and Eric Krock of AIDSvideos.org.

This script was reviewed for accuracy and approved by Becky Kuhn, M.D. on July 30, 2011.