Question
How can my wife be HIV positive and I am not?
4 June 2022. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, HIV transmission, Newly diagnosed, Pregnancy, PrEP, Sero different couples.
Hi everyone, I want to ask this question. I have a wife and they tested HIV positive during pregnancy. Our baby is HIV negative and she turned 3 months. I am still negative since last year, is it true that she is positive or is she negative? help me please..!
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
I am sorry to hear that your wife has only recently found out that she is HIV positive. How is she doing? Has she started treatment?
Congratulations on having a baby. Having a healthy, HIV negative baby is not uncommon. Even in mothers who do not start medication until later on in their pregnancy if at all. It is great that baby is HIV negative – are they being breastfed? did they have their own HIV medication when they were born?
Transmission of HIV is not aways definite. Your wife if HIV positive but it does not mean you will become HIV positive. There are a number of factors that change this. The main one being if your wife is on medication and her viral load is undetectable, it is impossible to pass on HIV.
This is a guide that shows how HIV transmission risk is changed.
Now that you are both aware of your wife’s status there are further things you can do to prevent transmission. Using a condom or taking PrEP will completely prevent transmission if your wife does not have an undetectable viral load. If she does, no further measures are needed.
Josh.
Hi Robert, you cannot make anyone else take an HIV test. Health care is private and thus is an individual decision. If you are worried about HIV then PrEP and condoms prevent transmission. Making assumptins about someone else’s HIV status is a very bad idea and is often wrong.
Hello my wife refused to take a HIV test I had one yesterday I tested negative. what should I do for as my wife I know that she is cheating on me with multiple men