Question
I’m positive and my boyfriend is negative – can we have a child?
24 February 2012. Related: All topics, Pregnancy, Sero different couples.
Is there any way to have child? I am HIV positive and my boy friend is HIV negative.
Answer
Many HIV positive women safely have children with HIV negative partners.
Access to treatment dramatically reduces the risk of the baby having HIV. This requires using antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to bring your viral load to undetectable. It is also possible to become pregnant without infecting your boyfriend.
This section of the i-Base pregnancy guide talks about when the woman is positive and her partner is positive.
If you are planning to have a baby talk this over with your doctor or health worker at your clinic. They will be able to give you advice on how to do this safely.
Please take a look at our guide to HIV and pregnancy, which should answer many of your questions.
Please also look at our ‘having a baby FAQs’ Â where many similar questions have already been answered.
Hi,
Many couples like your now safely have HIV negative children. This is done using HIV treatment.
You can find lots of relevant information here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/what-to-do-when-one-partner-is-hiv-positive-and-the-other-is-hiv-negative
I’m a HIV positive lady and my partner is negative,we want to have baby without infecting him and the baby.
Hi,
It’s great that you are thinking of having a baby. Many couples where one partner is positive have HIV negative children. You can check the answer above for links to relevant information about HIV, conceiving and pregnancy.
Im HIV positive my boyfriend is negative, and now we want to have a child, how can we do it without infecting him and the unborn baby. Please help.
I don’t know what you mean by having a bone near your ear, but this doesn’t sound related to HIV.
For information about pregnancy when you are positive please see our pregnancy guide. It’s important to speak to your doctor or midwife about this so that you can get the treatment needed to stop your baby being infected.
My boyfriend and I are positive. My CD4 count is 365 I’m not on ARVs but I’m worried because now I’m pregnant. What can I do not to infect my unborn baby? And I have a bone near my ear my friend says its the sign of positive.
Hi Deli,
I’m sorry to hear about the worry you are experiencing and your difficulties conceiving.
First of all there is no benefit to re-testing for HIV. Although treatment is very good at controlling HIV it is not a cure, and you will still be HIV positive. Some tests which look for the virus will come back negative because your viral load is undetectable. This does not mean that you are HIV negative though, and you need to keep taking treatment.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you if it will be possible for you to have a baby in the future. Fertility is a complicated issue and we are not experts in this at i-Base. As women get older it becomes more difficult to have children. This is true from the age of 30, and especially towards the age of 40. This doesn’t mean it is not possible to get pregnant at this age, just that it is less likely. Your HIV status itself shouldn’t stop you getting pregnant though and many women with HIV have healthy, HIV negative babies. I’m sorry I can’t help you more on this point.
Please let me know if I can help with any further questions about HIV.
I’m now 38 years old and have been in a relationship with my ex since 2006 and since we met we’ve been trying to have a baby and in 2008 i decided to go and check wht was wrong, why i could’nt conceive, because i had 5 children from my previous relationship and my ex did not have any kids. When i got to the clinic they tld me to do and an HIV test and it came out possitive, my CD4 count ws 124 my viral load was lower than detectable, i’m on ARV’s since 2008. My ex is negetive and he has done so many test and they still come out negetive, he got another woman pregnent last year while we were together and the baby died at 2 months. I decided to do an HIV test again 2 weeks ago and the 1st test came out possitive and the nurse did a confirmation test and it came out neggetive and i’m going back after 6 weeks to do another test and my viral load has been since 2008 lower than detectable. I met someone and am getting married and am worried if i’ll ever have babies with him, he knows i’m possitive and he is neggetive. Is there anything wrong with me will i have a baby again? And i do not hve enough money to see specialist. Please help me, sorry for a long message.
Hi Lindy,
Thank-you for your feedback! I’m glad that this information was useful for you. I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis but I hope you will see from the information above that being HIV positive should not stop you having children. Please take a look at our Introduction to combination therapy guide for more information about treatment. You can also read about having a baby in our pregnancy guide.
Thanks a lot for this information,it brings back hope to some of us.I thought my relationship was over because I won’t be able to bear children for my hiv neg. fiance who desparately wants to start a family.
I recently got diagnosed my cd4 count is 350 n my viral load is 30000.I’m so devastated will I be able to have kids?I’m not on medication as yet,I am not ready,am still in shock.