Question

My husband is positive and I am negative, can we have a baby?

22 May 2012. Related: All topics, HIV transmission, Pregnancy, Sero different couples.

My husband just tested HIV positive but I am negative. We want at least one child without me being infected, is this possible and how can we do that?

Answer

Answer: Rebecca McDowall

First of all I am sorry to hear about your husband’s recent diagnosis. How are you both coping with this? Does your husband have any support?

There are many couples in a similar situation, where one person is positive and the other negative. This is called being ‘sero-different’. It is still possible to have a healthy and fulfilling sex life, and many couples in this situation have children without passing HIV to the negative partner or baby.

An HIV negative woman and an HIV positive man can conceive naturally.

This can be done through limited conception attempts during the most fertile days of your cycle. i.e when you are ovulating. To make this safer, your partner must have an undetectable viral load for at least 6 months. The viral load is a measure of how much virus is in his blood. To get this to be undetectable he would need to be on effective treatment, and be adherent (taking it properly).

Although a low number of conception attempts can be relatively safe, some couples continue to have unprotected sex. This sometimes results in the negative partner becoming HIV positive. It is recommended that couples use condoms once the woman is pregnant.

For more information on HIV and natural conception, please follow this link on HIV and pregnancy and this link on the Swiss Statement.