Question
Can an HIV positive man still have children?
24 March 2007. Related: All topics, Pregnancy.
Can an HIV positive man still have children? If so, what is the risk to mother and child?
Answer
Thanks for your question which is very easy to answer.
The simple answer is a definite “yes” as being on modern HIV treatment also protects your partner.
As long as viral load is undetectable, the risk of transmission becomes zero. This means that your partner will not be at risk and the baby will be negative too.
The risk of a baby having HIV is only directly related to the HIV status of the mother, not the father.
So if your partner is also HIV positive, this is how you can have an HIV negative baby.
The i-Base guide to HIV, Pregnancy and Women’s Health includes a chapter on planning pregnancies and is available online or in print.
Note: This answer was last updated in January 2018 from an original post from March 2007.
I am a 30 year old woman who was with an HIV positive partner for three years and had two children within that timeframe. To this day I am still HIV negative and my children are as well. My ex-partner took 3 different medications daily(sometimes days or a few weeks were missed) which helped lower the risk of transmission and increase the cd4 count.
Hi St v,
Unfortunately we are not doctors at i-Base. Have you had tests to find out why you have a low sperm count? There could be many reasons for this. It’s a good idea to get a check up to see what might be causing it.
I m HIV positive and I m on drugs I also have low sperm count can I treat both together
HI
I have been HIV positive for 35 years. I have two boys 16 and 18 very healthy( He plays D1 tennis in college). My wife is still HIV negative.
I did not think it was possible until I read a similar post online 18 years ago so I thought that it could inspire someone out there…
Hi Bonolp,
Treatment for HIV (ART) now is very safe and effective. If your partner’s viral load is undetectable there is no risk of transmitting HIV. Please see Undetectable = Untransmittable here.
my partner his HIV and his afraid of doing a child so how can I advice him/ suggestion?
Hi Smt,
I can’t really advice you what to do as I don’t know either you or your fiance. However there’s no reason why your fiance should be afraid of marrying you. You being positive shouldn’t really be an issue. If they can’t accept that, then maybe they aren’t the right person for you.
I am HIV patient but my fiance is afried of getting married to me cus am positive, please advise me
Hi Annie,
Because your partner’s viral load is undetectable you aren’t at any risk of contracting HIV.Please see the following:
http://i-base.info/htb/32308
There’s also no need for you to be on PrEP.
Hi, my partner is hiv + but with undetectable viral load. I’m hiv- and started taking truvada as prep as we are now trying for a baby. I’ve been on truvada since January 1st (with strict adherence) and the first time we tried was January 30th. Two weeks later I came down with flu like symptoms and tonsillitis. My daughter was sick and I was thinking that I may have gotten whatever virus she was fighting. Should I be worried about transmission? My last hiv test was about 3 weeks ago and was negative.