Question
I'm HIV negative and my girfriend's positive. Can we have a baby?
25 June 2012. Related: All topics, Pregnancy, Sero different couples.
I am dating a woman who is HIV positive and I love her with all my heart.
Now we want to start having kids.
What can I do, because I am HIV negative?
Answer
It is great that you love your girlfriend and plan to have children with her. Many sero-different couples (where one is HIV positive and the other is not), have had and continue to have healthy HIV negative babies.
There are a number of conception options available to a couple like you. These depend on a number of factors including whether your girlfriend is taking ARVs (antiretroviral treatment for HIV).
A simple method which protects you from catching HIV is the Do-It-Yourself articificial insemination. This is a method if self insemination using a plastic syringe. Around the time of ovulation, you put your sperms as high as possible into your girlfriend’s vagina.(Ovulation takes place in the middle of your girlfriend’s cycle, about 14 days before her period).
Different clinics may recommend different methods. One way is to have protected intercourse with a spermicide-free condom. Another is for you to ejaculate into a container. In both cases, you or your girlfriend can then insert the sperm into her vagina.
For more detailed information on the above and other options available to you, please follow this link to our guide to HIV, pregnancy and women’s health. The guide also answers a lot of general questions you and your girlfriend may have around HIV and pregnancy.
Good luck with your future plans.
Hi Kat,
If you’re on treatment and have an undetectable viral load, the risk of transmission is close to zero. Please see the results of the PARTNER study for more info:
http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study/
If your viral load isn’t undetectable, then yes, there is a risk that you could transmit.
With regards to telling your boyfriend about your status, have you thought about asking him what his views are about HIV? This may give you some idea. Other than that, I can’t really suggest what to do. This is because we’re all different. Some people don’t mind that their partner is positive, for others its just too much.
I’m 22 years old and am HIV positive and my boyfriend is negative. He loves me so much that I don’t know how to tell him that I’m positive because am scared he will leave me or things will never be the same again. I feel so bad. I try to use condoms at all times, but one day we did not and am on treatment. Is the a possibility that he could not have caught the virus ? I don’t know what to do.
Hi Bongiwe,
Because you’re on ART, if your viral load is undetectable the risk of transmission when not using a condom is close to zero. For more info please see the results of the PARTNER study:
http://i-base.info/qa-on-the-partner-study/
I’m positive and my boyfriend is negative, I’m on ART. Sometimes we don’t use condoms. Is this OK, or will I infect him?
Hi Nozipho -yest this is possbile if your partner is taking HIV treatment and has an undetectable viral load.
See the answers above for more information – and also this link:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/what-to-do-when-one-partner-is-hiv-positive-and-the-other-is-hiv-negative
Hai
Im negative but my man is HIV positive,we want to have kids now,is there a way we could make babies without me get infected,
Hi,
It is common for couples like yours to have children.
You can find lots of information here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/woman-hiv-positive
I’m HIV positive and taking vitamins, my partner is negative. We want to hav kids now. What should we do?
Hi,
Many couples were one partner is negative and the other is positive safely have HIV negative children.
If the positive partner is on treatment this is now usually done by conceiving naturally rather than artificial insemination. This is because being on treatment and having an undetectable viral load significantly reduces the risk of transmission.
Your clinic or doctor can also help you plan for this.
You can find more information about conceiving if the woman is positive here:
http://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/planning
I’m HIV positive and my partner is negative, we want to have a kids. We are considering artificial insemination (do it yourself) is this advisable?