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

Answer: Angelina Namiba

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.