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Education
Education
Having children outside a heterosexual relationship: options for persons living with HIV
  1. Tristan J Barber1,
  2. Tuvia Borok2,
  3. Tara Suchak3,
  4. Alison Weatherall4,
  5. Tor Docherty5,
  6. Natalie Gamble6,
  7. Robert Pralat7,
  8. Rusi Jaspal8,
  9. Christine Cocker9
  1. 1 Ian Charleson Day Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  2. 2 The P3 Network, London, UK
  3. 3 Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  4. 4 CARE Fertility, Nottingham, UK
  5. 5 New Family Social, London, UK
  6. 6 NGA Law, London, UK
  7. 7 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  8. 8 De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
  9. 9 University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tristan JBarber, Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, London, London NW3 2QG, UK; t.barber{at}nhs.net

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2018-053670

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    Introduction

    This article presents information about the social, legal and medical issues that medical and non-medical practitioners in the UKi should consider in order to signpost options for people living with HIV (PLWH) who are not in a heterosexual relationship and want to become parents. Despite significant medical advances, increased medical awareness among HIV practitioners and the ability to live a full life with HIV, stigma still exists around PLWH wanting to have children. There is a lack of awareness among the general public and the non-specialist medical community about the realities of living with HIV, and the options available to become a parent.

    Vertical transmission rates in the UK are very low (<0.5%).1 Despite this, even among PLWH it is evident that stigma surrounding parenting with HIV is real, with almost 50% of HIV-positive respondents in a European study saying that having HIV would be a barrier to them deciding to have a family.2 Irrespective of their sexual orientation, HIV-positive parents and prospective parents may bear the brunt of a historical HIV stigma, and the negative discourses that surround lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered/gender diverse (LGBT) parenting, despite the legal advances over the past decade.

    First steps to breaking down this stigma are to increase public awareness around the realities of living with HIV, and awareness among PLWH that being a parent is an option for them. In 2016 in London, the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target was achieved for the first time. England came close to meeting that target, with 88% of those living with HIV being diagnosed, 96% of those on HIV treatment and 97% of them having an undetectable viral load.3 Most PLWH taking antiretroviral medication therefore have undetectable levels of HIV in blood, meaning they cannot transmit HIV via sexual fluids.4

    Despite this, …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Sarah K Edwards

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests Some authors work for organisations involved in supporting parenting options described.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • ↵The legal content is UK-wide (since it derives from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008). Other aspects, such as NHS funding for fertility treatment, may vary between UK countries.

    • ↵ https://www.preventionaccess.org/consensus; accessed 26 April 2018.