The world would be such a wonderful place if society was accepting to those living with HIV. A world where people didn't have to hide their status. A world where treatment was easily accessible to those in rural and disadvantaged communities. A world where people were being educated about HIV/AIDS. A world where all children are born HIV negative to HIV positive mothers. A world where rape victims are treated immediately to prevent them from contracting the virus. The world would be such a wonderful place if HIV was not associated with promiscuity.
Every young girl dreams about her wedding day but being HIV positive quickly diminishes that dream. This brings about a lot of questions. Where did I get it from? Will I get married? Who do I tell about my status? Can I still have children? How much longer will I live for? What will people think of me? Will I lead a normal life? How will my life change? How will I cope with this? What are the chances of meeting someone who will accept me knowing that I am HIV positive? So many questions racing through ones head like balls in the machine in a lottery draw.
I've often heard women say they are HIV positive but their partners are negative. I often wonder if this is remotely possible if the couple has been together for a long time. Does this really happen? This could be a way women protect their partners from the scorns that come with the stigma of being HIV positive. I have a friend who's been positive for a reasonable while and also been in an on and off relationship even longer. She claims that her partner is 'negative'. I just don't understand how, I mean I understand but I don't think it's possible. Have they always always played it safe? Let's look at this scenario closely. How is it that she can protect herself when with the long term partner and not protect herself with a new person? What are the chances of that happening? Everybody slips up at some point, especially when liquor is involved. I doubt if they have never let their guard down? Is it possible to have one partner positive and the other negative?
What happens when the couple wants to have children? Does the negative partner risk being infected for the sake of having children? I think the positive partner is supposed to have a high CD4 count and an undetectable viral load? This bring me to my next question. Does an HIV positive person with a CD4 of about 700 and an undetectable viral load less likely to infect another person? I should think if you're positive you risk infecting another person no matter how low your viral load. Does the positive partner have to be on ART's to have a child with a negative partner? Having being infected doesn't mean one has to use protection just to prevent infecting the other person. For instance if both partners are positive it doesn't mean they shouldn't protect themselves as they're already infected. They should be extremely careful to avoid re infection. I would just like to know does the virus get to a dormant stage? Does it ever become inactive? In my mind I think undetectable doesn't mean inactive but I stand to be corrected.
Are there people who are immune to the HI virus? Some circumstances are strange. Even when one partner has AIDS the other is still negative, how come? I know of people where one is infected and even had AIDS at one stage but now they have a healthy negative baby and they are both looking healthy. I know now more and more babies are born negative to positive mothers but its not an automatic process. The mother has to take certain medication to avoid mother to child transmission. Are there people who would rather be infected for the sake of having children and in the name of love? There is also another possibility, it's a bit wrong and deceitful but it's a possibility. Is it possible that maybe just maybe the partner doesn't tell the other about their status when deciding to have children? There's something that bothers me in these what I like to call "plus minus" relationships. It seems like it's always the woman that's positive, never the man. It could also be that that's the case in people I've met but not necessarily the case with everyone. I'm yet to meet a couple where it's the man that's positive.
Does this virus favor men more than women? Could it be that women are recipients and men are donors? Is it easier for a woman to contract the virus than a man? I would like to know what the stats are? How many "plus minus" couples are out there? I'm not talking about people who hooked up knowing that one partner is positive. There's counseling for people who are diagnosed with the virus, those who've been raped, those infected by their partners, those who only know of their status when their pregnant, couples who are infected due to infidelity or other reasons but is there counseling for the "plus minus" couples? I think if I were in that relationship I would have a lot of questions. I assume the situation would be much harder to deal with than when both partners are infected.
This is all so confusing. Do these "plus minus" couples really exist?
Every young girl dreams about her wedding day but being HIV positive quickly diminishes that dream. This brings about a lot of questions. Where did I get it from? Will I get married? Who do I tell about my status? Can I still have children? How much longer will I live for? What will people think of me? Will I lead a normal life? How will my life change? How will I cope with this? What are the chances of meeting someone who will accept me knowing that I am HIV positive? So many questions racing through ones head like balls in the machine in a lottery draw.
I've often heard women say they are HIV positive but their partners are negative. I often wonder if this is remotely possible if the couple has been together for a long time. Does this really happen? This could be a way women protect their partners from the scorns that come with the stigma of being HIV positive. I have a friend who's been positive for a reasonable while and also been in an on and off relationship even longer. She claims that her partner is 'negative'. I just don't understand how, I mean I understand but I don't think it's possible. Have they always always played it safe? Let's look at this scenario closely. How is it that she can protect herself when with the long term partner and not protect herself with a new person? What are the chances of that happening? Everybody slips up at some point, especially when liquor is involved. I doubt if they have never let their guard down? Is it possible to have one partner positive and the other negative?
What happens when the couple wants to have children? Does the negative partner risk being infected for the sake of having children? I think the positive partner is supposed to have a high CD4 count and an undetectable viral load? This bring me to my next question. Does an HIV positive person with a CD4 of about 700 and an undetectable viral load less likely to infect another person? I should think if you're positive you risk infecting another person no matter how low your viral load. Does the positive partner have to be on ART's to have a child with a negative partner? Having being infected doesn't mean one has to use protection just to prevent infecting the other person. For instance if both partners are positive it doesn't mean they shouldn't protect themselves as they're already infected. They should be extremely careful to avoid re infection. I would just like to know does the virus get to a dormant stage? Does it ever become inactive? In my mind I think undetectable doesn't mean inactive but I stand to be corrected.
Are there people who are immune to the HI virus? Some circumstances are strange. Even when one partner has AIDS the other is still negative, how come? I know of people where one is infected and even had AIDS at one stage but now they have a healthy negative baby and they are both looking healthy. I know now more and more babies are born negative to positive mothers but its not an automatic process. The mother has to take certain medication to avoid mother to child transmission. Are there people who would rather be infected for the sake of having children and in the name of love? There is also another possibility, it's a bit wrong and deceitful but it's a possibility. Is it possible that maybe just maybe the partner doesn't tell the other about their status when deciding to have children? There's something that bothers me in these what I like to call "plus minus" relationships. It seems like it's always the woman that's positive, never the man. It could also be that that's the case in people I've met but not necessarily the case with everyone. I'm yet to meet a couple where it's the man that's positive.
Does this virus favor men more than women? Could it be that women are recipients and men are donors? Is it easier for a woman to contract the virus than a man? I would like to know what the stats are? How many "plus minus" couples are out there? I'm not talking about people who hooked up knowing that one partner is positive. There's counseling for people who are diagnosed with the virus, those who've been raped, those infected by their partners, those who only know of their status when their pregnant, couples who are infected due to infidelity or other reasons but is there counseling for the "plus minus" couples? I think if I were in that relationship I would have a lot of questions. I assume the situation would be much harder to deal with than when both partners are infected.
This is all so confusing. Do these "plus minus" couples really exist?