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Short Summary
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As the prospects for people living with HIV have improved worldwide, AIDS activists and the global public health community have increased their focus on quality-of-life issues as well as length-of-life issues. Regardless of HIV status, the ability to express one's sexuality and the desire to experience parenthood are, for many, central to what it means to be human. Yet people living with HIV/AIDS - especially women - are often seen as irresponsible if they desire to have children, or face criticism for being sexually active. This paper argues that concerted actions on several fronts are needed: to ensure that women with HIV are not coerced or pressured into terminating a pregnancy, or into using certain contraceptive methods such as sterilisation; to expand contraceptive services; to offer psychosocial support for women contemplating childbearing; and to provide nondirective, nonjudgmental and confidential counselling to HIV-positive women, including those faced with unplanned pregnancies. Associations and networks of HIV positive people and community-based organisations run by and for people with HIV have a key role to play in realising these goals.
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