Getting pregnant with HIV

A woman who has HIV can get pregnant naturally and her children can be free of HIV.

Under certain conditions, it is possible for you to have sexual intercourse without a condom with your steady partner (steady relationship) who does not have HIV:

• If, for at least 6 months, the amount of HIV in your blood (viral load) can no longer be detected. If you take your medicines correctly every day, the viral load lowers. After several months, signs of the virus often can no longer be found in a test.
• And if your viral load was checked less than 6 months ago.
• And if you and your partner have no other sexually transmitted disease (STI) and the mucous membrane of your mouth, anus, penis or vagina is not damaged.

Talk with a healthcare provider and with your partner if you want to have sexual intercourse without a condom.

If it is not possible to get pregnant in a natural way, there is another option:

If the man has HIV

The HIV virus is inside the man’s semen.

• A healthcare provider can “wash” the semen to remove the virus.
• The healthcare provider inserts the washed semen into the woman’s uterus with a syringe.

If the woman has HIV

• The egg cell does not contain the virus.
• A healthcare provider inserts the man’s semen into the uterus with a syringe.

A pregnant woman with HIV has to take medicines during pregnancy and delivery. If medicines are taken correctly, more than 99% of babies are born without HIV.
In most cases, a woman with HIV can have a natural delivery. The healthcare provider decides whether the woman has a natural delivery or a caesarean section. The baby is given medicines after birth.

Because the breast-milk contains the HIV virus, the mother cannot breast-feed. There are other ways to bond with your baby.