“I Just didn’t Think they Would Because of My Status…”: Experiences of People with HIV within the Ontario Adoption System

Abstract

There is limited research exploring the experiences of people living with HIV (PLWH) who have pursued/successfully adopted children. We aimed to gain a deeper understanding of such experiences by analyzing six interviews with PLWH using thematic analysis. In this paper, we highlight three themes: Understanding the Adoption Process, Desire for Caseworker-Client Transparency, and Framing Health and Wellbeing. While most of the findings are relevant for all people navigating the adoption system, there are clear complexities in the process due to HIV stigma. We consider the key takeaways and offer recommendations for adoption service providers, governing bodies, and future research.

Keywords:

• HIV
• adoption
• stigma
• case series
• Ontario

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the members of the Community Advisory Board for their early insights on the study design and methods. They would also like to express their deep gratitude to the participants of this study who took the time to share their experiences to help others through this process.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) under grant #026-503.