‘Someone Needs to Carry on the Legacy of My Family’: Childbearing Perceptions Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Perinatally Acquired Hiv

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This qualitative project explored perceptions of adolescents and young adults (AYA) with perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) regarding childbearing motivations and parenting. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 AYA with PHIV (M_age = 20.5 years). Results: Primary childbearing motivations included the desire to experience parenthood, a wish to leave a legacy, and the chance to offer/receive unconditional love. Anticipated challenges included normative concerns (e.g., cost of parenting) and such HIV-specific concerns as parental disclosure/risk for transmission. Conclusions: Information is needed to tailor developmentally and culturally sensitive interventions to promote healthy development across the life span among the 3rd generation of HIV-affected families.

KEYWORDS:

• Childbearing
• perinatal HIV
• adolescents
• fertility

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like express our deep gratitude to the young people who shared their stories with us. We would also like to thank the Elon University Faculty Research and Development Committee, the Lumen Prize, and the Elon College Fellows program for providing funding. Aspects of this research were presented at the at the 2012 American Public Health Association conference in San Francisco, CA.