Hi,

I am a foster parent who has already adopted one little guy and we are the working on our second little fella. My wife called me at my office today and told me that she recieved the birth mothers health records. As she looked them over she noted the fact that the HIV positive box was marked yes. We are in contact with social services currently to find out if this is correct or not. My world came to a complete stand still this morning, I am so worried about our son. Can you give me any information regarding the chances or probabilty of him being infected? He was never breast fed by his birth mother we took him home from the hospital when he was 2 days old.

No matter what the outcome is he is our son and will be part of our family. We love him more than words can ever express.

Thanks very much -

concerned father

Hello Concerned Father,

Well, if the birth mother had good prenatal care, including treatment of her HIV disease, the risk of transmission to her child is quite low. The reduction of mother-to-child HIV transmission is one of the biggest success stories of the epidemic! Studies show that babies are mostly infected during childbirth or breastfeeding. A combination of effective anti-HIV medication (HAART), good prenatal care, and no breast-feeding, guarantees that well over 95 out of every 100 HIV-positive moms will not transmit the virus to their children. Certainly social services should have informed you of any possible HIV risk, so your son could be monitored and treated if needed. Hopefully, this was some sort of clerical error. Your pediatrician can also screen your son for HIV, in needed. Your son sounds like a lucky little guy to have you for parents. Give him a hug for me.

Dr. Bob