Personal Accounts of Telling Others You Have HIV/AIDS

How do you tell friends or family that you have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS? It's one of the greatest challenges you'll face -- and it's not something to rush into. Browse through these tips and discover how sharing your diagnosis with others can have unexpected results. Read how Rafael Abadia told his parents about his illness.

Justin B. Smith on Being Public About Living With HIV (November 4, 2009)
Not long after Justin B. Smith found out he was HIV positive, he got a video camera, launched a video blog and committed himself to becoming an agent of change.
From The Body
You Gotta Have Friends: A Video Blog by Mark S. King (April 22, 2009)
Mark invites a group of his HIV-positive friends over for dinner. Together they share intimate stories about disclosure, sex, dating and how they've coped with their status.
From The Body
Bisexuality, Lies and HIV: The Pain and Necessity of Disclosure -- and Acceptance (March/April 2005)
A cautionary story for all HIV-positive guys who sleep with both men and women, and for the HIV-negative women they sleep with who may not know about it.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Talking About Your Status: One Woman's Decision to Disclose (March/April 2005)
When's the best time to tell a potential partner you have HIV? For Barbara Marcotte, the answer is: Tell them early.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
"By the Way, I'm Poz" (July 2004)
Although Steve McMahon's romantic relationship ended the night he told his boyfriend he was HIV positive, he has no regrets.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
"I Still" (July 2004)
A poem by Gene Valentine about lost love and HIV disclosure.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Periods, Bras and T Cells: A Father-Daughter Talk (June 18-24, 2004)
In this touching, beautifully crafted story, Michael Kearns writes about how he finally told his nine-year-old adopted daughter that he has HIV.
In LA Weekly
Disclosing HIV in the Workplace (September/October 2003)
Steve McMahon talks about his decision to tell his coworkers he's HIV positive.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Disclosure: Being Out as an HIV-Positive Teen (December 20, 2002)
To read PDF, click here
From PositiveWords
Pickett Fences: Seven's Up (September/October 2002)
Jim Pickett's letter to his family telling them that he as HIV.
To read PDF, click here
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Telling the Truth: An Insider's Look at Disclosure (April 2001)
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles
Going Public (Spring 1999)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Diagnosis 18 Months Later (Summer 1998)
A positive woman considers disclosure.
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Personal Perspectives on Telling Others (1994)
Part of There Is Hope: Learning to Live With HIV.
From HIV Coalition (HIVCO)

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