Inspiring Stories: Family & Loved Ones & HIV/AIDS

General Family | Mothers | Other Loved Ones and Friends

Amanda and her father, Robert Hill Millis. She writes about why she's been inspired to activism here.

Tom Keegan and Davidson Lloyd with their daughter

Tom Keegan and Davidson Lloyd live in Los Angeles with their daughter Connor.

Martha and Sarah, photographed by Loel Poor and featured in the Loel Poor Photo Exhibit.

For Becky Trotter and Io Cyrus, maintaining open lines of communication in their relationship has been a constant, day-to-day concern.

General Family

What's Normal Anyway? (Regularly Updated)
From TheBody.com
Now for More on My Learning: A Blog Entry by Alive2 (May 10, 2012)
"I knew I had to take this stuff very seriously. The whole thing put my wife and me on an unstable path, which I was mainly the person who was responsible for the whole issue. We had a very difficult time for a few months, especially while she waited for her results to come back for a confirmation she wasn't infected."
From TheBody.com
When Life Gives Us Lemons, Make Some Orange Juice (April 25, 2012)
"They did a test for HIV ... Being married and all, I felt there was no way I could catch anything STD-wise. I'd never cheated, and we'd been married for seven years and had four children already. I was thinking they were just driving up the bill on me ... That's when I found out I was in fact HIV positive."
From TheBody.com
My Early Strength: A Blog Entry by Rev. Andrena Ingram (April 15, 2012)
"A lot of people always compliment me about how strong I am, in my disease. This was not always the case. In truth, it is because of my children. Most of us, if we cannot find the strength to live for ourselves, carry on expressly for our children."
From TheBody.com
Love Times Love: A Blog Entry by Reggie Smith (March 27, 2012)
"As a heterosexual man of color living with AIDS and hep C, I am aware of the level of homophobia that exists in my community. I DO NOT subscribe to those fears in any way, and will continue to spread love and information in an attempt to dispel those fears, while promoting healing."
From TheBody.com
A Brother Lost to AIDS Lights the Way (February 19, 2012)
From AIDS Foundation of Chicago
The "My Fabulous Disease" Holiday Spectacular! A Video Blog Entry by Mark S. King (December 7, 2011)
"My family was enthusiastically participating in a video about my life with HIV. And they were much more concerned with choosing a fun holiday outfit than being publicly associated with their HIV-positive relative. For them, the interviews I would do with them about my HIV status, well, that was the easy part. … I am an extremely blessed and fortunate man."
From TheBody.com
A Mother's Love for Her HIV-Positive Son: A Video Blog Entry by Justin B. Terry-Smith (October 27, 2011)
"Sometimes I get personal e-mails about my blog and I haven’t really shared them with you all. But I think I will start to do so ... I received this e-mail from a woman I'm going to call Amanda. She and her son discovered he was HIV positive and this letter made me cry ... twice."
From TheBody.com
Inspiration: A Blog Entry by Sarah Sacco (October 14, 2011)
"For those of us who struggle each day, who face challenges (and who doesn't?) and who sometimes wonder how to keep on going, this story gives inspiration. Won't you watch it, too?"
From TheBody.com
Homesick: A Blog Entry by Brooke Davidoff (September 8, 2011)
"How do you make friends when the majority of things on your mind are HIV, Death, Bills, Baby Stuff and Baseball? I realize I'm in a cave socially and I cling to the dream of moving home to get myself out."
From TheBody.com
After a Decade Apart, a Dad Tells His Daughter He Has HIV (August 18, 2011)
In Housing Works AIDS Issues Update, from Housing Works
Be the Chair of Your Own Board: Advice Before Starting Treatment -- A Blog Entry by Khafre Abif (August 17, 2011)
"As a librarian I was heavy into research and worked to find out as much as I could about the current treatments available. ... I trusted myself, my God and my instincts to make the decisions I felt were best for me."
From TheBody.com
A Bisexual, HIV-Positive, Single Father of Five: A Video Blog Entry by Jermaine Wright (August 13, 2011)
"My name is Jermaine Wright and I am a bisexual, HIV-positive, single father of five. If that's not a jaw dropper for ya, I had one of my children while being HIV positive. Here is how it started ..."
From TheBody.com
For Dad: "I Am the Man My Father Built" (June 16, 2011)
From MyFabulousDisease.com
Homophobia and HIV Risk: What's Family Got to Do With It? Part One (June 9, 2011)
From TheBody.com
Canada: AIDS Caravan Visits City (November 5, 2010)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Changes in Climate, Altitude, Landscape and Perspective: A Blog Entry by Magnetic Mama (May 24, 2010)
One day, during a full-day hike ... I realized I hadn't seen my "imaginary friend" in days. That is not to say I didn't think about my husband ... but HIV as that little mind-blocking, thought-occupying truth-and-perspective-blocker had not featured in my thought processes.
From TheBody.com
Grandmothers Seek Support, Caring for AIDS Children (May 21, 2010)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Reasons I Walk in the AIDS Walk (April 23, 2009)
"As I walked, joined by thousands of participants, I suddenly no longer felt alone in my grief," recalls Amanda, whose father died suddenly from AIDS-related pneumonia when she was 21 years old.
From AIDS Walk New York
Profiles in Courage: Raven Lopez (January 2006)
Born HIV positive, Raven Lopez has always lived with the virus that she sees as little more than a footnote in her life.
From TheBody.com
"I Don't Want Others to Die Like My Wife" (July 13, 2004)
Dr. Leonard Okello heads the Ugandan branch of ActionAid, an AIDS advocacy group, and is an AIDS widower who has raised his three daughters alone since his wife's death.
From BBC News
When McGann Loves a Woman (March 2004)
British actor Mark McGann talks about his recent public disclosure that his wife is HIV positive.
In Positive Nation
"The Happiest Day of Our Life" -- A Gay Couple Living With HIV Adopts (September/October 2003)
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
Paula Peterson and Griff Butler (2003)
In this excerpt from Roslyn Banish's book, an HIV-positive woman and her husband, who is negative, talk about their relationship, family life and raising their young son.
To read PDF, click here.
In Focus on Living: Portraits of Americans With HIV and AIDS, from University of Massachusetts Press
Soul Brothers (December 2002)
Kerry O. Burns' one-man play is about the life and death of his brother Timothy, who died of AIDS.
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles
Family Album (June 1999)
How ideas about "family" are redefined and celebrated by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Losing Your Husband to AIDS (December 1997)
Elizabeth Avedon shares her experience.
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Mixed-HIV Status Couples: Navigating the Challenges of Everyday Life (October 1997)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
Living With HIV: Mom [and Me] (August 1996)
A writer finds comfort in the last person he'd expect to understand.
In Positive Living, from AIDS Project Los Angeles
A Married Couple Learns to Deal With HIV (Winter 1995)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Why I Wear a Red Ribbon
"BJ made me his wife, but AIDS made me his widow".
From Computerized AIDS Ministries
Inspiring Stories of Living With AIDS
A collection of stories from family members, activists and people with HIV.
From Computerized AIDS Ministries

Mothers

My Letter to HIV: A Letter and Video From Melissa Baker (April 27, 2012)
I could've stayed silent about you living inside of me after he and I went our separate ways. But instead I began my volunteerism. I felt empowered to dispel stigma, to encourage people to test, respect & educate themselves. ... I have added advocate to who I AM. I have disclosed to many including my daughters.
From "Write a Letter to HIV" Campaign at TheBody.com
A Mother's Love for Her HIV-Positive Son: A Video Blog Entry by Justin B. Terry-Smith (October 27, 2011)
"Sometimes I get personal e-mails about my blog and I haven’t really shared them with you all. But I think I will start to do so ... I received this e-mail from a woman I'm going to call Amanda. She and her son discovered he was HIV positive and this letter made me cry ... twice."
From TheBody.com
PRIDE, From a Proud HIV-Positive Lesbian: A Blog Entry by Maria T. Mejia (June 1, 2011)
From TheBody.com
Word on the Street: The Mother's Day Edition (May 4, 2011)
From TheBody.com
What It Feels Like for a Mom: A Video Blog Entry by Mark S. King (April 28, 2010)
Mark S. King's mother, Anne King, speaks honestly about witnessing the HIV epidemic through her gay children -- and how she's been able to stand by them through it all.
From TheBody.com
Profiles in Courage: Marcya Owens (February 2006)
African-American HIV advocate Marcya Owens discusses her life and successes as an HIV-positive, married mother of two.
From TheBody.com
Profiles in Courage: Michelle Lopez (January 2006)
Michelle Lopez discusses how she fought against depression to become an outspoken advocate for herself and her daughter.
From TheBody.com
The Grief Suite (July/August 2003)
When her son, Robert, told her he had HIV, she became one of his greatest sources of support -- and he became one of hers.
To read PDF, click here.
In Positively Aware, from Test Positive Aware Network
A Proud Mother Speaks About Her HIV-Positive Daughter (Spring 2001)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Five Days in Steve's Life and Death (December 1998)
A mother remembers her son.
One Mother's Story (December 1997)
A mother becomes her son's "private army".
In AIDS Care, from San Francisco General Hospital
A Mother's Thank You (Summer 1994)
Finding closure for her infant son's death from AIDS.
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive