Fertility desires of women living with HIV/aids in northern British Columbia.

The fertility issues of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are increasingly becoming very important because advances in medical care have decreased the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child. Thus many PLWHA are now opting for parenthood. Within the northern region, the proportion of HIV is higher in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations, more so than in other areas of Canada. There is little information known on the fertility desires of women living with HIV in the rural northern community. This study used a mixed methods design by first implementing a quantitative structured survey (Phase I) and then a qualitative follow-up semi-structured interviews (Phase II). The purpose of the study was to determine the socio-demographic, reproductive characteristics, and the fertility desires of women living with HIV/AIDS. Phase I, the structured survey explored the fertility desire and reproductive intention of 21 HIV positive women and also assessed the relationships between their fertility desires and, socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics. In Phase II semi-structural interviews were conducted with four HIV positive women to increase the depth of understanding of what these women thinking and feeling about fertility desire. In this research, the majority of the participants (52.4%) were within the age group of 30-39 and 66.7% were of Aboriginal descent. Half of the participants (47.6%) reported desire to have children in future. High proportions of the women (80%) were sexually active. Usage of barrier methods as birth control decreased to nearly 25% after diagnosed with HIV. There were statistically significant relationships observed between the fertility desire and ethnicity (X²=5.51, df=2, p=.05) and, partner's preference to have children (X²=23.9, df=2, p=.001) A positive correlation was observed between the age of the participants and the participants youngest child age (r=.74, df=19, p<.005). Women of younger age and those who had younger aged youngest child expres