Today, HIV affects 37 million people worldwide, and serophobia still kills some of them. Andréa, an activist against all stigma and discrimination linked to HIV/AIDS, tells us about her journey, and speaks to people who are still too little aware.
According UNAIDSalthough the response to the epidemic began almost 40 years ago, AIDS remains one of the main causes of death among women aged 15 to 49. While effective treatments today allow people affected by the virus to fight it and no longer transmit it, they often remain victims of a serophobia that is still too widespread.
Andreaactivist against all stigma and discrimination related to HIV AIDS tells us about her journey, from discovering her HIV status to realizing her dream of motherhood. In a poignant speech, she tells how, despite constant support from those close to her, her own preconceived ideas almost made her give up. “I felt like I was going to die soon, and the others were going to reject me”, she confides.
Everything collapses when Andréa discovers her HIV status.
When she discovered her HIV status at 22, Andrea thinks her life is over. She then goes through phases of anger, guilt, and shame. And if, despite the support of her family, the young woman takes years to accept her HIV status, it is mainly because of self-stigma that she inflicts on herself..
“I didn’t think I could build a family, not because I couldn’t have children but because i thought no man would want to have sex with meand make me the mother of his children“, she remembers moved. Andrea had even drawn a line under her desire for motherhood. However, the treatment that was offered to him allowed him to regain all his hopes.
Hope reborn thanks to triple therapy treatment
Triple therapy, a drug treatment combining three molecules against HIV, makes Andréa undetectable to the virus after 6 months. “Of course, I had side effects such as chronic fatigue, weight gain, memory loss, dry skin or even low libido. But after 6 months my viral load was so low that the virus could no longer be transmitted”, she explains.
Thanks to this treatment, Andréa can once again hope to live as she wishes, to have sexual relations without fear and one day to have children. All this materializes following her meeting with the one who is now her husband. “When I met my partner, I told him very quickly about my HIV status. And to my surprise, he took it very well. For my husband, HIV was simply not a hindrance”, says the young activist.
Today, Andréa is the mother of three healthy little girls.
Eager to become parents, Andréa and her companion then embark on the adventure. For her first pregnancy, Andréa not being sure of being undetectable, the couple opted for manual insemination at home. On the other hand, following her good results, she can start her two following pregnancies in a completely classic way. Andréa can then experience perfectly normal pregnancies, except that she continues to see her infectiologist every month. Throughout her three pregnancies, her viral load remains undetectable and everything is going well!
Today, Andréa is the mother of three little girls, the eldest is 5 and a half years old, the second is two and a half years old and the youngest is one year old. They are all three seronegative and in perfect health. To ensure this, all three received treatment from birth until they were two weeks old, to eliminate all traces of the virus.
“I have no fear for their future because I know that I will give them all the weapons to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. As soon as they are old enough to understand it, I will talk a lot with them about it.”, confides the mother filled.
Andrea’s fight to raise awareness about HIV and fight against serophobia
On his Instagram account live afterAndréa raises awareness of HIV, deconstructs prejudices about HIV-positive people, and is committed to making them understand that there is life after the announcement of HIV status. She also fights against serophobia in Africa, because today, HIV affects 37 million people worldwide, and that serophobia still kills some of them. On his websiteit also answers many questions that an HIV-positive person may ask themselves: how to manage the announcement of their HIV status, consider their future, or even evolve in a serodiscordant couple…
To all the women who have discovered their HIV status and who are afraid of the future, she sends this powerful message: “HIV is not an obstacle to your life and your dreamsyou can work, you can find love, you can be a mother, you can do anything”.
Until June 20, 2022, take part in the Aides #fetelamour collection by making a donation, for an AIDS-free 2030.
For more information, visit:
Every day, Lina strives to transcribe with the greatest accuracy and relevance possible the news of families, and to inform them about their health and their rights. Curious and…