HIV-Infected Women and Motivation to Add Children to Their Families

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Abstract
The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify how susceptible women perceived their babies to be to perinatal transmission of HIV and to examine factors that influence a woman’s motivation to have a baby. The sample consisted of 45 African American women living in South Carolina and Georgia. Data were collected during face-to-face interviews. A researcher-developed scale, Motivation for Childbearing in HIV-Positive Women, provided reliable and valid data on factors that motivated or deterred a woman’s decision to have a baby. This study supported prior findings that HIV status is not the most important influence on a woman’s reproductive decision making. Women identified significant others (husbands and sex partners) and other family members as those most important in making the decision to add a child to their family. The findings of this study underscore the importance of family in childbearing decisions by HIV-positive women.