Can a HIV-positive man safely have intercourse with his partner and successfully become a parent without transmitting the lethal virus to his partner or his children?
A new, effective and low-cost birth control device currently available on the market claims to protect women against HIV.
Scientists from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Britain have also discovered that sperm washing technique can significantly reduce the chance of transmitting the virus without reducing the chance of conception. Even though there are still doubts about the safety of the procedures, their announcement is raising hopes among many parents.
AZT, an anti-HIV drug that crosses the blood-brain barrier, reduces the risk of HIV transmission between mothers and their children when combined with extra vitamin A and Caeserian section birth.
For HIV-positive men, however, risks are much higher. Even though sperm cells are not thought to carry the virus, semen may harbor the virus. Semen is a seminal fluid that surrounds the sperm cells, supplying nutrients while they travel up the vagina.
According to The Washington Post, FemCap Inc., a company based in San Diego, California, has introduced a new barrier contraceptive device called FemCap that covers the cervix entirely. When used in conjunction with a microbicide, a type of spermicide, the new device can block the sperm entry into the cervix, where most HIV receptors exist. The risk of developing HIV infection from having an intercourse can thus be significantly reduced.
FemCap can be worn for up to 48 hours at a time and remains reusable for up to two years. It can be maintained as little as $2 per month, and is a benefit for those who wish to have sexual intercourse while possibly infected with HIV.
HIV-positive couples wanting children have had to either risk unprotected sex or find donor sperm at a high cost. But British scientists are offering a new treatment that seems promising, according to The Guardian.
Sperm washing treatment separates individual sperm from the potentially dangerous semen. This is usually done using a centrifuge - a device that separates a mixture into different layers by spinning. Healthy sperm will sediment to the bottom of the tube and used in insemination.
According to the BBC news in London, one third out of 53 couples taking part in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital research program were able to conceive a child using this sperm washing technique. There have been no reported instances of HIV in the sperm sample following the washing treatment. This should be assuring to some couples who are considering whether or not to go ahead with the treatment.
People with HIV want access to the many opportunities in life that the virus has made unattainable. The newly available treatment and devices recently introduced by scientists may give these people new possibilities. Through the means of new technology and new scientific discoveries, couples infected with HIV virus are able to have sexual intercourse without serious consequences.
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