HIV-infected women and motivation to add children to their families

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.