Policy, ethics, and reproductive choice: Pregnancy and childbearing among HIV-infected women

As the numbers of women infected with HIV continue to increase, there are more calls for women who are HIV-infected not to have children, or for policies to be created that limit or try to influence the reproductive choices of HIV-infected women. Although motivated by legitimate concerns, such potential policies may be problematic in terms of their threats to the autonomy of women and considerations of justice. An alternative counseling approach is proposed that advocates encouraging HIV-infected women to make reasoned and considered decisions concerning childbearing. Such an approach would require providers to discuss with women not only the medical facts relevant to vertical transmission, but also many of the psychosocial issues relevant to the woman's interest in bearing a child. Moreover, the encounter would be contextualized to include discussion of issues unique to the woman's situation and other family considerations.