Hiv Positive Parents Should Not Have Children

Essay, Research Paper

HIV POSITIVE PARENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE CHILDREN

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, better known as HIV, is a virus that slowly attacks and destroys the immune system. This destruction leaves the infected individual exposed to illnesses and infections that eventually cause him to die. In most cases, this virus alters and becomes a fatal transmissible disorder called AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV positive couples should not have children because the children can become orphans at an early age, thereby possibly being a burden to taxpayers; furthermore, if the children are infected with this disease, they can suffer physically, socially, and psychologically.

Now, as we approach the year 2000, the idea of HIV positive couples wanting to have children has created more controversy. HIV couples want children in their lives so they can feel that they have a normal life and a normal family. This idea is a problem because the couples do no want to accept the fact that they have a fatal, transmissible disease, which can affect or can harm the child in many ways.

A child whose parents have the Human Immunodeficiency Virus may suffer physically from inheriting the genes and being infected by HIV. A person cannot tell if someone has the virus or not by looking. It can only be discovered through the blood HIV test. People with HIV have to protect themselves in relationships with other persons so that other people would not be infected. The virus can affect the body by attacking and destroying the immune system. With a weak immune system, the body cannot defend itself against diseases. The child with HIV cannot be as active as other children. In time, the body will become vulnerable to the infections, which will lead to brain damage, muscle damage and will affect the IQ scores. Finally, the virus will cause death.

Many would argue that a child with HIV infected parents would not be influenced by the society. The truth is that the child?s life is going to be affected socially and psychologically. Once the child starts feeling the symptoms of his disease, he will not be able to go to the same places and do the same things as his friends; therefore, his social life will change. In addition, the child will feel discrimination from other children in school and from the parents of those children. This discrimination can cause a permanent damage in a child?s life. Lamentably, people are very judgmental and can discriminate against a person to a point where a child can feel very worthless, or inversely take a rebellious behavior and perform a terrible act.

Another problem that the children of HIV positive parents might face is the death of their parents. HIV positive couples want children so they can satisfy their needs by not being alone, but they are not thinking about the terrible suffering that the child is going to experience after they die. In a recent PEDIATRICS magazine article, the committee on Pediatric AIDS informed that it is expected that by the end of the century, 80 000 children and adolescents in the United States will be orphaned by parental death caused by human immunodeficiency virus infection. Once the children know that their parents are infected with this fatal disease, they start thinking about what is it going to be like when the parents are not there, and how it is going to be by themselves; furthermore, when the parents actually die, the life of the child changes completely. It is very hard for a child to accept the death of their parents. In addition, it is harder for a child to stay alone.

Some may argue that because parental death is part of life, where a child should live after this episode should not be an issue. It is very important that a child who is left orphaned by parental death receives a stable home, a steady environment that provides love and encouragement, and, most important of all, the medical and social involvement necessary to deal with the terrible loss. Most of the time, these children do not have other family or relatives, so they have to move with foster parents who can assist with all of their needs. This is an awful experience to the children because after suffering the loss of their parents, they also have to suffer the process of adapting themselves to another family. This new family has new customs, rules, and schedules, which make the process harder. Also adopting a HIV positive child can be hard for foster parents. Having a child with this virus can put the family in risk and some families do not want to risk their lives for a child that is not even their child.

HIV positive couples pay taxes to government and feel that government should do something about their will to have children, but for the rest of taxpayers may be a burden to pay taxes when the government does not use the money effectively. In relation to HIV, the government uses taxes for research projects, facilities, and AIDS programs. The taxpayers who support the idea that HIV positive parents should not have children think that is not fair that the government uses their money to make programs where HIV positive couples are offered the opportunity to have children. HIV positive couples know that having a children has many risks, meaning that the government spends more money trying to make this process safer for the upcoming child as well as the HIV positive couples. Furthermore, when these HIV positive couples die or get very sick, the government uses tax money to pay foster parents. If HIV positive couples would not have children, the government would not have to spend so much money paying foster parents. In addition, the government could use that money for other programs that would benefit everybody.

After analyzing and mentioning how much the children of HIV positive parents suffer, these couples should make a solid decision not to have children. If these couples do not have children, they are helping the children not to suffer from being orphans at an early age, and from going through all the physical, social and psychological effects that HIV can bring. In addition, it is not fair for taxpayers to pay taxes that the government spends on research and programs for HIV positive couples who insist on having children.