Since the Center for Disease Control first stated, """"""""Infected women [with HIV] should be advised to consider delaying pregnancy until more is known about perinatal transmission of the virus"""""""" (Centers for Disease Control, 1985:725) there has been a debate about personal reproductive rights versus community and public health responsibilities. Studies in the literature reported no difference between the reproductive decisions of infected and uninfected women. Relatively little is known about how HIV- infected women make reproductive decisions. This study will investigate HIV-infected women's decision-making processes about childbirth and abortion, focusing on how race, ethnicity, class, gender and HIV illness influence decisions. Face-to-face, one hour interviews will be conducted with a sample (n-60) of HIV-infected women recruited from social support groups in Oakland, California (n-30), and Syracuse, New York (n-30). The interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using grounded theory and domain analysis qualitative methods. A sub-sample of people (n=50) who influence HIV-infected women's decision-making processes will develop from the sample. Results from this study will provide a more representative vie of how women, particularly women of color, with HIV make decisions about childbirth and abortion. Additionally, the study will provide knowledge concerning those people with whom HIV-infected women interact in the process of making reproductive decisions. This new information will suggest how others, where appropriate, can most effectively assist women in the decision-making process. Moreover, this knowledge will offer direction for innovative approaches to providing the most informed, useful HIV services and education for women.
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