On December 16^th 2015, HIVE hosted our 2^nd Hangout on Air about HIV Prevention for women. Our focus in this Hangout was Safer Conception options, programs and policies for people affected by HIV.

Our panelists were:

Natasha Davies of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, Johannesburg

Sheila Eshiwani Project Doctor of the HIV Discordant Couples Center, Nairobi

Angela Kaida Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver

Lynn Mathews Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard University, Boston

Shannon Weber Director of HIVE and Coordinator of the Getting to Zero Initiative, San Francisco

It was an inspiring and energizing conversation rooted in a commitment to reproductive rights and desires of HIV affected individuals.  We talked about Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) as tools for couples seeking pregnancy as well as treatment being recommended for all people living with HIV regardless of CD4 count.

We were taken through Assisted Reproductive Technologies, manual (or home) insemination, timed intercourse and charting one’s fertility via apps, using ovulation predictor kits or checking one’s vaginal mucous.

We also heard about conception planning with HIV-affected couples in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Houston (and other US cities).

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Yamini Oseguera-Bhatnagar is the POWER Health Coordinator at HIVE. She is wifey to Juan and mama to Gayatri and Kabir. She and her family live in San Francisco, with Chutki, their 6 year old pit-bull. Yamini is an advocate for Ethnic Studies, PLWHIV, women’s reproductive rights, and self-determination for all.