Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the position of Positive Women’s Network – USA.

by Jennifer Vaughn

July 31, 2019

My name is Jennifer Vaughan, I’m a 48-year-old mother of 3 and I’m HIV+. I’m concerned with the reports I’ve seen through social media and the news about parents who have been separated from their children at the border based on their HIV status. I’m really unclear on the process for which this may be occurring. Is this after parents have already been detained and separated from their children for trying to cross the border and then they aren’t reunited with them based on their HIV status? Again, I’m really unclear as to how this may even come up as someone’s HIV status isn’t truly available to the government without proper medical records. With that said, if children are truly being pulled away from their parents based solely on their HIV status, I think it’s a very fair assessment to say that this is an atrocity. For one, HIV isn’t a communicable disease, it’s sexually transmitted. My children, for example, are not at risk in any way of contracting HIV from me. We’re in 2019 and the US government needs to catch up to what we’ve known for over 30 years. I’m just really sad that this is even a topic, it’s so hard to wrap my brain around. I’m not sure what impact I’m even having by writing this, but it’s worth the time hoping it may help as part of a larger collective.
Concerned,