Ive been married since 2018, and I was living my best life when I started to feel sick.
I spent a full year experiencing different symptoms that could be of pretty much anything.
I dont need to tell you how huge that shock was.
I had never considered being infected with HIV.
For my husband, it was an equal if not bigger shock.
I was awfully weak and could barely react to the news.
A post shared by Maya | HIV advocate (@positivetalkwithmaya)
My husband tested negative.
That was a surprise, as none of us knew this was even possible.
Only then we learned that not only it can happen, but that it happens very often.
They told me to talk to my family and be ready to say goodbye.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the same experience.
What you better remember is that nobody gets infected with HIV on purpose.
An HIV infection can happen to anyone.
Any person, living an active, sexual life, is at risk of getting infected.
That includes you, your relatives, your neighbors, and perhaps your parents.
The worse thing about HIV nowadays is stigma.
It makes people isolate themselves, discourages treatment, it causes horrible feelings, shame, and guilt.
There is an effective treatment for HIV, but the stigma still has the power to kill.
One universal reaction among all of us who hear this diagnosis is to question everything.
They can have babies if they want, that will be born without the virus.
When the partner seems to be interested and reacting well to the talk, you tell.
This kind of communication will always be scary, as we never know what the reaction will be.
No one wants to be rejected, and its a human condition to be afraid of getting hurt.
But opening up about the HIV status when its something you want to do is extremely important.
If they dont, you know its someone you should not have in your life.
Still, an infection with HIV can happen.
These are not the people you should let have the power to hurt you.
