An HIV patient has described feeling “dirty” as “doors keep closing” in her face when seeking fertility treatment in Ireland.
Ainy from Spain, who has been living in Cork for around a decade, was first diagnosed with the virus in 2017.
Five months later, doctors had treated her HIV to such a level that it was undetectable and intransmissible to others.
Fertility issues
On Lunchtime Live today, she said her life had been normal for the first few years after her diagnosis until she and her husband had difficulties trying to conceive.
“We were having issues with it, and everything seemed okay on my side, so we thought maybe the issue was on my husband’s side,” said Ainy.
“An appointment was made with our fertility clinic and after asking my husband for a sample, he was diagnosed with azoospermia.
“It means there is an absence of sperm in the ejaculation which doesn’t mean he’s not producing, it’s just that most likely the tubes are either non-existent or scarred.
"It turned out he has cystic fibrosis, atypical cystic fibrosis, which means that none or only one of the symptoms is present, which in this case is the fertility issue."
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Ainy said this is when “doors started closing” in her face.
"Because I am HIV+ we need to go through IVF; however, IVF is not performed in Ireland for HIV patients," she said.
"On top of that, we need my husband to get a TESE which is a surgical testicular extraction of his spermatozoon to check viability and fertility - but they won’t perform this procedure in Ireland.
"This is why we are constricted to go abroad without knowing if my husband has viable sperm or now, making this situation ridiculous.
Doors closing
Ainy said their reasoning “doesn’t make any sense” and isn’t common practice in other countries.
“I’ve been calling clinics in the UK, Germany, in my home country of Spain, and when I ask them if they treat patients with HIV, they have literally laughed at me," she said.
“They say, why wouldn’t we? If you are undetectable and intransmissible then we can treat you.
She said there are minimal risks of passing on the virus to her child.
"My HIV status is U=U which is undetectable and intransmissable," she said.
“I can have an established partner, as I do with my husband, and have sexual intercourse without protection because it won't be transmitted.
“I can have kids without transmitting, there is just a 1% risk, but fertility clinics keep closing doors or send back emails saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t treat patients like you.’”
Rejection
Ainy said she struggles with the rejection.
“What I’m feeling now, seven years after my diagnosis, is dirty and that maybe I don’t deserve to be a mother because I have this diagnosis,” she said.
Around 4,000 men and 1,400 women have been diagnosed with HIV in Ireland over the last 12 years.
You can listen back here:
Main image: Ainy and her husband. Image: Supplied
