Positively Orphaned: World AIDS Day

What You Should Know About HIV

- HIV can NOT be spread through casual/household contact. HIV is not spread through hugging, kissing, shaking hands, sharing toys, sneezing, coughing, sharing food, sharing drinks, bathing, swimming or any other casual way. It has been proven that HIV and AIDS can only be spread through sexual contact, birth, breastfeeding and blood to blood contact (such as sharing needles).
- HIV is now considered a chronic but manageable disease. With treatment, people who are HIV+ can live indefinitely without developing AIDS and can live long and full lives.
- People who are HIV+ deserve to be treated with love, respect, support and acceptance as all people do. If anyone wants more info on transmission, there is great info on the Center for Disease Control website.
~by Erin Henderson

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What can I expect our day to day lifestyle to be?
A. Children with HIV who receive medication lead normal healthy lives. They can play sports, have sleepovers, go to camp, attend daycare and public schools, etc. They look like other children and play like other children. They take medicine in the morning and evening, and the dosage is administered at the same time every day for full effectiveness and to prevent resistance to the prescription. Your child will have at least four doctor appointments per year with a specialist who will monitor the CD4 counts in the blood to be sure the medication is working properly.
Q. What will the medical concerns be?
A. Mostly taking daily medicine and seeing your doctor every three months and being aware of infections such as malaria, chickenpox and pneumonia (which is a much bigger problem in developing countries). Children are vaccinated against these when arriving to your home country. Your doctor will determine when the child’s immune system is strong enough to get “live” vaccines (such as chickenpox and MMR).
Q. Do any special safety precautions need to be taken?
A. ‘Universal Precautions’ will become mainstream within your home, just as they are at schools and day care centers. Gloves should be worn for touching blood and for handling items or surfaces soiled with blood. Hands and other skin surfaces should be washed as soon as possible if blood has been in contact with the skin. Surfaces soiled with blood will be washed with soap and water as you would normally. Some parents carry a plastic sandwich bag with Bandaids and hand sanitizer in it to be prepared for occasional scrapes.
Q. How long will my child live?
A. Life expectancy is close to normal with proper treatment. Children born with HIV in the 1980s who have been diligent about treatment are alive today and thriving (now in their 20s). Doctors claim HIV+ kids can expect to live as long as any other child with a long term chronic illness, such as diabetes, although HIV is generally considered a more manageable condition.
Q. How will I talk to my child about HIV and sex education?
A. As your child progresses through adolescence into adulthood, safe sex will become an important topic, although it is an important topic with all adolescents. HIV positive women bearing children in the United States have less than a 2% chance of passing the virus along to their child when the appropriate anti retroviral drugs are administered during pregnancy and after childbirth. This means that your children can go on to have healthy children of their own. (HIV positive men can procreate with very little risk as well with a process known as sperm cleansing).
Q. How does the adoption process differ for HIV+ children vs. HIV- ?
A. Everything is the same. In the past, a visa waiver was required, but that is no longer in existence as of January 4, 2010.
Q. Should I disclose my child’s HIV positive status with anyone?
A. Disclosure is a sensitive topic which varies greatly among families. You should disclose to your dentist and other health care providers to ensure your child's health stays optimal. You should also teach your child to disclose to their sex partner(s) when they become sexually active. Daycare centers, schools and athletic coaches practice ‘universal precautions’ so your child is not a risk to anyone, and there are no cases of transmission in these settings. The Health Departments in SC and IL will inform the school district there is an HIV+ child without disclosing identity, and you do not need to disclose to your daycare or school if you do not wish to. There are many anti-discrimination laws in place to protect HIV+ people and to ensure they are treated equal to HIV- people in every way. Most families feel it is very important to disclose HIV status to close friends and family so the child will have a safe haven in which to talk about HIV and know that they are loved and accepted. Some families feel it is important to disclose HIV status on a much broader scale by informing playmates, daycare, church, school teachers, school nurses and others. These families feel it is very important that their child not to feel shame, nor to live with a 'secret' (although families who do not disclose feel it is more an issue of privacy than secrecy). In most of these cases, they feel it is important to talk about their child’s HIV status, not to ‘protect’ the other party (since they are not at risk), but to ‘create awareness’ about the realities of HIV and to hopefully replace the concerns and misconceptions.

Q. What do I do when my child gets a cold or flu?

A. According to Dr. Joel Gallant in '100 Questions and Answers about HIV/AIDS', the symptoms and duration of the illness are the same as everyone else and people with HIV are at no greater risk from complications. He states that you don't need to do anything special for a cold or flu and the usual over-the-counter cold remedies are safe and don't interact with HIV meds. The child should not take antibiotics for viruses such as cold and flu, but they should take antibiotics for bacterial infections such as strep throat, sinusitis or pneumonia.

World AIDS Day

In honor of World AIDS Day, I would like to bring attention to some very important help for HIV positive orphans around the World.

AHOPE for Children is in need of 15 new sponsors to save the lives of 15 HIV positive orphans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Cost of sponsorship is $35 per month. There are more than 1 million HIV+ children in Ethiopia. AHOPE now has room to accept 15 more orphans into its care homes. The funds go to basic necessities such as food, medication, education and holistic care.

From HIV To Home’s Five For Five Campaign: Donate $5 per day for 5 days to help HIV positive orphans. Today’s donations go to Agape Children’s Home in Thailand.

The Heart of the Matter is advocating for a family for an HIV+ orphaned sibling group of three: an 8 month old baby boy and his 3 year old and 5 year old siblings. Could you be the missing parents?

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has announced a tireless goal to decrease new pediatric HIV infections by one-half over the next 5 years, preventing nearly a million infections in children. The Foundation, together with its partners, will work to reach 15 million pregnant women with prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services in many of the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Health Insurance

1. Private Health Care. Your existing health care plan is required to cover your adoptive children regardless of pre-existing conditions, exactly the same as they treat your biological children regardless what condition the child is born with or acquires.
2. Ryan White Program
3. Medicaid helps pay doctor and hospital bills for children with disabilities based on their income ($0). Varies by state.
4. Some Children’s Hospitals give financial assistance.
5. From HIV to Home has state by state information for the U.S.
6. AIDS Healthcare Foundation
7. Glaxo Smith Kline Patient Savings Card
8. AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
9. St. Jude in Memphis, TN covers all costs that your health insurance does not.
10. Supplemental Security Income (and here) covers children under 18 with HIV depending on income. May be renewable when they become adults.

Adoption Grants & Funding

1. Katelyn's Fund
2. The National Adoption Foundation
3. Roll Stone Foundation
4. Brittany’s Hope Foundation
5. Lydia Fund
6. Caroline’s Promise (NC)
7. China Care Foundation
8. Gift of Adoption Fund
9. God’s Grace Adoption Ministry
10. Home For Good Foundation
11. Open Arms Children’s Charities
12. Dave Thomas Foundation
13. His Kids Too!
14. Sea of Faces Foundation
15. Kids Walking Kids Home (fundraiser)
16. Ibsen Adoption Network (WA)
17. Promise The Children
18. A Child’s Desire
19. Helping Kids Cope
20. Help Us Adopt
21. Show Hope (Shaohannah's Hope)
22. Christian Advocates for Adoption
23. Our Creator’s Hope
24. Richard C. Stillman Foundation for Adoption
25. Intl Care
26. Bright Future Adoption Foundation
27. Grant Me A Chance
28. Freddie Mac Foundation
29. Cadman Foundation
30. Global Orphans Outreach
31. Hadassah’s Hope
32. Ava’s Hope
33. North American Council on Adoptable Children (domestic)
34. Topeka Community Foundation (KS)
35. Chances by Choice provides grants, whenever funds are available, to people who adopt an internationally born child with HIV or AIDS.
36. AngelFire
37. Michael W. Murphy Memorial Foundation
38. Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministries
39. From HIV to Home

40. Life Song
41. Tax Credit – The Hope For Children Act
·Link 1
·Link 2
·Link 3
42. A Child Waits Foundation
43. Oxford Adoption Foundation
44. The Abba Fund
45. First Again
46. APF USA
47. Hebrew Free Loan
48. Fifth Third Bank
49. US Bank
50. Building Families (IN, OH, IL & TN)

51. Fundraisers
52. Employer Provided Adoption Benefits
·Employer Provided Adoption Grants
·Lobby Your Employer For Adoption Benefits
·Syracuse University
·Target
·Harvard University

Top 100 Adoption Friendly Workplaces In America
·Many others not listed here. Ask your employer
53. Military Adoption Benefits
·Military Adoption Benefits
·ChildWelfare.gov
54. Delta SkyWish can help with travel costs for children who are adopted with an illness and who need immediate medical attention. 800-296-1217
55. County Child Welfare Agency - Families may be eligible for reimbursement of up to $2,000 (for non recurring expenses) through their local county child welfare agency. You can check with your local public children youth and family agency to see if, in your state or county, reimbursement of non-recurring expenses is available for families adopting.

56. One Love Coffee (fund raiser)

57. Every Child's Right (fund raiser)

Camps

1. Roundup River Ranch (Colorado)
2. Camp Boggy Creek (Lake County, Florida) – A camp for children in Florida living with chronic or life threatening illnesses.
3. Camp Care (Yosemite, California) – A four day camp for families affected by HIV.
4. Camp Dreamcatcher (Pennsylvania) – A free 7 day camp for children ages 5 to 17 who have been affected by HIV.
5. Camp Heart to Heart (Kentucky) – A summer camp for HIV affected children ages 5 to 12.
6. Camp Heartland (Minnesota) - A free camp for HIV-affected children from across the U.S
7. Camp Hope (Houston, Texas) – A camp for children ages 7-15 with HIV
8. Camp HOPE (St. Louis, Missouri) - A program of Project ARK for HIV positive children and their families.
9. Camp HUG (Houston, Texas) - A camp for people of any age with HIV/AIDS and their immediate families.
10. Camp Kindle (Nebraska) - A free camp for HIV-affected children 7 to15 living in California, the Western United States and the Midwest.
11. Camp Laurel (Pasadena, California) - A camp offering programs for HIV-affected children and young adults up to age 21
12. Camp Pacific Heartland (Malibu, California)A camp for HIV affected children and teens.
13. Camp REACH (Washington state) - A free camp run by a Christian ministry for HIV+ children and their families in the northwest U.S.
14. Camp Safe Haven (Massachusetts and North Carolina)A free week-long program for HIV-affected children and teenagers.
15. Camp Starlight (Oregon) - A free week-long camp for children and teens aged 5 to 17 who are HIV positive or affected by HIV and live in Oregon or southwest Washington.
16. Camp Sunburst (Northern California) A 1 week program for HIV affected children and teens.
17. Camp Tataya Mato (Indiana) - A free eight day camping experience for children in Indiana affected by HIV.
18. Camp Viva (Westchester, NY) - This one week sleep-away camp is open to all HIV-affected Westchester children, their families and caregivers. A program of the Family Services of Westchester.
19. Hole in the Wall Gang Camp (Connecticut) - A summer camp for children in New England, New York and New Jersey who have serious illnesses.
20. Jennifer's Camp (San Antonio, Texas) A camp for youth living with HIV and their primary caregivers.
21. Rise n' Shine (Washington State) - A free program for HIV affected children in Western Washington
22. Teens Living a Challenge (Upstate New York) - An upstate New York summer camp for teens with HIV run by The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation.
23. Victory Junction Camp (North Carolina) - A year-round camp, which offers week-long sessions, family retreat weekends, specialized programs and camper reunions to children in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia who have a number of diseases including HIV.
24. Camp Good Days And Special Times (New York & Florida)
25. Camp Ray-Ray (Colorado)
26. Double H Ranch (Lake Luzerne, New York)

27. Camp Sunrise (Ohio)

28. Youth Haven (Metro DC & Baltimore) A free week-long camp for children infected or affected by HIV, and weekend retreats for teens.

Shopping For A Cause

-Beaded Necklaces. Proceeds to women in Uganda and FHTH.
-Africa Bags. Proceeds go to the handcrafters in Uganda.
-AHOPE Store. Provides care for HIV+ children in Ethiopia.

-Woven Ethiopian Arts Vision. Living wage to weavers in ET.

-Haiti's Back Porch. Supports Haitian artisans and Haitian Ministries.

-Thanda Zulu pays beadworkers and funds HIV/AIDS causes in South Africa.

-Tiny RockStar - buy a cute T-shirt or onesie and feed an orphan for 1 month.

-Project Hopeful Store - proceeds go to HIV+ adoptions.

-Hand Crocheted Bags - proceeds to HIV+ young mothers in Thailand to generate income and prevent abandonment.

-Kiva - microloans: search term HIV to find families raising positive orphans.