1994, I was married to a man who had AIDS..of course I didn't know until he ended up in the hospital real sick. 1 year later I was diagnosed HIV+. 6 months after that I found out he knew before he met me he had it. I was 21, in collage, dreaming of having children...all gone in 1 doctor visit. I was forced to go on SSI because the meds cost $2300 a month, sometimes more. I remarried to a non-positive man. For 11 years we were together, the whole time my heart longed for a child. I wanted one but could never dream of risking giving this disease to anybody, not to mention because my husband was HIV-, we never slept unprotected. Then, by the grace of God a miracle happened, had to be cause like I said we were always protected, and I was told I couldn't have a child because of Cancer in my uterous. He Then it happened, The best Day of my life, I don't think anyone could imagine the excitement I felt when the doctor told me all the tummy trouble I was having was because I was pregnant. That excitement quickly went to horror for the safety and health of my baby. They assured me that if I was cautious there was a very small chance of him contracting it, I was scared to death. I was already 4 months along so I prayed and cried, begging everyday for a healthy baby. When the day came he was born a little small but Healthy! Since then he has had several tests and they are all negative. 18 months after the birth of our son my husband left. He met someone else and left my son and I with nothing but a broke down car. I have this beautiful boy, and now all I can do is worry, how am I gonna feed him, clothe him....I live on a SSI check of $694 a month. I will never be able to have a home of our own. I will never be able to send him to collage heck, I probably won't even be able to afford school pictures. We stay in the basement of my parents home, mostly made of broken sheet rock, big holes in the ceiling and much more. Not a good environment for my son. I am scared he is going to electricute himself or something worse. I have wonderful parents, they have been here for me through all of this, but my father was perminently disabled from a bad fall at work and my mom has been a maid all her life . They are barely scraping by and the only way they are making it is by what little money I pay for rent. So as you see, I need help. I know this is long and I am sorry but I wanted you to know the full extent of my stress. I want to thank you if you did finish reading this, for your time. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
