Childbearing Motivations, Pregnancy Desires and Perceived Partner Response to a Pregnancy Among Urban Female Youth: Does HIV-Infection Status Make a Difference?

"Despite a growing literature assessing pregnancy desires among HIV-infected women enrolled in clinical care, little attention has been paid to HIV-infected youth for whom pregnancy is a very relevant issue," the authors wrote in their introduction. They noted the need for expanded understanding of the childbearing motivations and relationship dynamics influencing pregnancy desires among young females in urban settings with high rates of teen pregnancy and HIV infection. The current study compares the childbearing motivations, pregnancy desires and perceived partner desire for pregnancy among predominantly African-American HIV-infected (n=46) and HIV-uninfected (n=355) females ages 15-24.

The results indicated that HIV-infected status was not significantly associated with childbearing motivations or with the desire for future pregnancy (p>0.10). However, HIV infection was associated with an increased likelihood of perceiving that one's partner would have a positive response to a pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.5, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.2-10.4, p=0.02) compared to peers without HIV.

"While race was not associated with participants' own desire for a child, white youth were significantly less likely to perceive a positive partner response to becoming pregnant than their African-American peers (AOR 0.23, 95 percent CI 0.09-0.56, p=0.001). These data suggest that the desire for childbearing is not diminished by HIV infection among urban female youth, highlighting the need for routine, provider-initiated discussions about childbearing with urban youth to minimize unintended pregnancies and HIV transmission," the authors concluded.

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