Nearly a third of HIV-infected men and women recently surveyed desire children in the future. Many of those who desire children (69% of women and 59% of men) expect to have one or more children. "Fertility Desires and Intentions of HIV-Positive Men and Women," by James L. Chen from the University of California San Francisco and researchers from the RAND Corporation, is the first study to use nationally representative data to examine the fertility intentions of HIV-positive men and women. The study appears in the July/August 2001 issue of The Alan Guttmacher Institute's bimonthly, peer-reviewed journal, Family Planning Perspectives. It is based on a 1998 survey of sexual activities, attitudes and beliefs related to HIV transmission and prevention, and fertility and contraception attitudes and behavior, as part of the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study.

The analysis found that being infected with HIV dampens but does not eliminate individuals' desires and intentions to have children. If the desires and expectations of HIV-positive men and women to have children are fulfilled, the authors suggest that the number of HIV-infected parents will increase as more infected individuals choose to have children with their HIV-negative partners. Furthermore, although the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to infant can be decreased to about 2% with preventive treatment, maternal transmission accounts for most new HIV infections in children.

As more HIV-positive couples plan to have families, a greater need for counseling and services to minimize mother-to-infant and partner-to-partner transmission may develop. Additionally, as the number of HIV-affected families increases, the importance of social services to address HIV-related issues will grow.

The July/August issue of Family Planning Perspectives also features a recent study that found that overall tubal sterilization rates in the early to mid-1990s were highest among women aged 25-34, and that approximately half of all tubal sterilizations are taking place immediately post-partum, while the other half occur independent of pregnancy. The study, "Tubal Sterilization in the United States, 1994-1996," by Andrea MacKay of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention et al., was based on the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery and the National Hospital Discharge Survey from the years 1994-1996, and provides information about and analyses of the number, characteristics and locations where women are having tubal sterilization.