Article: Unethical To Exclude HIV Patients from Infertility Services

WESTPORT, CT-An article published in the May issue of Fertility and Sterility says it is not ethically or legally justifiable to exclude people from receiving infertility services on the basis of their HIV status.

Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, from Johns Hopkins University and Jean Anderson, MD, from Georgetown University studied the clinical and ethical issues of helping HIV-infected women become pregnant.

They know of women who were excluded from fertility procedures because they were HIV positive and thought the practice was unjust.

"When you compare HIV to other illnesses, its really hard to see how one can justify categorically excluding HIV-infected women from assisted reproductive services," Lyerly said. "There are a lot of women with similar diseases and similar risk factors who are not excluded or at least not on a categorical basis."

New precedents established by the Americans with Disabilities Act will also make discrimination based on HIV status illegal.

Source: www.hivandhepatitis.com