OutInform: Houston Pride Guide 2015 Issue | Page 12

TAKING BACK
MY FUTURE

by Fortunata Kasege
An HIV-positive mother on delivering
her second HIV-negative child.

I WANT THOSE 1,000
WOMEN AND GIRLS TO
READ THIS AND KNOW
THAT DESPITE TODAY'S
BAD NEWS, THEY ARE
ESSENTIAL TO CREATING
[...] A WORLD WHERE NO
CHILD HAS AIDS.
If you would have told me when I was diagnosed
with HIV that I would one day be the mother
of two daughters and that they would be
completely HIV free, I couldn't even have
imagined it. Now I can't imagine a life without
them.
I was only 22 when I received the news: I was
a young woman living with HIV. Despite all the
progress in the years in between, this is a story
that is tragically still far too common. Globally,
young women ages 15 to 24 account for 22
percent of new HIV infections, and suffer from
infection rates twice as high as young men. For
mothers and mothers-to-be there is nothing
more deadly: HIV is the leading cause of death
among women of reproductive age.

HIV can take so much from a person. It can steal
people's hope for the future, for health, and for family.

Looking back on my own life, I thought this disease would take those
things from me as well. There are many things that HIV did take from me
in these past 18 years, and many more it has taken from millions of women
like me. But with the incredible progress in treatment and the work of
organizations like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF),
there are also many things that I have taken back, one at a time. And I want
to show the girls, women, and mothers of the world that they can take back
their lives from HIV too.
One of these things is my desire to extend my family, and to have a sibling
for my lovely daughter Florida. Last Mother's Day I was on my way to
realizing this dream, pregnant with my second daughter. This Mother's
Day I am so proud to say that I delivered a healthy eight pound three
ounce baby girl. And she is HIV-free just like her older sister Florida! I am
enjoying every second of being a mother again.

12 OUTINFORM

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During both my pregnancies, I took my medicine
as prescribed, and never missed a dose. I knew
that if I did my part, the treatment would do
its part, and my children would be born HIVnegative.
This Mother's Day more than 1,000 young
women and adolescent girls will become newly
infected with HIV and their stories will be
forever rewritten. But living with HIV does not
mean living a life without hope, health, love, and
family. My life, my story, and most importantly
my two beautiful daughters are proof of that.
This is why I share it every chance I get, and
why I became an ambassador for the Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
This is not just my fight; this is a global fight to
achieve an AIDS-free future. I want those 1,000
women and girls to read this and know that
despite today's bad news, they are essential
to creating that future and to creating a world
where no child has AIDS.