[Medically assisted reproduction in couples carrying the human immunodeficiency virus]

Today, in developed countries, many HIV-infected people remain in good health thanks to antiviral medication, and a growing number of them want to have children. The benefit of resorting to assisted procreation and the contamination prevention strategies, throughout pregnancy, are summarized as well as the changes in ethical considerations. The balance between the importance of the message of prevention and the benefit for patients of being assisted in their desire for a child, has evolved towards a growing interest for medical intervention in order to avoid the risks of spontaneous conception outside health care structures. We are presenting the medical structure adapted at Erasme hospital and the 38 first requests taken into account by our pluridisciplinary team. This approach, which is coherent from a scientific point of view, respects both the autonomy of people, carrying HIV as well as the essential interest of the child, in being born uninfected, and also has the enormous advantage of allowing access to parenthood without destroying the consistency and coherence of the message of prevention of sexual contamination.