Human immunodeficiency virus and infertility treatment

Summary: 1. HIV is a serious but manageable chronic disease that affects persons of reproductive age, many of who express a desire for biologic parenthood. 2. Current treatment of HIV can limit the risk of viral transmission to partner and offspring. Recent studies show that in HIV0infected women, the use of antiretroviral therapy, delivery by cesarean section, and avoidance of breast-feeding reduce the chance of newborn infection to ~2%. 3. In couples in which the man is HIV infected, the use of sperm preparation techiques coupled with either inseminations or IVF with ICSI has proven to be highly effective in avoiding seroconversion of uninfected women and offspring. 4. Fertility clinics, to the extent it is economically and technically feasible, should offer services to HIV-infected individuals and couples who are willing to use risk-reducing therapies.