Major medical advancements in the last 40 years have vastly changed the possibilities for people living with HIV. Medications allow people to live long and healthy lives. While there is still much work to do to get lifesaving treatment options to people who need them, HIV is no longer the death sentence it was at the height of the AIDS crisis. 

But medical advancements alone aren’t enough for people with HIV to build the lives they want. The medical system is still awash in stigma and misinformation about HIV, putting up roadblocks to people’s dreams.  

Monica Hahn, MD, Clinical Director of HIVE at San Francisco General Hospital, recalls first patient she cared for at HIVE as a resident. The woman dreamed of having a family, but other clinicians had told her that her HIV meant she could never safely give birth to healthy, HIV-negative children. “Too many patients we serve tell us that before they came to our clinic, they had never heard that it was safe or possible to have healthy pregnancies and thriving families,” says Dr. Hahn.  

While people living with HIV want to be parents as much as anyone else, providers rarely ask them about their family-building wishes. Medical advancements mean that with the right care, providers can practically guarantee that pregnant people won’t pass HIV to their newborns. The narrative about the futures people living with HIV can build needs to catch up. 

At HIVE, that commitment to partnering with people to achieve their visions is built into their model. The team focuses on treating the whole family, building relationships with them, and also addressing the barriers and inequities that can get in the way of their goals.  "I received support in getting housing, getting my blood pressure under control, and prenatal care,” reported one of their patients. 

The care plan is driven by what the patients wants. They have support and resources available for people to build a family safely when one parent is living with HIV, other options like surrogacy or IVF, and supporting people to breast or chestfeed despite outdated recommendations against it in the wider medical community. That commitment shows in patient satisfaction surveys, where people cite a personal relationship with a team including a doctor, midwife, and social worker. Their commitment shines through—as one patient said, they “have compassion, love, and enjoy what they do."   

The HIVE team doesn’t stop at providing care and support for patients. They’re committed to changing the system that exposes their patients to needless barriers, shame, and stigma. They’ve fought for policies like ending discriminatory bans on blood donation from men who have sex with men, updating infant feeding guidelines to support people living with HIV to make their own choices with support, and educating HIV providers about reproductive justice and the need to support patients to build their families. “We imagine a future in which every individual living with HIV receives the respectful, culturally affirming, sex-positive care they deserve to support turning their family-building dreams into a thriving reality,” said Cynthia Gutierrez, HIVE’s Program Manager.  

HIVE and their community will take part in this year’s SF AIDS Walk on July 20th. The event will be a celebration of their groundbreaking work, and an opportunity to make sure it continues. Visit their team page to join or donate.