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May 13, 2008
Chicago Tribune Magazine Looks at America’s Positive Youth
In a feature story published on Sunday, May 11, the Chicago Tribune Magazine (chicagotribune.com, 5/11) examined children and teenagers who were born with HIV—highlighting their day-to-day challenges despite the improved treatment options available to them.
“The gay community has rallied around behavior-infected young men in a way that has created a sense of community. That does not exist for these children,” says director of adolescent HIV services at Children’s Memorial Dr. Robert Garofalo. “They don’t have many peer groups. The youth who are born with HIV have very different issues with their family, parents and mothers. But like all adolescents, they are still struggling to establish autonomy from their parents, to understand their emerging sexuality.”
Also, according to the article, the 6,000 HIV-positive children and young adults in the United States face the danger of resistance to HIV medications as they grow older, while many teenagers reportedly stop taking their medications once they enter adulthood.
