World AIDS Day 2011 provides some glimmers of hope for children with HIV/AIDS worldwide. HIV and AIDS related deaths for children under age 15 have dropped 10 percent since 2005 and the number of newly infected children has dropped by 24 percent in the same time period. Still, nearly 10 percent of the globe’s orphans have been left without a family due to HIV/AIDS.
US families have long been adopting orphaned children from abroad, but only recently have the numbers of adopted children with HIV/AIDS increased. This increase is mostly due to the US lifting the ban on immigrants with HIV/AIDS in early 2010.
While some adoptive parents were still able to adopt children with HIV/AIDS, this ban created many barriers and added complications to the adoption process. Still, many parents of these adopted children are facing serious hurdles. While the process is now the same as any other international adoption, families that have children with HIV/AIDS face discrimination due to the stigma associated with the disease.
Have any of you had experience adopting a child with HIV/AIDS? Do you have any insights or resources you would like to share?